RP:Battle of Kanna

Rules
Rule 1: What I say goes

Rule 2: Try not to make dozens of posts before everybody else can reply :]

Rule 3: the obvious of no godmodding. Its only humans, Brutes and Jackals in this RP.

Rule 4: If you want somebody to die, ask the owner of the character.

Rule 5: The RP occurs in the Necros Era

Rule 6: UNSC forces are split into two groups, the defending forces and the later arriving relief forces.

Rule 7: Your destruction is the will of the gods

Rules on Adding new units
You wanna add a new ship, add it to a existing battlegroup up there. If you wanna add over (by which i mean you want to add your own battlegroup and want one removed so this can be done) or 'adopt' a existing ship or battlegroup, ask me about it

You wanna add a air unit, note which ship it is attached to

Try not to add any more infantry units, for the UNSC we already have too many D: but fine for Brutes.

Add 'em to this page plz kaithnxbai

Introduction
"So the Brutes want a fight? Fine by me."

- Admiral Vladmir Tupolovitch

The year is 2607. The Brutes have been raiding UNSC territory on a increasingly large scale, and now it comes down to this. Kanna, a border colony world. Having survived dozens of raids, now the full force of the Covenant Remnant is coming to Kanna. The UNSC Navy and Marines stand ready to defend it. Though the SPARTAN-IVs have not yet been finished, the finest marines and naval personel stand ready to defend the colony of Kanna.

The world of Kanna is a world mixing massed agriculture with a few centralised urban centres. These few centers are metropolis on par with those found on some inner colonies. Its a world of vast, temperate, if wet, rolling plains and a handful of bitter mountain chains and violent oceans. Many of the major population centres are defended naturally by river deltas and mountain chains.

The Defence force present at Kanna is lead by the valiant Vice Admiral Vo Chi Gi, a man who's faced Brutes many times before. Faced with overwhelming enemy forces and a five hour hold until more UNSC fleets arrive. Only through superior tactics will he hope to achieve some measure of victory. Also, groundside, the 23rd Regiment, a veteran regiment, supported by newer regiments, stand prepared to defend the cities, with an array of armoured vehicles, air support gunships and new models of UNSC attack and battle exoskeletons and walkers.

The Relief force, speeding from the military command centre of Gundark, is lead by Fleet Admiral Vladmir Tupolovitch. He has been given almost three fleets worth of ships to ensure Kanna, a vital colony lynchpin, is defended safely and beat back the enemy forces. With a axe to grind against the Brutes, he's going to make sure none get out alive. The Marine forces they carry have one aim. Quickly drop to groundside, with ODSTs, the 114th,101st and the spec op units securing the way for the 10th, 77th and 25th then flatten the Brute attackers under a steam roller of attacking force, while pressing them against the defenders, crushing them.

The only thing that matches Lakvanus' devotion to the High Prophet of Deliverance is his extreme talent for destruction. A long time ship master, leading several successful raids on the UNSC until the UNSC tactics and technology improved, causing him to gradually bring to bloody draws, then defeats. Now a high Chieftain, he is determind to avenge his past dishonours. Deliverance has ordered Kanna be taken, intact. It will provide them with a vitally needed source of food, both from agriculture and humans, along with a bountiful harvest of slaves, along with destabilising the local UNSC region and causing a food shortage. From this foothold they finally stand a chance of capturing many more vital colonies, such as Gundark.

The Kig-Yar Pirates are thieves, cut throats, privateers and slavers, and nothing exemplefies this more than Dekd Nok. An 'arrangement' has been met where Dekd Nok has been promised not only a bountiful array of weapons, vehicles, armour and ships if they help in this attack, but also food supplies, new targets to raid deeper in UNSC space and also, once surfaceside on Kanna, they get to keep as much bounty, including technology, equipment, food and slaves, as they can grab. The Remnant forces are relying on them to provide a vital harrying force and ground side skirmishers, something they lack.

The defenders only task is to hold out for five hours until relief arrives. Even then however, victory is uncertain. Should Kanna fall, the whole FLEETCOM sector could fall within the week. Should victory be secured however, the Brutes will suffer from losses so heavy they may never be capable to launch such a large scale assault again.

United Earth Government (Necros)
Defence Commander: Vice Admiral Vo Chi Gi

Relief Commander: Fleet Admiral Vladmir Tupolovitch

Ground Forces
Defenders

23rd Urban Assault Regiment 64th Marine Regiment 43rd Armoured Regiment

Relief Forces

105th ODST Regiment, 2nd Battalion  114th Marine Regiment, Battalion 1 and 2  77th Airborne Regiment 105th ODST Regiment, 101st Battalion  10th Gaelic Regiment 101st Orbital Shock Regiment,3rd Battalion 25th Highlander Regiment 345th German Armored regiment 226th Infantry Battalion Excalibur Special Tactics and Operations, B Squadron, E Squadron  Special Reconnaissance Service, G Squadron  Special Commando Unit, no.3 Commando Battalion SPARTAN-144 SPARTAN-118

Air Forces
77th Naval Squadron 112th Naval Squadron 42nd Naval Squadron 19th Viper Hornet Team UNSCAF 3rd Canadian Volunteer Squadron

Navy Forces
Planetary Defence Fleet


 * Carrier Defence Group Valiant
 * Odin-class Carrier
 * Victoria-class Heavy Cruiser
 * Thor-class Cruiser
 * Tereus-class Escort Destroyer
 * Baal-class Destroyer (3)
 * Heimdall-class Frigate (5)


 * Carrier Defence Group Morgana
 * Odin-class Carrier
 * Horus-class Light Cruiser
 * Thor-class Cruiser
 * Tereus-class Escort Destroyer
 * Baal-class Destroyer (3)
 * Heimdall-class Frigate (5)


 * Support Group
 * Terminus-class Gunboat (13)

In System forces

Patrols
 * Long Range Patrol Charlie 3
 * Amaterasu-class Cruiser-Carrier
 * Tereus-class Escort Destroyer
 * Heimdall-class Frigate
 * UNSC Dawn to Heaven (Upgrade/Refit to Heimdall)
 * Patrol Sigma 11
 * Horus-class Light Cruiser (2)
 * Isis-class Light Cruiser-Carrier

Convoys
 * Convoy Group Alpha
 * Jade-class Light Carrier
 * Tereus-class Escort Destroyer
 * Raijin-class Destroyer (2)
 * Baal-class Destroyer (2)
 * Up to 11 cargo vessels


 * Convoy Group Bravo
 * Convoy Group Alpha
 * Jade-class Light Carrier
 * Tereus-class Escort Destroyer
 * Baal-class Destroyer (2)
 * Up to 13 cargo vessels

Civilians
Demond Blake

Relief Forces


 * Dreadnaught Battlegroup Ragnarok
 * Ragnarök-class Dreadnaught
 * Jade-class Light Carrier
 * Thor-class Cruiser
 * Baal-class Destroyer (4)
 * Heimdall-class Frigate (5)
 * Minerva-class Prowler
 * Super Carrier Battlegroup Gamera
 * Zeus-class Super Carrier
 * Ares-class Battlecruiser
 * Thor-class Cruiser
 * Baal-class Destroyer (4)
 * Heimdall-class Frigate (5)
 * Minerva-class Prowler
 * Carrier Battlegroup Monitor
 * Odin-class Carrier
 * Thor-class Cruiser
 * Thor-class Cruiser
 * Baal-class Destroyer (4)
 * Heimdall-class Frigate (5)
 * Minerva-class Prowler
 * Carrier Battlegroup Colorado
 * UNSC Colorado, Zeus-class Super Carrier
 * Thor-class Cruiser
 * Thor-class Cruiser
 * Baal-class Destroyer (4)
 * Heimdall-class Frigate (5)
 * Minerva-class Prowler
 * Carrier Battlegroup New Jersey
 * UNSC New Jersey, Zeus-class Super Carrier
 * Thor-class Cruiser
 * Thor-class Cruiser
 * Baal-class Destroyer (4)
 * Heimdall-class Frigate (5)
 * Minerva-class Prowler
 * Carrier Battlegroup Arizona II
 * UNSC Arizona II, Carrier-class Carrier
 * Thor-class Cruiser
 * Thor-class Cruiser
 * Baal-class Destroyer (4)
 * Heimdall-class Frigate (5)
 * Minerva-class Prowler
 * Carrier Battlegroup Leningrad
 * Carrier Battlegroup Intrepid
 * Support Group Lion
 * Battleship Battlegroup Liberator
 * Carrier Battlegroup Odin
 * Carrier Battlegroup Bombard
 * Attack Carrier Battlegroup Group Typhoon
 * Heavy Carrier Battlegroup Everest
 * Battleship Battlegroup Wardog
 * Carrier Battlegroup Keyes
 * Carrier Battlegroup Solaris
 * Taskforce Arrow
 * 1 Zeus-class Super Carrier
 * 2 Thor-class Cruiser
 * 4 Baal-class Destroyers
 * 5 Heimdall-class Frigates
 * 1 Minerva-class Prowler
 * Super Carrier Battlegroup Essex
 * 1 Zeus-class Super Carrier
 * 1 Ares-class Battlecruiser
 * 1 Thor-class Cruiser
 * 4 Baal-class Destroyer
 * 5 Heimdall-class Frigate
 * 1 Minerva-class Prower

ONI
Arnold Leroy Lewis III

Archie Puller

Ground Forces
Special Tactics and Operations, B Squadron, E Squadron  Special Reconnaissance Service, G Squadron  Special Commando Unit, no.3 Commando Battalion<BR>

Air Forces
UV-497 Tern (4) F-206 Scythe (12) I-277 Cutlass (6) RAV-07 Owl (8)

Naval Forces
Loki-class Stealth Frigate (4) Minerva-class Prowler (3) UNSC Athena attached to SOCOM UNSC Converge attached to ONI Recon Fallen Angel w/ 6 VENGENACE Nuclear Missiles

Covenant Remnants
Commader: High Chieftain Lakvanus

Ground Forces
Grand Lakvanus Pack
 * 19 Brute Packs
 * Drakos Pack
 * Epsilus Pack
 * Keilus Pack
 * Solus Pack
 * 5 Armoured Packs
 * 4 Aerial Support Pack

Air Forces
Hundreds of Phantom and Spirit class dropships<BR> Hundreds of Seraph fighters

Navy Forces

 * 255 varied warships
 * Super Carrier Glorious Redemption
 * Carrier Blood for Sin
 * Assault Carrier Golden Retribution
 * CCS-Class Battlecruiser Might of Truth

Kig-Yar Pirates
Commander: Dekd Nok

Ground Forces

 * 70 Skirmishers from Darkbrood
 * 30 Snipers/Stealth
 * 100 Kig-Yar of various ranks from Breaking Ruler
 * 20 Special Ops Kig-Yar Rangers led by Slat

Air Forces

 * 50 of Breaking Ruler's Boarding Craft (Acting as Dropships)

Navy Forces

 * Cruiser Wrath and Fury (Flagship)
 * Frigate Breaking Ruler
 * Corsair Darkbrood

Sign up

 * Ajax 013
 * Spartan G-23
 * SPARTAN 119
 * SPARTAN-501
 * 117649 Aberrant Render
 * Just Another Grunt
 * Lordofmonsterisland "LOMI"
 * KillerCRS
 * Erb196
 * Hollywood
 * Hasharin
 * CF001
 * ODST Joshie
 * Jolly W. Roberts
 * Spartan 112
 * Rejoined User
 * SPARTAN-118
 * AdjutantCoroes
 * spartan-53
 * Sgt.johnson
 * Logmon
 * Scarab-Grunt
 * Spirit-of-HALO
 * Spartan-091
 * FightWithHonor
 * Grievous797
 * Spartan-118
 * Smokerules
 * Delta-269
 * ONI recon 111

Ajax 013

 * Vincent Warren
 * Faction:UNSC Marines
 * Unit/ship: 23rd Urban Assault Regiment
 * Rank: Staff Sergeant
 * Equipment: Dire Wolf, M73D Carbine, M33 Revolver


 * Angelica Keller
 * Faction:UNSC
 * Unit/ship:114th Regiment
 * Rank:Second Lieutenant
 * Equipment: M108A1 Close Assault Weapon System and M57


 * Liliha Raina
 * Faction:UNSC
 * Unit/ship:105th ODST Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Dog Company, Zeus Platoon
 * Rank:Second Lieutenant
 * Equipment:M12 Sub Machine Gun, M6L Personal Defence Weapon System


 * Stephen Mitchell
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/ship: Special Reconnaissance Service, G Squadron
 * Rank: Second Lieutenant
 * Equipment: M2A Light Assault Rifle w/ M023 Shotgun, M98 Compact


 * Lakvanus
 * Faction: Covenant Remnant
 * Unit/ship: Glorious Redemption
 * Rank: High Chieftain
 * Equipment: Gravity Hammer


 * Carrier Defencegroup Valiant
 * Faction:UNSC
 * Type:Naval warship group
 * Function:Defensive space control and blockade
 * Commander:Vice Admiral Vo Chi Gi
 * Unit Size:12 vessels


 * Dreadnaught Battlegroup Ragnarok
 * Faction:UNSC
 * Type:Naval warship group
 * Function:Space control and destruction of enemy targets
 * Commander:Fleet Admiral Vladmir Tupolovitch
 * Unit Size: 12


 * Carrier Battlegroup Gamera
 * Faction:UNSC
 * Type:Naval Warship Group
 * Function:Space control and airforce support.
 * Commander:Vice Admiral Jennifer Volksanigen
 * Unit Size:12


 * Attack Battlegroup Typhoon
 * Faction:UNSC
 * Type:Naval Warship Group
 * Function:Plantery assault and support
 * Commander:Vice Admiral Johnathan Price
 * Unit Size:12


 * 105th ODST Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Dog Company, Zeus Platoon
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Type: Infantry Unit
 * Function: Taking and holding strategic locations by unorthodox entry methods
 * Commander: Second Lieutenant Raina
 * Unit Size: 39 Men


 * 114th Marine Pioneer Regiment, first Battallion, delta company, Hades Platoon
 * Faction:UNSC
 * Type: Infantry Unit
 * Function: Recon, motorised combat, close assault
 * Commander: Second Lieutenant Keller
 * Unit Size: 39 men


 * 23rd Urban Assault Regiment, second Battallion, Echo Company, Swallow Platoon
 * Faction:UNSC
 * Type: Infantry Unit
 * Function: Close quaters exoskeleton supported fire and manouvre
 * Commander: Second Lieutenant Daniels
 * Unit Size: 39 men

Lordofmonsterisland

 * Robert Davis V
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/ship: Dragon Squadron/UNSC Valiant
 * Rank: Lieutenant Commander
 * Equipment: M2A Light Assault Rifle, Battle Rifle 09 Scoped Rifle, M6L Personal Defence Weapon System, F/I-905 Claymore


 * Clyde Davis
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/ship: Dragon Squadron/UNSC Valiant
 * Rank: Lieutenant, Junior Grade
 * Equipment: M2A Light Assault Rifle, M90D Close Assault Weapon System, M98 Compact, F-406 Katana


 * Alice Peters
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/ship: Dragon Squadron/UNSC Valiant
 * Rank: Lieutenant, Junior Grade
 * Equipment: M2A Light Assault Rifle, M77 Extreme Close Quarters Combat System, M98 Compact, F-778 Knife


 * Aaron Peters
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/ship: Dragon Squadron/UNSC Valiant
 * Rank: Lieutenant, Junior Grade
 * Equipment: M2A Light Assault Rifle, M389B General Purpose Machine Gun, M98 Compact, M2 AM Grenade, F-406 Katana


 * Joshua Peters
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/ship: Dragon Squadron/UNSC Valiant
 * Rank: Lieutenant, Junior Grade
 * Equipment: M2A Light Assault Rifle, M122 Light Machine Gun, M57, F-406 Katana


 * Roy Drake
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/ship: Dragon Squadron/UNSC Valiant
 * Rank: Lieutenant
 * Equipment: M2A Light Assault Rifle, M556 GL, M98 Compact, F-406 Katana


 * Robert Nicholas Summers Jr.
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/ship: Dragon Squadron/UNSC Valiant
 * Rank: Lieutenant
 * Equipment: M2A Light Assault Rifle, M1091 Sniper Rifle System 23, M6L Personal Defence Weapon System, F-778 Knife


 * Nathaniel Walters
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/ship: Dragon Squadron/UNSC Valiant
 * Rank: Lieutenant, Junior Grade
 * Equipment: M2A Light Assault Rifle, M108A1 Close Assault Weapon System, M6L Personal Defence Weapon System, I-550 Broadsword


 * Justin Cragin Jr.
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/ship: Dragon Squadron/UNSC Valiant
 * Rank: Lieutenant, Junior Grade
 * Equipment: M2A Light Assault Rifle, M73D Carbine, M6L Personal Defence Weapon System, F-406 Katana


 * Mary Cragin
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/ship: Dragon Squadron/UNSC Valiant
 * Rank: Lieutenant
 * Equipment: M2A Light Assault Rifle, M1091 Sniper Rifle System 23, M6L Personal Defence Weapon System, F-778 Knife


 * Jacob Harrison
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/ship: Dragon Squadron/UNSC Valiant
 * Rank: Lieutenant
 * Equipment: M2A Light Assault Rifle, MA6A Individual Combat Weapon System, M33 Revolver, F-406 Katana


 * Samuel Albert Davis
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/ship: Dragon Squadron/UNSC Valiant
 * Rank: Lieutenant
 * Equipment: M2A Light Assault Rifle, MA6A Individual Combat Weapon System, M33 Revolver, F/I-905 Claymore


 * Marshall Drake
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/ship: Dragon Squadron/UNSC Valiant
 * Rank: Lieutenant, Junior Grade
 * Equipment: M2A Light Assault Rifle, M556 GL, M6L Personal Defence Weapon System, I-550 Broadsword


 * Keilus
 * Faction: Covenant Remnants
 * Unit/ship: Bloody Sickle
 * Rank: Captain Ultra
 * Equipment: Plasma Axe, Brute Nailer, Brute Pummeler


 * Dekd Nok
 * Faction: Kig-Yar Pirates
 * Unit/ship: Wrath and Fury
 * Rank: Kig-Yar Commander
 * Equipment: Covenant Carbine, Plasma Assaulter, Heavy Duty Point Defense Gauntlet


 * Gant
 * Faction: Kig-Yar Pirates
 * Unit/ship: Wrath and Fury
 * Rank: Kig-Yar Captain
 * Equipment: Beam Rifle, Needler, Point Defense Gauntlet

KillerCRS

 * Epsilus
 * Faction: Covenant Remnants
 * Unit/ship: Blood for Sin
 * Rank: Pack Chieftain
 * Equipment: Gravity Hammer, Fuel Rod Gun

SPARTAN 501

 * SPARTAN-144
 * Faction: UNSC/ONI
 * Unit/ship: Zeus-class Super Carrier New York
 * Rank: Senior Chief Petty Officer
 * Equipment: M2A Light Assault Rifle w/, Camera, Laser Designator, Suppressor, Small Unit Reflex Optical Gunsight; M98 Compact w/ Suppressor and UV Light; M1091 Sniper Rifle System 23 w/ Augur Scope, bipid, and Suppressor; M9 Dual Purpose/High Explosive Grenade; M70 Flash Bang Grenade;


 * Maria Williams
 * Faction: UNSC Allied
 * Unit/ship: 112th Naval Squadron
 * Rank: N/A (Squadron Leader)
 * Equipment: M2A Light Assault Rifle w/ Reflex site, UV Light, Laser Designator, Red laser, Camera; Modified Rapier-class Interceptor,


 * James McHenry
 * Faction: UNSC Zeus-class Super Carrier New York
 * Unit/Ship: Taskforce Arrow, UNSC New York
 * Rank: Four Star Admiral
 * Equipment: M98 Compact, M12 Sub Machine Gun


 * Desmond Blake
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/ship: Kanna Police Force
 * Rank: Former Petty Officer First Class/Seargent Major of UNSC Navy/Marines; currently Lieutenant of Kanna Police Force
 * Equipment: TISC Sub Machine Gun w/ Red Dot Scope, stripped down M7 Body Armour, M1091 Sniper Rifle System 23 w/ Augur Scope, and Bipod

Erb196

 * Nathan Williams
 * Faction: UNSC/ONI
 * Unit/Ship: ODST Fire Team Omega
 * Rank: Squad Leader
 * Equipment: M2A Light Assault Rifle, Built-in Helmet Camera, Fragmentation Grenades, C-14 Plastic Explosives, Sniper Rifle System 99G-S3 Anti-Material


 * Rachel Howlett
 * Faction: UNSC/ONI
 * Unit/Ship: ODST Fire Team Omega
 * Rank: Second in Command
 * Equipment: M41B2 Weapon Anti Vehicle/Anti Material, Built-in Helmet Camera, Fragmentation Grenades.

Hasharin

 * Cpt Briscoe
 * Faction: UNSC NAVY
 * Unit/Ship: Ares-class Battlecruiser UNSC Gunhead of the Carrier Battlegroup Keyes.
 * Rank: Captain
 * Equipment: M33 Revolver


 * Callum Morgans (and his Platoon)
 * Faction: UNSC MARINE CORPS
 * Unit/Ship:: 114th Marine Regiment, 1st Battalion, Charlie Company, 2nd Platoon
 * Rank: 2nd Lieutenant
 * Equipment: Heavy Battle Rifle 11 Scoped Rifle with an M023 Shotgun, Auger Scope, Bipod and Flashlight.

CF001

 * Mary Lee Davidson
 * Faction: UNSC NAVY
 * Unit/Ship:UNSC Everest, 77th Naval Squadron
 * Rank:Vice Admiral
 * Eqipement:M57


 * Francis Davidson
 * Faction: UNSC Marines corp
 * Unit/Ship: 345th German Armored regiment
 * Rank: Brigadier general
 * Eqipement: M73D Carbine, M90D Close Assault Weapon System


 * Steve Daniel Huang, Senior
 * Faction: UNSC Marines corp
 * Unit/Ship: 226th Infantry Battalion Excalibur
 * Rank: Lieurenant Colonel
 * Eqipement: MA6A Individual Combat Weapon System

345th German Armored regiment
 * Faction:UNSC
 * Type: Armored regiment
 * Function:line enfoncer, escort
 * Commander:Brigadier General Francis Davidson
 * Unit Size: 3400 men

226th Infantry Battalion Excalibur
 * Faction:UNSC
 * Type: infantry
 * Function:logistic
 * Commander: Lieutenant-Colonel Steve Daniel Huang, Senior
 * Unit Size: 600 men

Battlegroup Everest
 * Faction:UNSC
 * Type: Fleet
 * Function:area control
 * Commander: Vice Admiral Mary Lee Davidson
 * Unit Size: 12 ships

ODST Joshie

 * Joshua McCallan
 * Faction UNSC 101st Orbital Shock Regiment
 * Unit/Ship:3rd Battalion, Juliet Company, 2nd platoon, Romeo Squad
 * Rank: Lieutenant
 * Equipment:Battle Rifle 09 Scoped Rifle


 * Patrick McAllaster
 * Faction UNSC 101st Orbital Shock Regiment
 * Unit/Ship:3rd Battalion Juliet Company 2nd platoon Romeo Squad
 * Rank:Sergeant Major
 * Equipment:MA6A ICWS Assault Rifle


 * Rex Callahan
 * Faction UNSC 101st Orbital Shock Regiment
 * Unit/Ship:3rd Battalion Juliet Company 2nd platoon Romeo Squad
 * Rank:Staff Sergeant
 * Equipment:MA6A ICWS Assault Rifle


 * Peter Wilhelm
 * Faction UNSC 101st Orbital Shock Regiment
 * Unit/Ship:3rd Battalion Juliet Company 2nd platoon Romeo Squad
 * Rank:Corperal
 * Equipment:Sniper Rifle System 99G-S3 Anti-Material


 * John Ford
 * Faction UNSC 101st Orbital Shock Regiment
 * Unit/Ship:3rd Battalion Juliet Company 2nd Platoon Squad Romeo
 * Rank:Private
 * Equipment:M73D Carbine

Jolly W. Roberts

 * Hiroji Kira
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/Ship:23rd Urban Assault Regiment
 * Rank: Corporal
 * Eqipement: M13B Kaiser Dragon, M10 Personal Defence Weapon system, M33 Revolver

The parkster

 * Novus
 * Faction: Covenant Remnants
 * Unit/Ship: Drakos's Pack
 * Rank: Minor
 * Equipment: Nailer Rifle and Frag Grenades


 * Drakos
 * Faction: Covenant Remnants
 * Unit/Ship: Drakos's Pack
 * Rank: Chieftain
 * Equipment: Pinner Rifle, Gravity Hammer and Spike Grenades

Spartan G-23

 * Graham Aker
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit: 25th Highlander Regiment
 * Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
 * Equipment: M73D Carbine, M33 Revolver

Spartan 112

 * David Jackson
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/ship: 10th Gaelic Regiment
 * Rank: Colonel
 * Equipment: M57


 * Joshua Callihan
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/ship: 10th Gaelic Regiment
 * Rank: Corporal
 * Equipment: MA6A,M6L PDWS

Hollywood

 * Chris Locklear
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/Ship: 77th Airborne Regiment
 * Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
 * Equipment: M98 Compact

Rejoined User

 * DLA-1991-1 (Fourth Revival)
 * Faction: UNSC/ONI
 * Unit/ship: UNSC Memorial
 * Rank: N/A
 * Equipment: N/A


 * Seeker of the Covenant
 * Faction: Covenant Remnants
 * Unit/ship: The Covenant and Remnants
 * Rank: N/A
 * Equipment: N/A

SPARTAN-118

 * Commander Albert Yankovic
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/ship: UNSC Everlasting Memory
 * Rank: Commander
 * Equipment: M7A Sub Machine Gun, M1911 .45 Pistol (Ornamental), Combat Knife, the crew and ship UNSC Everlasting Memory

117649 Abberant Render

 * Darrick Aegean
 * Faction: UNSCMC
 * Unit/ship: 64th Marine Regiment
 * Rank: Captain (Marine Corps)
 * Equipment: Combat Knife, MA6A Individual Combat Weapon System w/ M024 Grenade Launcher, Fragmentation Grenades


 * Alex Reaz
 * Faction: UNSCMC
 * Unit/ship: 64th Marine Regiment
 * Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
 * Equipment: Combat Knife, MA6A Individual Combat Weapon System w/ M024 Grenade Launcher, Fragmentation Grenades

MasterGreen999

 * 105th ODST Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Bravo Company, Blackheart Platoon
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Type: Infantry Unit
 * Function: Establishing foothold, engaging enemy infantry units
 * Commander: First Sergeant Jeremy Patterson
 * Unit Size: 35 ODST Troopers
 * Unit Composition: 2 Anti-Armor, 7 Snipers, 4 Grenadiers, 12 Riflemen, 10 CQB, 1 Tech Specialist


 * Jeremy Patterson
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit: 105th ODST Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Bravo Company, Blackheart Platoon
 * Rank: First Sergeant, CO of Blackheart Platoon
 * Equipment: Standard-issue CQB Knife, Battle Rifle 09 Scoped Rifle, M33 Revolver, Two M9 DP/HE Grenades, M6B Body Armour


 * Jose Marez
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit: 105th ODST Regiment, 2nd Battalion,Bravo Company, Blackheart Platoon
 * Rank: Lance Corporal
 * Equipment: Machete, M90D Close Assault Weapon System, M7A Sub Machine Gun, M6B Body Armour


 * Roger Wilkoe
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit: 105th ODST Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Bravo Company, Blackheart Platoon
 * Rank: Sergeant, XO of Blackheart Platoon
 * Equipment: Standard-issue CQB Knife, M1091 Sniper Rifle System 23, M6B Body Armour


 * Kindik'Yar
 * Faction: Kig'Yar Pirates
 * Ship: Kig'Yar corsair Darkbrood
 * Rank: Corsair Captain
 * Equipment: Needler sidearm, diamond-laced cutlass, Kig'Yar point-defense gauntlet


 * Kig'Yar lance Kindikii
 * Faction: Kig'Yar Pirates
 * Type: Infantry/Skirmishers
 * Function: Destroying UNSC Outposts, collecting loot, drawing enemies away from Jiralhanae forces
 * Commander: Overall - Kindik'Yar, Acting CO - Yithii
 * Unit Size: Destroyed
 * Unit Composition: No survivors


 * Kig'Yar lance Kindikuu
 * Faction: Kig'Yar Pirates
 * Type: Shock Infantry
 * Function: Destroying UNSC opposition, collecting loot
 * Commander: Kindik'Yar
 * Unit Size: 150 Kig'Yar
 * Unit Composition: 40 snipers, 20 Carbineers, 24 Cutthroat Guards, 16 Kig'Yar minor Skirmishers, 40 Point-defense Kig'Yar Majors, 10 Kig'Yar Rangers

Just Another Grunt

 * Marley Valea
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit: UNSC Marines Relief Force
 * Rank: Colonel
 * Equiptment: M98 Compact


 * Solus
 * Faction: Covenant Remnants
 * Unit: Solus's Pack
 * Rank: Chieftain
 * Equiptment: Gravity Glove, Spiker, Jump Pack, 2 Kig-Yar Defense Gauntlets


 * Joblus
 * Faction:Covenant Remnants
 * Unit: Solus's Pack
 * Rank: Major
 * Equiptment: Brute Shot, Spike Grenades

Sgt.johnson

 * Arnold Leroy Lewis III
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit: Special Tactics and Operations, B Squadron, Air Troop
 * Rank: Gunnery Sergeant
 * Equipment: M-99C Special Application Scoped Rifle (Reserve), M12 Sub Machine Gun, M73D Carbine


 * James Lewis
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit: 42nd Naval Squadron
 * Rank: Lieutenant
 * Equipment: M12 Sub Machine Gun


 * Andrew James Lewis
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit: UNSC HIGHCOM, SOCOM
 * Rank: Lieutenant General
 * Equipment:M6L Personal Defence Weapon System

Logmon

 * Atik'L-Yar
 * Fraction: Kig-Yar Pirates
 * Unit/Ship: Frigate Breaking Ruler
 * Rank: Ship Master
 * Equipment: Type-51 Carbine, Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher, Type-4 Equipment, Kig-yar Point Defence Gauntlet, Type-1 Sight


 * Olet
 * Fraction: Kig-Yar Pirates
 * Unit/Ship: Figate Breaking Ruler
 * Rank: Ship Navigator/First Mate
 * Equipment: Type-25 Directed Energy Pistol (2), Kig-yar Point Defense Gauntlet (2)


 * Dlag
 * Fraction: Kig-Yar Pirates
 * Unit/Ship: Frigate Breaking Ruler
 * Rank: Kig-Yar Major
 * Equipment: Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher, Kig-Yar Point Defense Gauntlet


 * Slat
 * Fraction: Kig-Yar Pirates
 * Unit/Ship: Frigate Breaking Ruler
 * Rank: Kig-Yar Ranger
 * Equipment: Kig-Yar Jump Suit, Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher (2)

Scarab-Grunt

 * Lykargum
 * Faction: Covenant Remnants
 * Unit/ship: Assault Carrier Golden Retribution
 * Rank: Ship Master/Chieftain
 * Equipment: Brute Shot, Gravity Hammer


 * Tarbrackus
 * Faction: Covenant Remnants
 * Unit/ship: CCS-Class Battlecruiser Might of Truth
 * Rank: Ship Master/Chieftain
 * Equipment: Brute Spiker, Fuel Rod Cannon


 * Lepigok
 * Faction: Covenant Remnants
 * Unit/ship: Lepigok Pack
 * Rank: Chieftain
 * Equipment: Brute Mauler, Gravity Hammer

SPARTAN 119

 * Ross East Jr.
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/Ship:UNSCAF 3rd Canadian Volunteer Squadron, aboard UNSC Essex
 * Rank: Major
 * Equipment:M98 Compact, F/I-905 Claymore


 * David Kilgore
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/Ship:43rd Anti-Walker Platoon,Sixth Armored, aboard UNSC Essex
 * Rank: 1st Lieutenant
 * Equipment:M2A Light Assault Rifle w/ M025 Rocket Launcher, M6L Personal Defence Weapon System, M-1050 Brown Bear Anti-Heavy Walker Vehicle]


 * Sarah East
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/Ship:105th ODST Regiment, Aboard UNSC Essex
 * Rank:Sergeant
 * Equipment: M122 Light Machine Gun, M-1911 .45 Pistol


 * Super Carrier Battle Group Essex
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Ships: UNSC Essex (Zeus-class), 1 Ares-class, 1 Thor-class, 4 Baal-class, 5 Heimdall-class, 1 Minerva-class

Spartan-091

 * Gordon Lydecker
 * Faction: UNSC ODSTs
 * Unit/Ship: 105th ODST Regiment, 101st Battalion Alpha Company, 1st Platoon
 * Rank: Gunnery Sergeant
 * Equipment: MA6A Individual Combat Weapon System, Sniper Rifle System 99G-S3 Anti-Material, M6B Body Armour


 * Jennifer Wolf
 * Faction: UNSC ODSTs
 * Unit/Ship: 105th ODST Regiment, 101st ODST Battalion, Alpha Company, 1st Platoon
 * Rank: 2nd Lieutenant
 * Equipment: M73D Carbine, M12 Sub Machine Gun, M7 Body Armour


 * 105th ODST Regiment, 101st Battalion, Alpha Company, 1st Platoon
 * Faction:UNSC
 * Type: Infantry Unit
 * Function: Orbital Drop Shock Troopers/Landing Zone Tactical Control Assertion
 * Commander: Second Lieutenant Wolf
 * Unit Size: 40 men


 * UNSC Colorado
 * Type: Zeus-class Supercarrier
 * Group: Battlegroup Sierra-Nevada

FightWithHonor

 * Archie Puller
 * Faction: ONI Bureau of Field Operations
 * Unit/Ship: ONI Field Operations Team 43
 * Rank: Lt. Commander
 * Equipment: M73D Carbine, M98 Compact, M6B Body Armour, M9 Dual Purpose/High Explosive Grenade


 * Marus
 * Faction: Covenant Remnant
 * Unit: Marus Jirlhanae Pack
 * Rank: Brute Chieftan
 * Equipment: 2 Type-11 Dual Spike Rifles, Spike Grenades, Bubble Shield.

Smokerules

 * Taylor McClellan Jr.
 * Faction:UNSC
 * Unit/ship: Special Tactics and Operations, E Sqadron
 * Rank: Captain
 * Equipment: Heavy Battle Rifle 11 Scoped Rifle, M57


 * Stef Paupo
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/ship: Special Tactics and Operations, E Squadron
 * Rank: Gunnery Sergeant
 * Equipment: M122 Light Machine Gun, M108A1 Close Assault Weapon System


 * Chelsie Manuel
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/Ship: Special Tactics and Operations, E Squadron
 * Rank: Staff Sergeant
 * Equipment: M73D Carbine, M57


 * Ryan Hoffman
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/Ship: Special Tactics and Operations, E Squadron
 * Rank: Staff Sergeant
 * Equipment: M73D Carbine, M57


 * David Wincent
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Unit/Ship: Special Tactics and Operations, E Squadron
 * Equipment: M899 Light Anti Armour Weapon, M12 Sub Machine Gun

Delta-269

 * Fireteam Sierra
 * Faction: UNSC
 * Type: Commando Team
 * Unit/Ship: Special Commando Unit, No.3 Commando Battalion
 * Equipment: M112 LMG, M12 SMG, M73D Carbine, M899 LAAW, M1O91 SRS, M10 PDWS, M6B Body Armour, M108A1 CAWS

Introduction
9th of August, 2607, 8:07 Theta Nero System, Kanna

The UNSC Valiant

The alarm bleeped softly, prompting Vice Admiral Vo Chi Gi to stir in his bed. He reached over to tap it off, requiring a few attempts before getting it eventually. He reclined back into his bed sheets when the intercom let out a low chime.

"Vice Admiral, we need you ready, it’s an emergency.' He second officer reported.

He grumbled then rose up from his bed and rubbed the sleep away from his eyes. He quickly got dressed into his uniform and travelled to the bridge at speed. The ship was maze like but he had quickly learned his way around since being assigned to it. It had been his home for five years now. He came to his bridge, a semi circular room deep in the bowels of the ship. The bridge crew was at a full alert status, excitedly working at their consoles and the holographic displays before them, which displayed battle data, graphical charts and the displays of the optical systems that studded the ship. In the centre was a 3D display created by a mixture of optical and RADAR input systems. In the centre was the Valiant, a Odin-class Carrier.

"SITREP." He barked with a calm authority

"Listening post Auckland reported slipspace activity." He second in command reported, not turning to face him

"A raiding party?"

"Its marked Remnant ships closing in on Kanna, straight from Azaria." He said grimly

"How many?" He said, his tone curious. A raiding party wasn't enough to scare his second in command.

"Auckland reports almost.... 260. They are moving in a tight formation."

Gi never even flinched.

"Everybody remain calm. Lieutenant Donnel, warm up the slipspace wave transmitter. I need an encoded, full burst transmission set for Gundark. We need emergency aid. Send all the ships they can. We have over 200 Brute vessels en route. Send a low burst secondary transmission as well, local pulse, closest four systems. We need to recall all patrols and convoys. We need all the ships we can muster. Call Morgana and call them to form a defence perimeter by the moon. Drop a radio transmitter for groundside. Tell them begin fortifying the population centres. Start digging in, getting ready for engagement. Prepare for invasion."

Lieutenant Donnel kept up with this torrent of orders. Gi was glad, it meant his crew was competent and read. In front of him, on his command display, the figure of a slender female in a white robe buzzed into life, putting a white, hazy light across the blue glow that dominated the room.

"Norn, what’s our tactical probability of holding off until relief arrives?"

"Vice Admiral... at best, maybe a 35% chance if we use superior tactics and manoeuvres. Ground war may drag on further into a victory. In 10 hours relief from Gundark will arrive... only 10 hours until relief."

Vice Admiral Gi took off his naval cap and stroke his hand through his receding buzz cut hair.

"That’s ten hours too many."

9th of August, 2607, 8:41 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Marine Garrison alpha, industrial west, Aleph City

Staff Sergeant Vincent 'Ace' Warren carefully held the plasma torch close to his face, lighting his sweet William cigar in the searing hot flame. He drew in his breath before snorting out a thick billow of dark smoke. He directed the plasma torch to his Dire Wolf exoskeleton, mending a bonding two of the metal plates on it together. It was tied down to the back of a flatbed warthog, having just been moved to this garrison and in desperate need of repairs. During manoeuvres he had gotten it bogged down in a rice paddy and wrecked the right leg's primary suspension unit. A bunch of his men sat on the sides of it along with Corporal Parsons and Private First Class Brevens at the driver and passenger seat respectively. Brevens was Swallow platoon's radio man and listened intently on the radio as events unfolded above.

He released his finger from a groove on his helmet, ending the conversation then pushed his boom mic back into its recess on his helmet and closed the guard, leaving in snug.

"Hey, we just got a broadcast from defence command! Looks like things are gonna get heavy."

Lieutenant Daniels, a by the book officer pushed past the men milling around the Warthogs and Wolves and then up to Brevens.

"What’s the situation up there?"

"Brutes, about an hour out. Looks like it’s going to be the big one Lieutenant."

"Looks bad, we are most defiantly going to see some heavy action."

Ace mended the seam in the armour plating then lifted up his goggles onto his forehead with his thumb.

"Looks like the shit will hit the fan, 'eh?" He said, turning the plasma torch off and dumping it in the tool; box before whipping grease off onto his overalls.

"Looks like we're going to have to really dig in."

Brevans cocked his head, meaning somebody was talking to him again through radio.

"Got orders from the Captain. We're to go with Crow Platoon and secure industrial sector alpha three. It’s overlooking a prime enemy landing zone. We gotta protect some flaks from the 43rd. Sparrow platoon has gotta cover civilian evacuation."

Ace picked up his boom mike and headset and slipped it on before pressed his finger into the activation groove. "Hear that Sparrow? You unlucky bastards have gotta cover the civvy pukes!"

"You come over here and say that you sonnofa bitch!" He radio warbled back

"Staff Sergeant, stop pissing off Sparrow platoon."

"Yessir." He smirked.

Pearson kicked the engine into life, the Warthog giving a bumpy purr. Warren stood up and held onto his Wolf as the Warthog pulled away. The rest of his platoon mounted up and followed behind his warthog, heading towards the outskirts of the city.

9th of August, 2607, 9:30 Iota Kappa System, Duke Station above Gundark, UNSC border command

Fleet Admiral Vladimir Tupolovitch listened to the slipspace transmission one last time, stroking his greyed beard.

"So the Brutes want a fight? Fine by me." He smirked

"Sir?" His aide said, confused

"HIGHCOM has been waiting for this. For years we've been destroying their raiding fleets, now they've grown desperate. They are recklessly throwing their forces at Kanna now."

"But sir, we can't take this likely. If we lose Kanna, we lose the major food supply in this region and we lose control, while the Brutes gain what we've lost."

"I'm well aware of the cost of defeat Lieutenant Commander. That’s why I'm taking every battlegroup stationed here." He said with an air of non chalance.

The aide froze, his face blank.

"Sir, if we do that we leave Gundark wide open. We should wait for reinforcements from Arcturas and Reach, then send some of the garrison. We can't leave Gundark wide open."

"No, if we go and crush this invasion, the Remnant will have to forces to even mount a counter attack, let alone any invasions. If we do this right, we'll break the back of the Remnant war machine..." He smiled, leaning his head on his hand.

The transmission dimmed and the briefing room lights glowed back into life.

"Mobilise the fleets and any regiments posted here. We're going to crush them."

7th of August, 2607, 14:57 Serpentine System, Azaria, Tower of Redemption

The tide of dark brown fur and glimmering blue armour of every hue seemed to quieten and almost completely stop moving as, on the balcony on the grand building in front of them, a shadowed figure borne aloft on a gravity throne floated into view. He was wrapped in gold and red vestments and jewel necklaces adorned his long, slender neck. His crown arched up around a hologram of seven rings floating around each other. His dim, pink rimmed eyes looked over his army as they began to chant his name in unison.

'DELIVERANCE! DELIVERANCE! DELIVERANCE!'

"My comrades, stand fast! The Human's destruction is put a heartbeat away! All that is required is we grasp this world. Their defences are meek and their hearts full of fear of our faith, fury and strength! If we take this world, they lose their food and we gain their bounties! We shall push into their defences like a holy spear, impaling their black heart and destroying them! Our weapons are sharp, our ships are ready, but what of you? You my comrades, hold all our hopes and dreams, go forward and destroy the enemy!"

There was a single, united roar and then the Jiralhanae swarmed to their drop ships and gravity lifts, heading up to their ships. The Prophet of Deliverance let out a weak smile from ear to ear. His throne turned and retreated back into the tower, flanked on each side by a Chieftain in marvellously decorated armour. To his right was Cassius, one of the greatest chieftains of the Brutes. What he lacked in tactics he made up for in rare power, even perhaps surpassing that of the old chieftain, Tartarus. To his right was a lesser Chieftain, Lakvanus. He was to lead the fleet to Kanna and to take it intact.

"Lakvanus, as you know... failure will not be tolerated." Deliverance said in a velvety voice that masked utter malice. "Should you fail to take this planet... do not return, unless you wish to end up like your predecessors."

Lakvanus visibly shuddered. Cassius had previously killed five chieftains who had failed to complete their objectives, breaking their spines then hanging them by meat hooks off the tower, leaving them to starve and for the local birds to finish them off.

"I will not fail you mighty Prophet. We will take this word intact." He said, full of pride

Deliverance frowned then moved away to face a delegation of spindly creatures dressed in fine robes, hiding their callous patches and spines, leaving Cassius to stare at Lakvanus. He was already imagining killing him.

"Divine Prophet, why have you called a meeting like this?" The Kig-Yar Pirate diplomat asked

"For this... invasion, I need someone to fill where my Jiralhanae... lack. Skirmishers. Raiders, privateers."

"And... Mighty Deliverance, what will be our prize?" the lead delegate asked, anxious

"Three new cruisers, ready for service, along with a shipment of new weapons. Along with that you can keep anything you claim on Kanna. Food, supplies, gold, bounty, slaves." He said calmly

The Kig-Yar looked amongst each other with gleams in their eyes and with excited chatter. The lead delegate silenced them with a motion before looking back to Deliverance.

"We will pass this on to Dekd Nok."

Deliverance let out a twisted smile and placed his fingers together and stooped his head.

"So, it all begins."

Lakvanus broke away from the Prophet and headed to his Phantom transport, waiting on the landing pad. He clambered into it and immediatly barked for the pilot to get them up to his Super Carrier, Glorious Redepmtion. At six kilometers long, it would lead this glorious fleet to victory. His Brutes were ready to fight and if need be die for their cause, to wipe out the human race. As he arrived on his bridge he clambered into the commanders chair and looked over his crew as it floated about three meters above them.

"Prepare to jump to Kanna."

1
The comlink gently buzzed, once, twice, and again. It was a small Uplink unit, capable of reaching anywhere in the Galaxy on voice link within seconds through to the UNSC ComNet. A grey-clad figure answered it.

"Sir I think you'd better take this one, it's on encrypted wave. Signal Three-Two. Your signal, sir."

"Alright O'Brien, thanks."

The signal could only be decrypted through the use of a helmet-mounted decoder, a decoder unique to each of the 16 operatives in the team. This particular signal was linked to the decoder unit of the team's leader, Lieutenant Commander Archie Puller.

A brief gesture cleared to men away from Puller, and the transmission began.

"You there Four-Three Lead?."

"Roger that, Oscar Command, what is your message?"

"This is Jacobs, Four-Three, I have a priority signal for you, straight from the top."

"Fire away, Admiral, I'm listening."

"Looks like the Remnant wasn't as hurt as we thought, they're coming, fast."

"How many?"

"Our best reports say over 250."

"I see. What are my orders?"

"Get to the spaceport, hunker down and get ready for a long war. Oscar Command will contact you once we have more information."

"Roger Oscar Command, I'm out." And with that Puller terminated the signal. "Straight from Field Ops' CO? This must be a new war or something. We'll set up a recon perimeter around the spaceport and hunker down, Marines will show up soon. Okay ONI 43, let's move out!"

The cluster of armored figures grabbed gear and weapons and followed Puller as they trudged through the streets towards the nearby Tralus Intergalactic Spaceport. But as they strode onto the runway, they noticed the only air traffic was a trio of departing Pelicans. The place had been abandoned.

"Ah sir, should we secure another point?" It was O'Brien a freshly minted ensign, eager, but untried.

"No ONI 43, we have our orders, secure that hangar, look like it has a ordinance well. That should make a fine bomb shelter. Snipers, take the roof. Hansen, take two men and set up the MG by the dispersal. O'Brien, set up CP here. Okay let's move!" As the cluster of men scuttled to obey orders. Puller could only mutter to himself. "We've got our own little war."

For the men of ONI Field Operations Team 43, the battle had already begun.

Fight With Honor

2
7th of August, 2607, 15:23 Serpentine System, Azaria's immediate orbit

As the Jiralhanae fleet mobilized in vast quantities, a small corsair weaving through them went entirely unnoticed. The Interceptor ship was commanded by Kindik'Yar. As the ship prepared to jump into slipspace, the young captain was already pondering his strategy. Not for battle, he left that to his XO, but of how to go about stealing everything he could find. He concentrated on looting constantly, as his siblings had claimed it was the only thing he did well. That was not true, as he ended up being the heir to their mother's ship.

He was an efficient killer, as well...

He clicked and growled in the Kig'Yar language, and gave word to his navigator "Full speed ahead".

The navigator quickly pressed and pulled an array of switches, buttons, and other devices, until the Front-view display showed a glimmer of silver gather at the front of the ship. They were ready to enter slipspace at any moment.

The Captain rose from his seat and went to a rear section of his ship, where seventy of his skirmishers prepared for war. Though their weapon options were limited, each was powerful in its own right. Them and the ship were all Kindik'Yar had to his name, though he planned to change that soon enough. He stood at the front of the room, and with a loud bark attained the attention of his troops.

"You know the drill, whelps." the merciless leader began. "Kill everything that moves, steal everything that doesn't. Any of you that do exceedingly well -" or survive he thought to himself "-might be allowed to keep some for yourself."

All Kig'Yar were Pirates at heart, and the possibility of gaining loot for themselves nearly brought bloodlust upon them. Seeing his work was done, Kindik'Yar left the room to wait for the moment of truth.

MasterGreen999

3
As Captain Larry Jackson smoked his cigar, he looked out from the bridge of the UNSC Dawn to Heaven to the star of Epsilon Serpentis. They had been on patrol for about an hour with the other ships in the fleet, searching for Remant activity. Jackson checked his old, wind up watch.

8:09... we should return from patrol in fifty-one minutes...

However, that small moment of peace and tranquility was not to last, as the screen suddenly went black, and a transmission from UNSC Command on Kanna came in.

"Jackson, we have a problem. Two-hundred Remnant ships are inbound for Kanna. They should reach it in one hour." "Sir... what do you want me to do about it?" "In system jump behind the Brute fleet. Here are the coordinates. Following your hit and run attack, your patrol will jump in-atmosphere of Kanna for re-armament. Also, get the 42nd ready for in-atmosphere combat." "Yes sir. Engineers, get those engines heated and lit up. We're going into battle."

Along with a few cheers, the look of nervousness set among the crew. Kanna was supposed to be a break from the combat. However, they were jumping right back into the fireworks.

"SHIT, PULL UP, PULL UP!"

The ball of plasma slowly began to turn toward the small Katana fighter, boiling and cracking the skin of the highly turned craft. The Katana pushed its engines faster and faster, but the ball also got faster and faster. Then, it ended.

Lewis awoke in a cold sweat aboard the UNSC Dawn to Heaven.

Another bad dream... he thought to himself as he climbed out of bed, got a towel, and walked to the showers. It was another patrol, and the crazy Katana drivers were told to get as much rest as possible. As he walked to the shower, over the intercom, the voice of the ship's captain, Larry Jackson, came in loud and clear.

"All crewmembers, prepare for combat. We are intercepting a Brute fleet headed for Kanna."

Lewis threw down his towel and ran for the ready-room, where he grabbed his "flight suit" and ran to the breifing room. -- <font color="Red">Your Worst <font color="Red">Enemy <font color="White"><The SPARTAN-I> <font color="Red"><The Warrior><font color="White">[The Thriller] <font color="White">[The Project]<font color="Red">[The Unit] <font color="White">[The Vessel] 17:50, 26 July 2008 (UTC)

4
Inside the Tower of Redemption, the 11th Age of Reclamation

The Prophet of Deliverance strolls around in the Garden of Gemini, looking at the blossom trees and the statue of the old Hierarchs. The Great Journey is nigh, and soon, on Kanna, we will stood our grounds and reclaim from there... he thought. He hold out his hand to reach the flowers. Beautiful and elegant...

The Prophet leaves the Garden and heads for the Chamber. The Guards of the Remnant bow down as the Prophet passes them. Slowly, the chamber doors close, leaving the Prophet alone.

"Seeker of the Covenant, I come to you with a task." he spoke at the Balcony, overlooking the Azaria with hands down. Behind him, the Covenant AI slowly walks out of the light. Though it has served in the old Covenant and its dead hierarch, the AI manage to survive the extermination by the UNSC. It never understand the true purpose of the Great Journey, never cared for what the Prophet seek but nevertheless, performed its task with utmost accurate and precise. The AI took form of a Hooded Seer, faceless. The AI answered, "And what are you seeking on this given task?"

<font color="#0000FF"><tt>Little</tt> <font color="#0090FF"><tt>_</tt> <font color="#7DF9FF"><tt>Missy</tt> -  17:57, 26 July 2008 (UTC)

5
"Chieftain, your ship awaits." The Brute's growling voice broke the meditation of Chieftain Marus.

"Reahhhhg!" The giant Chieftain turned with agility remarkable for one so large, and seizing the smaller Brute by the throat with one gnarled paw he lifted the shaking creature into the air. "What did I say about disturbing my meditations! You shall not fail me again!" It was a simple matter for a creature so strong to crush the throat of another. The crackling, rending sound of breaking cartilage and snapping bone was heard, then the chamber fell silent. Casting the broken corpse aside. Marus left his red-daubed chambers and strode to docking bay where his personal Phantom Crimson Avenger lay, her blood-red form bristling with torpedo launchers and turrets.

Marus settled into the throne that was placed behind the pilots chairs and growled "pilot, notify me the moment we arrive at Kanna, I have a score to settle with the Humans."

Fight With Honor

6
As the Dawn to Heaven came out of the slipspace rift, the first noticeable thing was the star that lay in front of them. However, a more sinsister threat emerged from the darkness: The 200 brute ships that had come to invade Kanna.

"Alright boys, light 'em up!"

The Dawn to Heaven fired a barage of MAC guns along with Archer missiles at the fleet while gunning it right through the middile. The rest of the patrol did the same, knocking out twenty of the ships in thirty seconds. As soon as they made it through the gauntlet, they all entered slipspace, and re-appeared again in the atmosphere of Kanna.

In the cold, quiet comfort of his office in Sydney, Australia, Lewis read the papers about the most recent battle with the Remnant forces.

''Hm... ODSTs seem to be doing good... same goes for the special operations forces...''

Then, he flipped the page, and read about the Spartan-IV program and how it was progressing. As the NavSpecWar Rep to HIGHCOM, along with being the head of NavSpecWar, Lewis ran double duty on black operations and shock troopers. As a former ODST, he was mainly stubborn, and, was very strong for his age. He stacked the papers together, sealed them and stamped them as TOP SECRET, then put them into a filing cabinet.

''So primitive... at least this information can be destroyed with fire...''

His thoughts trailed off, and he walked toward the door. He grabbed his coat and his hat, saluted the guard outside of his office, then walked to the building next door to the secure UNSC facility. When he entered, he walked to the lone elevator shaft, and began the three kilometer ride down into the depths of Earth. -- <font color="Red">Your Worst <font color="Red">Enemy <font color="White"><The SPARTAN-I> <font color="Red"><The Warrior><font color="White">[The Thriller] <font color="White">[The Project]<font color="Red">[The Unit] <font color="White">[The Vessel] 19:25, 26 July 2008 (UTC)

7
7th of August, 2607, 16:00 Blood for Sin

The black-crimsion armour of Shipmaster Epsilus reflected off the purple interior of the Covenant Cruiser. A large helm adorned his head, and a Gravity Hammer, the ultimate sign of dominance, slung off his back. His pack-mates stood along him, their Spike Carbines and Mauler Pistols at their sides. The control room's blue-white monitors and terminals changed appearence rapdily as bits and bits of information entered and left them.

A Jiralhanae Captain Ultra turned to Epsilus and said "You bring news from the Tower of Redemption?"

Epsilus looked at the Captain. His weapon was different from the others, it was the Grenade Launcher, armed with a blade for slicing and cutting. This particular Jiralhanae was his second in command, his closest pack-mate. His name was Terrorus, and was an impressive warrior. His Cyan power armour, coupled with his dark brown and thick fur made him look threatening and brilliant as he commanded troops. Though that was ... before. Back when the Covenant was the most feared force in the galaxy, back when Humans cowered in fear whenever they saw a Covenant creature.

And those days were about to repeat themself, as history had a tendency to do.

"Deliverence promises complete Human annhiolation. He promises death to all who challenge the Covenant! HE PROMISES VICTORY!"

The ten Jiralhanae in the control room cheered and howled as Epsilus gave his speech. Armours of various shades of Blue and Gold reflected light off of everything, making the control room look more like a light show than a Shipmaster's quarters.

An Ultra put up his arm and asked "What else does he promise, Chieftain?"

"What we've always wanted, brother," Epsilus started. "Salvation. THE GLORIOUS PRIZE FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF THE HUMANS! OUR KIND WERE IN ITS GRASP ONCE BEFORE, BUT WERE STOPPED BY THE HERETICS AND THE DEMON! THE HERETICS ARE LIGHT YEARS AWAY FROM HERE, AND THE DEMON, OUR GREATEST FOE, IS NO LONGER AMONG THE LIVING! REJOICE, BROTHERS, FOR THE COVENANT SHALL SOON REIGN WITH AN IRON FIST, ONCE AGAIN!"

More and more Jiralhanae stormed into the control room to hear their Chieftain preach the words of Deliverence. The message was rather clear: Kill the humans.

And these were the right Jiralhanae for the job.

--KillerCRS 20:01, 26 July 2008 (UTC)

8
Solus paced down between the drop-ships, lined up so majestically, yet seeming so constricted. The Brute didn't like Space-Warfare, fearing that anytime the ship could explode and his pack would never have even been able to lodge their hands into the squirming humans guts. The fact that he enjoyed that was another of his fears. Solus was a tall brute, but that wasn't what made him stand out from the ret of his pack who were constantly swarming around ther leader. Solus had dyed himself Purple, as a sign of faith to the Covenant, he was the same colour as their prized ships, and numerous runes stenciled onto his fur in a shiny yellow described him, the way his pack knew him, Honour, Skill, Strength, were some of several of the yellow markings that adorned his head and shoulders.

A Brute in the armour of a major pushed his way through the several brutes following Solus expectantly, Joblus was leaving a slight trail of droplets of blood, that if followed would lead back to their current ships toilets. Joblus also had some markings, but these he had carved into himself, the most recent being added using the deattached blade from his Brute-shot. Joblus managed to tap Solus's shoulder on the Will symbol, and the Chieftain turned, to look down upon his officer.

"Solus, we are getting near the humans fleet, we should be in range for them in something like 15 minutes."

Solus kept his mouth clenched shut but his growl could still be heard vibrating from the back of his throat. "I'll ask for permission to take several drop-ships out, try and go in a semi-circle, so we can head straight for the humans world."

There was volley of cheers down the line of Brutes behind him, as what he said was steadiy passed down. Solus looked upon those members of his pack, about a qaurter of them were here cheering. Seemed they too didn't like ship-fights.

9
"Dove! Get me a coffe would ya?"

"Yes sir!"

Lieutenent Colonel Chris Locklear closed his office door and went to sit in his comfortable desk. He had gotten lucky, where his regiment had been placed he was "stuck" with using this office. An office lined with beautiful woodwork, a large screen on the opposite wall, a two screen computer, and a view. He sat down at looked at painting of his unit patch on the wall. Two wings protected their unit number, the 77th. Black bold words wrote out, AIRBORNE REGIMENT "FLY FLY". Locklear thought back when he was a captian serving in the same unit during the Human-Covenant War when it was first formed. Now after raising through the ranks he had been fortunate to become the commander of the regiment, a fact that he felt proud of. The 77th Airborne Regiment had a proud history.

"Sir your coffee, also a Mr. Hayase is on the line for you."

Locklear looked up after hearing the name. "Pierce? Put him through." He said with a smile. "And thanks for the coffee Dove. Also we're on standdown so let the regiment have three days of RnR." Dove his aid smiled brightly than exited the office. Locklear touched a button on his computer and his old friend popped up ont he screen.

"Locklear, hope I'm not disturbing you."

"Not at all Pierce, it's good to hear from you how are things?" Locklear said looking at his friend, Pierce had been younger than him but had aged much more. The old retired veteran of the 77th had been under Locklear's command for a few years.

"Things are good, damn you haven't aged much at all Chris."

It was true, Locklear was a few years older than Pierce who was now seventy-five. But Locklear looked like he was in his mid fifties. "Well cryo does that to you." Locklear said, he had been transferred to so many units all over the systems that he spent a good majority of his life in cryo. A fact that he hated, he had outlived many of his friends, including his late wife who happened to pass while he was in cryo. "So what's going on Pierce?"

"Nothing really, just wanted to see how you were doing. Also wanted to see if you'd be able to come down to Earth for the holidays later." Pierce said, in the background his wife was watering a flower garden.

Locklear and his friend talked for a while longer and made small plans to get together. Their conversation lasted for twenty more minutes. Until another message came up for Locklear, it came straight from the top, somethign that hadn't happened very often. "Pierce I'm sorry but something's come up."

"It's okay I remember how it was. You better get goin."

"Let's talk later, tell Hanako I said hello. See you later Pierce." They ended the conversation and Locklear opened the message. He jumped from his chair and ran for the door. He pulled it up and yelled for Dove sitting at his desk across the hall. "DOVE cancel that order! Get everyone back here ASAP!"

Hollywood

10
Lt.Joshua McCallan hadn't seen much combat since he joined the 101st Orbital Shock Regiment in the total of the 7 years he had seen only two engagments but he didn't mind that fact, he was Julliet Companys CO after Captain Jonson was made battalion XO. Just then his pager went 'Priority Alpha'

"RIGHT BOYS! SUIT UP!" he shouted over his com

He quickly grabbed his gear suited up and joined his men, they saluted when he arrived.

"Sir!" They shouted in unison while saluteing

"At ease" McCallan said while saluting back

"Sir,whats going on?"Staff Sergeant Rex Callahan asked.

"Kanna is under attack, all forces in this secter are to arrive in force and drive off invaders." Joshua replied

"Sir!"

"Ok,boys we arrive at Kanna in 10 hours so suit up and remember our motto!"

"SHOCK THEM TO DEATH!"

"I'll see ya in 15 boys" Josh said He walked away from Romeo squad the only men from the 101st Orbital Shock Regiment on board but by God he knew they were the best.

08:05, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

11
Second Lieutenant Callum Morgans had some good news for his platoon. That's why he ordered them outside and gave a speech.

"I think you will all remember our last battle, and that in that last battle we lost all of our vehicles, well finally the brass have given us new ones, and we have hit the jackpot."

Behind him 8 vehicles pulled up followed by a heavily armoured truck.

"Like it marines? Its an M660 Pangolin Protected Troop Transport. Room for an entire squad and has a machine gun and a forty mike mike gamma lima."

He let them all stare at it, other marines might not have fully aprecciated it but in their last fight, the entire platoon was on boars and they were so open, the marines had felt like they were in hell itself. "Sadly we only get one, so we will rotate around squads and use it for the wounded. And I have more good news, we are going to Kanna, Remmies are coming in and a lot of them, but we know what to don't we marines."

"BRING THE FIGHT TO THEM!"

Captain Briscoe had just recieved his orders and sent a message throughout his ship, on the speakers.

"Brutes are attacking Kanna and we are getting sent their along as part of a massive fleet, expect over 200 brute ships."

"You always were blunt and to the point." commmented his AI Zeus as he stood atop a virtual Mount Olympus.

Hasharin 12:27, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

12
Second Lieutenant Jennifer Wolf, charcoal-black helmet resting on her leg, squinted her eyes to better see into the darkness of the troop cryo bay. As the tram came to a halt, she caught her helmet up, swung herself off of the bench and walked off towards the pale blue glow of the cryogenic storage pods where the troopers of her unit were sleeping. As she stepped to the nearest one, the lights in the compartment snapped on, a warm reddish color that signified the ship was running on either low power or full battle alert. She glanced up at the techs, who were typing rapid-fire into their consoles, starting the warm-up cycles. Her men and women would be up and at 'em in less than thirty minutes. Which was when the ship was due to arrive at Kanna, and when the ODSTs would be dropped, in their tiny pods and along with a few vehicles, behind enemy lines.

Not looking forward to it, she lilted in her head. The Brutes were always a vicious race, and when they got mad, they tended to kill anything in front of them, with disregard for any sort of wound... and the Brutes at Kanna were mad.

"Ma'am, we're heating up your platoon staff. Pulling the pins in five," a tech reported, his voice cracking into higher registers. He swallowed, embarrassed, and cleared his throat. Jennifer, much as she tried, couldn't suppress her smile, so she pretended to have a slight cough, and covered it up. This was obviously the poor boy's first engagement, and he was suffering from pre-engagement jitters.

Join the Navy, see the Galaxy, she thought derisively. Next to her, the croypod hissed and steam rose from its newly-released seals. The hatch lifted clear of the occupant, and she looked down at the groggy face of her platoon sergeant, Gordon Lydecker.

"Hey there, handsome," she joked, and he made a rude gesture at her. Then he grinned back, rolled himself out of the pod, and made a show out of trying to swallow the nutrients lodged in the back of his throat. After so many years, nobody had managed to think of a better taste for the composite, and it still had its disgusting lemon-lime mucus flavor. He took a rapid look around to make sure the techs were busy elsewhere and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"How's it going, gorgeous?" he asked, grinning. Company scuttlebutt had about two-hundred and fifty dollars on the fact that he and Jennifer were lovers, but no one had ever managed to prove it. Mainly because they kept the relationship very, very quiet.

He was handsome, Jennifer thought, his light brown hair trimmed to a slight fuzz on the crown of his head, and his green eyes laughing silently at the deaths he had escaped. He was muscular, like most ODSTs, and had the Screaming Eagle of the 101st Battalion tatooed on his shoulder, just under the normal ODST marks. "Lydecker" was stenciled across his shoulders, and his blood type could be found marked on the skin of his hip bone.

She walked him to the showers, and talked about their deployment orders on the way. Snatching his uniform and undergarments out of his locker, he disappeared into the fog of the rinse-down chamber. She sighed. Soon the rest of her platoon would be up.

And then they would to battle. And lose God knew how many troopers. Jennifer snapped herself out of it, promising to herself that it wouldn't happen on her watch. She sat down on the bench outside the showers and waited.

 SPARTAN- ' 091 ' [ ' Admin ' ]   [ Talk ] 13:58, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

13
Corporal Callihan sat on his bunk in the concrete barracks. He was part of the 10th Gaelic, a UNSC Marine Regiment who mostly got their soldiers from former Gaelic nations. He was transferred due to his Irish heritage, something he prouded himself on. As he took out his MA6A to clean it, his COMPAD began vibrating wildly, indicating something big was happening. He took it out and looked at it, a priority transmission from Colonel Jackson, the message said all troops to pile outside. He wasted no time.

Colonel Jackson stood on top of a M12B Warthog, still in his dress uniform. As his regiment began to file up, he began his speech.

"Men! A few hours ago a planet on the fringes of our space, Kanna, picked up a large Remnant fleet heading towards their planet. A defence is currently underway but with the size of this fleet,their going to need some help. Our regiment, along with all other forces nearby are ordered to head to the Kanna system to reinforce them. These bastards want a fight, were going to give them a hell of a time, dismissed."

And with that, he stepped off the Hog and walked towards his office.

Callihan was in the crowd and discussion started among the regiment. As they began to walk back to the barracks to get ready, he overheard a conversation between two marines, he only heard the ending.

"...seems like the motto will have to be changed."

"What do you mean?"

"Tiocfaidh ár lá,our day will come, our day is here."

112 15:30, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

14
“Alright people, can we begin this briefing?” said Fleet Admiral William Hurtz, head of the UNSCDF. “Yes Sir.” Said every person who sat at the round table. Around the table, clockwise, sat: Chariman Fleet Admiral William Hurtz, Vice Chairman Alexia Romanov, General Gary Kirsham, head of the UNSC Marine Corps, Admiral Gareth Boyar, head of the UNSC Navy, Lieutenant General Joseph Lee, head of ONI, and Lieutenant General Andrew Lewis, head of SOCOM. They all went through the usual password and biometric procedures before tabbing past the “CLASSIFIED” and laws pages.

“Alright people, as you can see, there is a slight situation over at Kanna. Two-hundred Brute ships have appeared in system, and are currently headed toward the planet.” “Sir, I do believe that the planetary defense forces are making their preparations now.” Said General Gary Kirsham. “Yes, that is true; however, I don’t see how they can stand up to a fleet of 200 Brute and Jackal ships. I suggest we send reinforcements.” “We have the 105th and 2nd ODST Divisions at Diego Gracia and Songnam ready to go sir.” Said Lewis. “That’s good… any fleets Boyar?” “We have the 16th Fleet led by Fleet Admiral Vladmir Tuplovich ready to go.” “Alright then, get them fitted with weapons, ammo, personnel, and ODSTs… also, send our Special Tactics and Operations forces as well…” “Yes sir.” “Now, can we move into our next area of discussion?” “Why not?” They all tabbed to page sixty, where the classified reports were all listed. On the top of the page, a word which was symbolic to every person who fought in the last war: “SPARTAN” -- <font color="Red">Your Worst <font color="Red">Enemy <font color="White"><The SPARTAN-I> <font color="Red"><The Warrior><font color="White">[The Thriller] <font color="White">[The Project]<font color="Red">[The Unit] <font color="White">[The Vessel] 18:19, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

15
Corporal Hiroji Kira sat inside his M13B Kaiser Dragon. He had only used it in actual combat once before... in a brief skirmish against the Remnants. However, never before had he heard of them in such numbers.

"Sir, how many did you say there would be again?" Hiroji asked his Company's CO, via comm chat.

"Hell, soldier, think it was over 250 ships in there fleet, and who knows how many skirmishers. But, we're in for a rough fight, so you just kick ass and take names in that fucking machine of yours and don't worry about how many of the idiots there are until they're all buried in the soil," was the response Hiroji recieved.

"Thanks, sir," was all Hiroji said, before going on to check over his war journal. It was pencil and paper, unlike most soldiers with journals, whom used video or audio journals. Inscribed on the back of it was the kanji on all his family's war journals, ever since his one of his ancestors from the 20th century had inscribed it on his, sent it back to Japan, then committed suicide for letting an American WWII prisoner escape.

Often, another tradition was to put "Dear Elders" or "Dear Senpai" instead of "Dear Journal" as a heading, as Hiroji began to do, detailing the days events. He also wrote a prayer to his Shinto Gods, asking for victory.

At the end of his entry, he wrote, "I am sorry to become a mass murderer, but it seems the only way an idiot will listen to anyone else is through having the truth shoved down their throat... along with several grams of lead."

-- <tt>Canis Lupus</tt>  - The Pack - - Kill - -  Join the Pack  - 22:05, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Defence of Kanna
9th of August, 2607, 8:55 Theta Nero System, Kanna

Vice Admiral Gi sat forward in his command chair, the only sound breaking the silence on the command deck was the humming of the solid state holographic projectors. Gi finally cleared his throat and spoke up.

"Norn, ETA to Brute arrival?"

"Fleets going to be arriving in thirteen minutes."

"And reinforcements?"

"Word is back from Gundark, the relief unit just jumped out. From there to here will take the fleet nine hours and forty nine minutes." She said flatly

"And in system back up?"

"Convoy groups just started bolstering Morgana, with two Raijin flak destroyers moving over to support us. Patrol Group Sigma 11 is due in three minutes, Patrol Charlie Three is due a short time, they are trying to arrange their jump to intercept the fleet, give them to trouble before they get over here. All the local Gunboats are on wide patrol and interception pattern in orbit."

Gi didn't change his stern faced facade.

"Sir, orders?" His XO asked

Gi was still silent, analysing the situation. He opened his mouth but didn't speak for a few seconds before finally giving his order.

"Give out our orders, move out group into a wide circular formation, same for Morgana, have them cover the area above the main continent. Deploy all fighters and interdictors. Fighter's orders are to protect our interdictors and intercept enemy fighters, interdictors are to go for their carriers. Cripple their launch bays. Have all warships aim for the closest attacking warships. Have the UNSC Into The Wild in Morgana engage and destroy any larger warships. Make sure that Super MAC destroys any larger warships before they become a threat. Sigma 11 is to hunt down anything that tries to slip through and hit anything in the atmosphere. Have all Raijins cover the battle groups and destroy any fight groups that come to close, have our gunboats hunt down all their troop transports and dropships. I want the Kursk's RADAR to full power, have its counter ee-cee-em and detection systems to full power. I want it to counter jam their RADAR systems, give us some respite. I want Dragon Squadron space borne, they need to cover the Kursk. If any fighters or capital ships get through, they have to keep the Kursk safe. We lose the Kursk, we lose our control of battlefield information." His officers and Norn kept up, relaying these orders to the defensive forces.

"Sir, what about our ground forces, what are their orders?"

"Dig in. Hold your ground. Don't give them any ground and keep control of the air."

"Sir, news from the Auckland. They are going silent, radio transmitters going off. If something happens, they'll send a warning." Lieutenant Donnel reported

Gi knew what Auckland was risking. Sending out a radio transmission would make them a massive target, almost guarantying their destruction. Everybody was willing to sacrifice themselves to protect Kanna.

9th of August, 2607, 8:59 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Industrial West, sector two-three, Aleph City

Staff Sergeant 'Ace' Warren, now in his BDUs and wearing his M4A2 Body Armour hefted the box of MB69 OICW to the now abandoned car tractor factor they were holding down. Opposite them was a vast field of unused land, just waiting for something to be built on. This is where they would try to land. Ten minutes ago two M809 Deathstalkers and a M810 Fat Tails from the armoured regiment also stationed locally to ensure this remained clear. They had begun setting up fire points and kill zones along the line of the factory, using mines and MG emplacements to keep the perimeter secure. His Dire Wolf lay silent, crouched down with the cockpit open and a portable battlefield generator plugged into it. He dropped the crate in front of it and kicked it open before picking up one of the magazines and inspecting it. It used the .50 calibre round used by the M41 LAAG and the co axial guns on most tanks. Made a mess of any mike foxtrot in its sites. He checked over his gear one last time on it as well. Internally he stored a M73D for emergencies to keep him safe in case he was rendered wolfless. He clambered back into the Wolof, slipped his arms into manipulators, settling his hands and stretching his arms, the motions replicated in the larger arms and then pulled down the chest lock then the chest plate, sealing him in. He cringed as the Wolf's neural interface connected to him, keying him into it. The holographic interface buzzed into life around him and displayed the visual input of the forward cameras as well as the side stalk cameras. He hefted the MB69 up and flipped the safety on and off and connected to the gun's onboard camera. He disconnected the mobile generator's cable and took a few steps forward. Lieutenant Daniels was looking over the delivery bays from an upper walkway, about a meter from the building. Warren walked up behind it to the edge and stopped and coughed to grab his attention.

"Staff Sergeant?" He said, turning to him "What do you want?"

"We gonna hold here until relieved then? Is that the plan?" He said accusingly

"Yes Staff Sergeant, something wrong with that?"

"Seems stupid. They are going to get wise and flank us."

"Don't worry, we have a contingency plan. Don't worry Warren."

Warren wasn't happy with the answer and just stormed away.

7th of August, 2607, 9:07, Theta Nero System, Remnant Super Carrier Glorious Redemption

Lakvanus stood on the command deck of the Glorious Redemption, observing the fleet in front of him crawling through slipspace. He remained silent even as they dropped out of slipspace with a thunderous shake, facing a blue-green orb floating in front of a yellow-red sun.

"High Chieftain, we have arrived." The bridge officer reported, turning to meet the eyes of his Chieftain. Lakvanus remained silent and maintained his intimidating presence.

"Full speed ahead, then halt the fleet at 100,000 units, out of their range."

"Yes ship master."

The fleet went to full speed, matching the speed of his Super Carrier. Everything was quite until an alarm began to go off. He snarled as a UNSC group quickly dropped out and slipspace and flew right through his fleet and left as soon as they had arrived. Twenty ships were crippled or destroyed. It didn't bother him. Many more would fall before the day was out. As the ships fell into a half circular pattern around Kanna, Lakvanus gave his orders.

"I want Group Night Scorn, Holy Dominator and Marvellous Sacrament to begin probing their defences." He barked over the inter fleet communications. He thumbed a rune on the holographic command interface in front of him, opening up a communication channel to some of his most trusted Chieftains. Those who expressed a bloodlust to get into close quarters combat with the more squishy human warriors on the surface. "Slip through their defences, pave the way for our landing. Once their defence falls apart, we will storm the surface.

He thumbed off that rune then thumbed another.

"Dekd, I hear Deliverance has bought your services. Time to fulfil those services. When my ships press the attack slip through, cause as much havoc as you can on the ground. And use those distinguished piracy skill of yours to get some ships closer to their formations. One of their ships, some poorly built human construct is jamming our sensors. Destroy it." Lakvanus didn't wait for a response. He released the rune rather than having to talk to that pathetic godless scavenger.

Lakvanus turned to face his fleet spreading out in front of him. He gave a rare smile and then roared over the fleet wide intercom.

"Remember my warriors, the Prophet wants this world intact! Tonight, we dine on the flesh of the humans!"

9th of August, 2607, 9:11 Theta Nero System, Orbit above Kanna, UNSC Valiant

Gi's expression finally changed to a scowl as the 3D display showed events unfolding in front of him.

"Sir, Brute forces are on the move. Three distinct groups closing on us fast. Looks like they are either heading straight for our ships or between out battlegroups. At this rate they will close on us in twenty minutes."

"I see their gambit. They know if they rush head on, they are going to lose, our MACs will just tear them apart. However, they aim to try and spread us out, reduce our effectiveness to fight and crush us in one fell sweep."

"But if they break through they can start to glass Kanna!"

"No, the Brutes are violent but not stupid. They are starving after the 8th fleet set fire to Argo-II. Without that agriculture world they are starving. We just hope the marines can hold out long enough, otherwise it’s going to get worse."

The bridge crew was silent for a few minutes before an alarm rang, steeping the bridge's light into the emergency red.

"Brute ships, 75,000 klicks and closing, we got a group moving right for us, copy that, two!"

"Warm MACs, as soon as they get into range, start firing. Get targeting solutions for our Archer pods and power up the manoeuvring rockets. Have ADIS system to full, I want every Firestorm online and ready."

The 3D map in front of him alighted with a messy tangle of lines indicating motion on both sides, archer firing lines and MAC targeting solutions. He looked on it with a frown.

"Sir, the Brute ships just moved to broadside! They are charging their plasma torpedoes!"

"Keep calm, we know the drill."

He watched on both optical and infrared imagers as orbs of brilliant light gathered on the flanks of the ships before firing like flaming meteorites.

"Return fire!" He roared

The Brute and UNSC ships exchanged fire, both sides sending out deadly conflagrations of fire. The Plasma torpedoes seemed to veer off course and dissipated, leaving the UNSC ships safe. Super heavy metal slugs followed by a trail of fire slammed into the Brute ships, with the majority shattering upon their energy shields, though a few smaller classifications were shattered as MAC slugs passed through their shielding and hull, sending out ripples of destructive kinetic energy, sheering the ship apart. They turned back to try and close again but met the second wave of MAC rounds. The larger warships were safe but the smaller ones, having barely survived the previous round of firing were blown to pieces. The Covenant vessels closed, with seraphs leading the vanguard, in an aim to get into close combat. The closest one fired its prow pulse laser straight at the Valiant, with a tear drop shaped orb of yellow energy appearing to protect the Valiant.

"Hold your ground, arm all archers. Fire!"

There was a wave of fire from the battlegroup, sending out torrents of Archer-II missiles into the opposing fleet. The modernised Archers were so stealthy their defence lasers couldn't even react in time. The few ships that retained their shields weathered the storm by the lead cruiser, a sufferer of three MAC hits seemed to list and buckle as orange explosions lit up along the beast. Tungsten penetrator rods the size of people punched through internal decks, going dozens of decks deep before exploded themselves, fragmenting inside the ship. Whole entire decks were torn to pieces and through explosions, structural weakening and decompressions were sucked into space, along with their crews. Internal systems were destroyed, their delicate works either shattered by the penetrator rods or simply torn out by a piece of tungsten shrapnel. Explosions bubbled under the cruisers skin, blowing our sections before a massive explosion caused by a failing plasma generator tore the ship in two. The other ships went into manoeuvres, entering the fleet into a delicate game of flank and fire. Streaks of red light erupted across the Valiant, ending in explosions as Seraphs were decimated. A smaller frigate, closing on her flank seemed to grind to a halt then explosions rumbled across its decks. These explosions ended as abruptly as they had started and left the ship dead in the water. Flights of Broadsword interdictors had done their job. More fire continued as Longsword, Knife and Katana fighters fought brutal dog fights with Seraphs. During the war the old Longsword was a match for them but now the Seraphs stood no chance. Though they outnumbered the fighters, they were many times more durable and agile than them and sported a collection of ordnance that could tear them to pieces in seconds. Gi rested into the back of his chair and let Norn and his bridge officers bring death to the Brutes. It was the marines groundside that held his attention. All there prays and hopes would have to be with them.

9th of August, 2607, 8:59 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Industrial West, sector two-three, Aleph City

Ace looked up as something broiled in the upper atmosphere. In the early morning, bright, cloudy sky, this was something so unnatural it made him sick to his stomach. Clouds roiled and twisted, lightening sparking across them, with an inner fire burning deep inside. As if like some great deity of the old world, it burst from the clouds with a trail of fire, screaming over head, rattling the factory complex, dropping off a trail of Phantoms and drop pods behind it.

“Contact, drop droops!”

The Death stalkers and Fat Tails became active, moving to face their targets, their turrets rising. A clutch of missiles streaked upwards, striking a number of phantoms right out of the sky. After that a deadly barrier of flak opened up, with 40mm cannons rending the incoming dropships to pieces in sprays of explosive bomblets and destruction. Phantoms dropped from the sky ablaze before the aborted the LZ to land else were. Meanwhile Ace was more concerned of the Brutes drop pods.

“This is Crow platoon, we got Brutes in the courtyard of out building, we got ALOT of them! They got supporting Phantoms, they are using our building as cover to drop in! We need support, now!” Crow Platoon’s CO screamed over the gunfire and plasma bursts

“Staff Sergeant, take Charlie squad, get one of those Death Stalkers, escort it over there, NAIL THOSE SOBs!” Daniels said, observing the battle with his binoculars, his usually calm composure overflowing into anger

“SIR YES SIR!” He said with barely contained glee. He leapt from the roof, landing below, splintering the ground where he fell. Behind him Charlie squad emerged from the building, their three dire wolves at the ready, along with the troops being ready for anything. “You heard the loot, come on!”

They paced over to a Death Stalker that just rumbled up to the building, the driver half sat out of his cabin.

“We heading over to nail some Phantoms!”

“Yeah, let’s move, you’re on point, we’ll get the sides and back, let’s move!” He said, moving up to the rear of it. His men mounted up in a tank desant fashion and got ready to move against the enemy. “

1
9th of August, 2607, 9:02 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Aleph City, Industrial West, sector two-three:

Yithii grew impatient and uncomfortable. The Darkbrood and her Captain Kindik'Yar were not a respected duo, and the Jiralhanae had only given them three ancient Spirits to drop off 70 Kig'Yar. As he dealt with them more and more, Yithii began to understand why Humans called them brutes. Met with shouts of "Hallelujah!", the pilots announced they had reached the dropzone. They were to eliminate all Humans in the immediate vicinity and link up with the nearest Brute pack. A Spirit to their right stopped on a rooftop to drop off the Snipers, the other two dropped them in a cramped street. Several Humans fought a Brute below, exchanging shots. An enemy vehicle approached, its Gauss cannon ripped the Brute to shreds. One Spirit stopped above it, and dropped its payload on it: Thirty Kig'Yar armed with Cutlasses. They assaulted the vehicle from every direction, cutting its crew to pieces with their refined melee weapons. Three of them jumped inside, their bodies barely able to fit in this alien construction, and began to analyze the controls.

Finally, Yithii's Spirit stopped, and dropped off his lance directly behind the Humans. Before they hit the ground, an effective wall had been made by their point defense gauntlets. The Humans turned to fire, but Yithii had trained his Kig'Yar well, and none flinched under the onslaught. Above them, the Snipers took aim, and a volley annihilated the Humans, most killed on the spot. However, a single Human clung to life, and turned on his back, his Rifle aimed at a sniper. He took a single shot, and the Kig'Yar's head exploded in a fountain of gore. Before he could take aim again, the body fell from the building, and miraculously landed on the Human, crushing him in his weakened state.

Before they had any time to relax, another squad of a dozen Humans turned the corner in front of them, one armed with a rocket launcher. Yithii knew they couldn't survive this, and began to order a retreat. Before the words could be uttered, however, he heard a horn honk from a Human vehicle. The Gauss vehicle behind them hit a rock, and flew through the air above the shield wall, manned by three Kig'Yar. The Gauss Cannon roared to life, and extinguished three Humans, including the rocketeer. It landed on top of two more, scattering the terrified Humans.

Yithii's lance barked and howled in victory, as the Snipers came down to join them, the Cutlass Pirates from behind. The group relaxed, and began to search for the pack they had been sent to support.

MasterGreen999 23:56, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

2
9th of August, 2607, 9:01 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Agricultural South, sector 1-5, Kanna Rice Line

“Aye Chief, we’re nearing the Landing Point, it’s all uphill for you lot till you reach the first village!” One of the pilots of the small group of Phantoms bellowed, though Joblus wasn’t sure if it was the pilot for his phantom, or one of the several others coming over the comm. Solus had been given authorization from Lakvanus himself to take a his pack to capture and hold the Kanna Rice Line, a series of rice growing villages that produced a large amount of the planets personal food supply. Beneath the Phantoms was a thick forest covered hill, with the LZ, a kind of clearing at the hills base. Joblus heard the unmistakable chink of a bullet on thicker metal, as outside a visibly shaken marine had broken from his cover to try and shoot the Phantoms gunner, who in turn released a volley that went for minutes, not only obliterating the marine, but also widening the clearing, burning through trees and unearthing several more marines who had hidden themselves in an attempted ambush. By now the gunners of the other Phantoms had also noted the humans desperately sprinting back up the hill for the safety of the forest. As Joblus landed the last stragglers of the Marine Ambush party were being finished off by the gunners. Solus walked up beside the Major, now in his customized uniform the Chieftain looked slightly odd, with a pair of Kig-Yar Energy shields strapped to his arms and a Jump-Pack crudely welded together with the rest of his armour.

“Hmm…we should follow, judging by their casualties they won’t have put to much plan into a proper follow up ambush…is it not along the Kanna Rice Line anyways?” The chieftain muttered, tilting his head to the Major.

“Uh…yes Solus…”

The Purple Chieftain smiled, “Good…Keep your brutes tight, we can’t afford to underestimate the enemy.” The brute puffed out his chest, in an attempt to make himself appear larger, before turning to the rest of his brutes as the last came down from the drop ships, “Brutes, let us soldier forth, we must take and hold the line!” Solus yelled, before turning and running into the thick growth.

4 minutes passed, 2 more marines were found, wounded from the turrets. They were executed.

Solus and his brutes emerged on the side of reasonably thin road, the sound of engines roaring down one side, and the top of buildings now visible, poking over tree-tops only a little further up the hill.

“I want all Brutes to go for the objective bar the minors directly under my command!” Solus yelped as the engines grew louder, and dust was visibly being sent swirling up from around the corner.

Joblus nodded growling at Brutes to follow him to the village, as Solus and several Minors jumped back down into the shadows of the trees. Almost as soon as Joblus and his Brutes were out of sight, Solus caught eye of a pair of Warthogs, one after the other, grinding along the dirt road, a Minor shushed the other Brutes around him, as a Marine could be heard yelling over the Warthogs engine “We should set up round here, if the ambush failed then brutes’ll be running up here to get to the village.”

“It’s fortified, and the ambush wouldn’t have failed, intel said it was what, one phantom?”

Intel was wrong, Solus thought to himself, as he activated his jump-pack, propelling him from the cover of the trees. The Marines yelped at the sudden appearance of the purple mass of fur that hurtled towards them and the Warthogs turret opened fire only for the bullets to disappear into one of the Brutes energy shields turret as Solus wedged the other beneath it and rolled the jeep over. His minors covered the other jeep in a volley from their spikers, though one Brute was quickly shot down by the Turret, the driver and gunner were dead in a few seconds. The passenger, sweating, his mouth locked open in a state of shock, dropped his gun, vying for the wheel of the warthog, with his companions corpse acting as a shield the marine drove away, leaving the gunner to flop off to the ground at Solus’s feet. Solus had his arms locked together, shielding himself from the volley of bullets from the three marines hiding behind their flipped over warthog. The large brute growled, knowing his shielding would soon run out, as he slowly side-stepped to the opposite side of the warthog. Here the brute ducked, pulling out a grenade, the warthog was being supported slightly off the ground by its turret, and Solus used this gap to roll under his grenade, causing one marine in fright to run out into the rest of Solus’s brutes who gunned him down as the other two marines were blasted to bits by the explosion.

Joblus rushed up the hill, reaching the side of a small building as the sounds of spikers echoed from below. A marines battle-rifle popped out of a window to his side, looking for the cause of the shots, only for Joblus to grab him by the arm, pull the marine out and stuff the blade of his brute-shot through the humans head. Motioning with his fingers, the large pack of brutes split up, with Joblus going towards the small tower he’d spotted before. Several Marines stood peering out of its many windows, one almost instantly spotted the Brutes as they split up, and an alarm sounded shortly after the yelling of “Brutes! Brutes are here!”

Joblus cursed his luck, as he sprinted towards the towers base, as the guns that protruded from it shone bright and rained lead down upon the Brutes that had gone in the opposite direction to Joblus. At the towers base, a marine on a turret opened fire as Joblus leaped behind a wall, allowing the unlucky minor behind to be quickly torn to shreds. Blind-firing his Brute shot, Joblus managed to take off the marines feet from under him, causing the soldier to crack his head on the turret as he fell, sending the turret spinning and killing several of the other marines around him. With the turret gone, Joblus and his minors marched forth, shooting down the marines who were either retreating up into the tower, or away amongst the other buildings, though this inturn came with casualties from the Brutes own side, as the humans above aimed their guns down, firing a torrent of lead upon them, forcing the Brutes to also scatter. Joblus sprinted into the tower, his brute-shot quickly clearing the slightly packed base-level, as the tower was rather thin, and much of the bottom level was taken up by the staircase. Joblus quickly jogged up these stairs, turning the first corner, shooting a marine out the window, and quickly cutting her partner with his guns blade. Several more Brutes now made their way into the tower, and Joblus decided to descend to help the other half of the pack to claim the rest of the village.

Exiting the Tower, Joblus witnessed Solus and his brutes emerge from the forest, grinning at their recent success. The Chieftain approached Joblus, as a marine fell screaming from the towers roof, landing between the two Brutes with sickening squelch.

“Seems you’re doing well.” Solus laughed, as he rested a foot on the fallen marines chest.

“And you I’m sure sir.”

“What’s the situation?”

“Uh… well I split up the pack, cleared the tower and this corner bit with my half…and…Uh…I’m not sure what the other half is doing, I was going to go check up on them now.”

“Good, you follow their tracks, I’ll head around towards this towns centre.” Solus nodded to his protégé, as he made his way through the path created by the clustered single-story buildings. A pair of Marines, noting Solus to be the Brutes leader, jumped out into the door-way of their building, one crouched below the other as they fired at the Brutes flank, only for Solus to quickly activate his shield facing them, turning to the pair of marines, he approached them, spreading his fingers inside his gravity glove, his shield now blocking the doorway, with the two marines trapped inside, Solus quickly deactivated his shield, grabbing one of the marines head with his glove, and swung him like a rag-doll into his compadre, knocking her to the ground. Solus kicked away her weapon, stepping on her neck and lowering the other marine close to her, so they could look each other in the eye as Solus tightened his grip. The marines head made a sickening pop, and bathed the other human in blood and brains. She started screaming and writhing beneath Solus’s foot, who chuckled as he pulled out a spiker and finished her off with a quick shot.

The minors stared at their leader some-what gobsmacked. Before quickly running off as he gave them an unsavory glare. Solus followed behind his pack, as they marched for the centre of the town. The towns remaining marines had been forced back by the Brutes Joblus had separated from earlier, but now found themselves fighting on three fronts, and backing towards the village’s rice paddies. Some marines, not realizing how close they were stumbled into the knee-deep water, and flailing, found themselves to have dropped their guns, as around them, fellow soldiers fell dead or bloodied, to drown in the paddies as it turned a watery red. Joblus laughed, as he stood over the remaining 6 un-armed marines, watching them beg for mercy. Of the 42 Marines assigned to this village, all the others were now either dead or a fleeting few still fleeing for their lives.

“We take them prisoner” Solus muttered, grabbing the Major by his shoulder, before turning to the cowering Humans, “You lot, will have the honour of stringing up your fellow Scum from the tower. I do not want to be able to see the brick it is made of by the time you are done!”

Joblus nudged the Chieftain, “We should probably collect all the weapons first, before we let them have fun.”

The Chieftain nodded, before turning back to the rest of his pack “Warriors, I want our fallen comrades collected, we’ll designate a room for them, I want defensive positions set up, Lakvanus is sending in another force to assault the next village, and whilst they're toiling we can feast for this victory!”

3
In the briefing room, the men handed around their ceremonial cigars while their Commander began to brief them.

“Alright Gentlemen. The situation today is dire and critical, so I want your full attention.”

In the back, Lewis whispered to his wingman, Lieutenant Junior Grade Kyle Elliot. “So, who’s gonna be the first one to down a fighter?” “Uh… if you two Gentlemen would like to share your feelings, please, share.” “No need for that sir, we were just wondering who would be the first one to kick ET’s ass, that’s all.”

Everyone in the room released a chuckle as the Commander began to speak up in a very serious tone. “You all will kick ET’s ass today. I trained you all well. Moving on: Today, you men will engage all Brute single-ship fighters that move into Kanna’s atmosphere. Drive them out at all costs. Dismissed.”

All the men walked out to the tarmac and walked to their futuristic star fighters. They all strapped in, taxied, then fired the rockets.

They would be going into combat for the first time. -- <font color="Red">Your Worst <font color="Red">Enemy <font color="White"><The SPARTAN-I> <font color="Red"><The Warrior><font color="White">[The Thriller] <font color="White">[The Project]<font color="Red">[The Unit] <font color="White">[The Vessel] 01:12, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

4
9th of August, 2607, 9:05 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Industrial West, Sector Two Five, Aleph City.

The three phantoms flew into the outskirts of the previously quiet city. Explosions and glistening fireballs erupted unexpectedly into the evening air. The distant ripple and boom of weapon fire cut through each Brute, in the Phantoms, like a knife to butter. They were ready but the death toll; on there side so far, had been high. The leading Phantom’s pilot barked over the radio.

“We’re coming in hot. Load your weapons and show em’ no mercy.” The com went dead and so was the uneasy silence in the cargo bay of the dropship. Their captain spoke:

“When we reach the ground we desecrate any enemy, on foot or machine. We punch straight through their defences and each pack will do the same. Watch each others backs and give them hell!” For once the pack livened up as they roared in excitement. However one did not. Novus. A young Brute Minor brought up to despise and hate any foreign specie except the Prophets. He was ready for war but concentration filled him as he watched the streaks of plasma and metal shards flying around. He was going to be there. Any minute now…

Then, without any warning the Phantom to the left of his was hit by a round of missiles. The nose of the ship broke off, dipped and burnt as it plummeted into the engulfing industrial metal work of the city. A few Brutes onboard Novus’s ship were thrown off balance, by the shockwave, but recovered to hold their war-ready posture tightly inside the cargo bay.

“Unload Brutes and good luck!” The pilot shouted over the com. The Phantom swivelled to the side and dropped steadily down to an asphalt area. Novus was quick to load his Nailer Rifle and to jump off the dropship. He landed and then saw the full hell of war. It was his first time and despite the training; he was scared. Even for a Brute, the feeling of near death and killing stirred around in his body. He ran along side the pack hugging close to the building’s walls searching for a sense of salvation. He was far off that. Then Human marines appeared from around the corners of the street, which they were running down. Novus quickly jumped into a nearby ally and slammed his back onto the wall for cover.

He popped his head around and shot blindingly at the Humans who were taking cover behind buildings too and construction vehicles. His rounds missed and then the hissing spit of incoming fire entered his ears as enemy bullets pinged and smashed into the nearby wall. He flew back into cover but the adrenaline started to kick in. He felt ready and pumped up. Then the anger came: He saw dead Brute bodies with smashed armour and blood sprayed rubble underneath them. He then saw another Minor get a heavy round shot through the skull. Crimson blood spewed into the air as the lifeless body fell with no effort. The blood marked the beginning of this war: a war, which the Remnants were going to win.

Novus switched back to the offensive, this time firing in short controlled bursts. He instantly hit a Human soldier in the chest and made the small pathetic body fly onto their own land with a crack. He liked the feeling of revenge. His pack was still intact and more rounds hit marines. Novus fired again at a retreating soldier and pierced the already weak shields of the poor human. The next burst of super hot sun-glowing rounds cut through the armour and into the Human’s back. The body fell to the floor, leaving a trail of red splatters behind him.

However resistance was still strong and more incoming fire hit the wall and this time Novus’s armour. He quickly took cover and then blind fired until the clip was empty. He quickly reloaded and aimed out again to kill off some more of the Humans. Rounds of the Nailer Rifle struck shields and skulls of the falling Humans and a small victory, in this vast blood ridden battle, started to appear. Then it went.

As more marines retreated hopelessly; two enemy Warthogs came hurtling from around the corner. They skidded to a halt and the infantry firing stopped. They had gauss cannons on the back. Novus had no idea what the Humans called their weapons and vehicles but what he did know is that it caused a lot of damage. They shot their ear splitting super sonic projectiles at the pack and instantly half of the remaining Brutes were either blown apart, in a sprawl of blood and body parts, or thrown off their feet, into bone cracking impacts on the surrounding buildings and construction vehicles.

The Captain of the pack ran over and was hit by a few rifle rounds but still managed to make it to the ally where Novus was. Another three Brutes, out of the original twelve, came rushing over to the ally too. A gauss round ripped open a struggling Brute, who also tried to make it. Anger filled Novus like the scent of blood and fire did to his nose.

“COME ON, WE NEED TO MOVE AROUND THE SIDE AND RENDEZVOUS WITH THE REMAINING FORCES.” The Captain shouted and started to run down the ally. The Brutes followed shortly behind with doubts of whether there would be any remaining forces left. Novus heard explosions and gunfire getting ever closer to his rushing body. Was that all this life offered him? Then again, was that all he was born for?

He loaded his rifle with a new magazine and ran faster. He ran faster into battle. The battle, he was going to win…

5
2607, 1305 Theta Nero System, atmosphere of Kanna.

The UNSC Memorial drifts across the empty space, invisible to radar thanks to the Stealth Ablative Coating. No communications can be received nor even transmitted back via local military channels. Only ONI has access to transfer orders and giving out operations. The Memorial is a two-manned starship. From below of its chasis, a tiny lens pops out and focuses on the space battle between the Remnants and the UNSC.

"Whoa...look at those..." informs ONI Tech Sam, pointing out to the battle which is taking place in UNSC's space zone. He turns his head and watches as reports came in through the main screen.

"Well, Kanna has been peaceful all this while. With all the food supplies overloading, it is no wonder the Remnants attacked this planet..." replies ONI Tech Jenny as she turns her chair around. "I'm just saying, wouldn't it be fun if we had the time down at the Strip. Just us two..." Sam replies as he turns his chair, facing Jenny face to face.

"Human Expression and Emotions. Now you two, once we finish this operation, you can do whatever you want..." Dahlia responds as she builds herself up from the holotank. Being her fourth revival for the UNSC's service, her programs has been altered to suit only ONI-related tasks and operations. Dahlia slowly grasp her head and nods several times. She informs the two Technicians, "Incoming slip-rupture...from sector 6. It is the Covenant Remnants and this time, a larger force!! Send the report to ONI, Kanna Division. The battle will soon heat up..." <font color="#0000FF"><tt>Little</tt> <font color="#0090FF"><tt>_</tt> <font color="#7DF9FF"><tt>Missy</tt> -  13:17, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

6
Jeremy jerked up, and hit glass. He fell back down in pain, and took a moment to see where he was.

''Cryo room. We're still on the ship.'' He thought to himself. Then it must have been a dream. But he wanted to make sure. He slammed the panic button to his side, and the cryo tube hissed open. He jolted out, still choking on the snot his superiors dared to call "nutrition". He was a fan of the old formulas more. Less lime flavor. He walked a few steps to his left and checked the cryo tube two to the left of his. Sergeant Roger Wilkoe was there, sleeping somewhat more soundly than his CO had. Seeing his friend was alive, Jeremy headed to the showers.

It wasn't his fault he had trouble relaxing on a ship. His grandfather had been a Spartan, and taught him to never let a space-jockey fight a battle you could do yourself. His men, however, claimed that the Spartan blood in him gave him some kind of phobia of space. Jeremy hated that thought. Spartans were just as human as anyone else. They just served a different purpose.

After a quick shower, Jeremy walked to the bridge to check on progress. As he entered, a dumb AI asked in a Cockney accent "Name, authorization, purpose"

"First Sergeant Jeremy Patterson, ODST 105th, 2nd Battalion, Blackheart Platoon. First-level authorization. I'm here to check on progress."

The Dumb AI informed him "Very well" and opened the door. He walked through to see five men working at the controls. Most were working on trajectory, to make sure they didn't hit anything on their way to Kanna. At the front, a Korean fresh out of the academy sat at the controls, his fingers flying across the controls. Jeremy strolled up next to him.

"Well, Carter, I've never seen you work so fast. Either you've got a friend on Kanna, or it's where you hide your Playboy's."

"Shut up, Jeremy. Captain said we had to be there within ten hours or the whole effort's screwed."

"I see. When we gonna get there?"

"Soon, Jeremy."

"How soon?"

"Soon enough. You should head back to cryo, sir. We've still got another three hours until-"

"Aha!"

"Very funny sir. If you don't want to head back to cryo, I think the mess hall's open."

Jeremy left the bridge without another word, leaving Carter cuss out his friend like he only wished he could.

MasterGreen999 14:33, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

7
The moment the Brute fleet arrived at Kanna, the crimson Phantom lurched from its docking bay and dashed through the rapidly developing space battle. Plasma and missiles slashed past the cockpit windows, heightening the sense of danger the occupant's could feel as their craft spiraled and twisted through maneuvers it had never been designed for. A nearby exploded in a sheet of searingly hot plasma, its occupant vaporized in an instant. Several near misses shook the red Phantom, one upending it, throwing all aboard but the massive Chieftain into a muddles of bodies.

Finally, after dodging fire for several intense minute, the Phantom and her wingmen moved into quieter airspace, entering the atmosphere of Kanna. Activating the atmospheric baffling shields, the pilots watched as the ship descended rapidly towards their target, a large spaceport on the Southern Hemisphere.

Gradually decelerating to a hover, the Phantoms disgorged their living cargoes and banked away, preparing to bave the hazards of the battle above for another load of troops.

"Here they Coooommmmme!" The cry of the sentry snapped Puller out of his daydream. "Phantoms, 10 'o clock!"

"Stand firm 43, don't betray your positions. Mark the troop hatches and wait until those Phantoms back off, you know what to do boys."

"We'll get 'em sir."

"Dang there's a lot of them, I see at least seven."

"Keep it quiet guys."

The lead Phantom slowly touched down, and out of its troop hatch a lone Jackal appeared, sweeping the area with his weapon, then waving the rest of the troops to come on. Within seconds, hundreds of Brutes and Jackals had swarmed the landing pad, dividing into squads and packs, and moving towards the silent, drab buildings that circled the landing pad. The strong scent of Brute perked Puller's nose. "When you can smell 'em it's time to fight," he mumbled "Four-three, time to fight!"

The roar of thousands of round per minute slashing into the Covenant ranks tore the quiet air, replacing it with the thump of lead against bodies, the screams of the dying, and the incessant thunder of every weapon ONI 43 had. Puller chucked grenades until his arm became sore, watching shrapnel and explosions shatter Covenant troops, twisting shredded corpses in grotesque positions.

But somehow, a pack of Brutes managed to survive the hail of fire and make it to ONI's lines. Puller, swiveling from the waist and firing controlled bursts from his carbine, quickly killed two Brutes, and wounded another, but then the shouts of the Brutes came to his ears, growls of "Marus!Marus!Marus!." Turning, Puller saw a massive Brute charging towards him, carrying a pair of what look like a pair of conjoined Spikers. Puller, emptied the last of his carbine ammo at the Brute, but the charging Chieftain never flinched. Drawing his pistol, Puller fired a series of calculated bursts at the Chieftain's head. Blood, flesh, and bone sprayed the air, but the Chieftain kept coming. Reloading and firing as fast as he could, Puller watched the rounds tear into the Chieftain. Then only feet away from Puler, the Chieftain swung his mighty weapon. Out of ammo Puller could only duck, but once the Spiker's massive blades had cleared his head, he rose and shoved the weapon. The Chieftain, unable to check the momentum of a blow meant to decapitate a Human, axed himself in the arm. Snarling the Cheiftan seized Puller by the throat, preparing to rip him to shreds. For a moment the two say each other eye-to-eye. The yellow, bloodshot eyes of the Brute met the Green ones of the Human for a moment. The Brute was poised to add one more mongrel human to his kill count...

FightWithHonor

8
Atrik sat in his captins chair, all his boarding crat had launched, speeding towards where they were needed.

"Manuver us away from the main battle, charge all weapons."

Logmon 18:20, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

9
Lt.McCallan woke up from cryo sleep and banged his head Goddamn it he thought and his cyro pod opened and was injected with the God-Awful stuff to wake you up. It had been 4 hours since he had given his men that speach. He was the first from his squad to wake up. He checked on the navy tech waking his men up "Status?"He barked to the crewman

"Uhh..green,sir"The crewman replied with anxiety in his voice

"Good" He replied and almost laughed at the young crewman

Josh walked over to the showers to wash down he quickly dried himself and went to get his kit he quickly suited up and returned to the cyro bay. He started to watch his men wake up one by one I wonder if i'll lose any? He thought No dont think that,not on my watch. Josh looked at the screaming eagle pacth on his shoulder My men are gonna earn these today he thought as Cpl Peter Wilhelm woke up from cyrosleep and saluted him as he walked past Yeah they will and with that he left to go to the barracks.

18:36, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

10
The hail of Plasma fire withered away at the Humans as Yithii's massive Shield wall advanced up a large street. The captured Vehicle, designated a Warthog LRV, whatever it meant, sat on a makeshift hill, where a nearby bomb raised up a patch of cement into a raised position. Its Gauss cannon fired rhythmically, tearing apart its makers limb from limb. The Kig'Yar on the back was somewhat inaccurate, so he aimed at the Humans feet to make missing less likely. After that decision, noticeably less legs were found by the medics. The snipers had ducked into an apartment complex with the Cutlass Kig'Yar, only to encounter a Reconnaissance team of Humans. A firefight had erupted, and Yithii had heard no information of the result.

In the meantime, he had to focus on an entire platoon of Humans, who had created a bunker of destroyed vehicles at the end of the street, and set up several MG nests as well. The shield wall was holding, but it couldn't advance. He needed to find allies, and fast. He has doubled back around a corner and nervously watched the radar, looking for any signs of Covenant contacts. A small contingent of Kig'Yar was nearby, but they were surrounded on all sides by Humans. It would be a costly, and pointless rescue mission. Finally, the answer he sought appeared. A small Brute pack was lurking in a nearby alleyway. They looked wounded, from what the photos could tell, but a little assistance was better than none. He summoned a pair of Kig'Yar majors.

"Take a radar, and get to this Jiralhanae pack. Give them our position, and tell them we need assistance." The two Kig'Yar rushed into the alleys to find them, and Yithii regrouped with the shield wall. Inch by inch, the wall crawled forward. A single skirmisher poked his head out to squeeze off a shot. Before he could blink, an MG round burst through his skull, and he crumpled to the ground. The wall panicked and attempted to reform, losing three more Kig'Yar in the process. The Warthog fired off a round before driving into cover again, and an MG burst into flames as the ammunition dump exploded.

But during this skirmish, Yithii noticed the remains of the squad from earlier coming around the corner behind them, their rockets had been recovered. A single shot was squeezed off, but it only hit the corner, sending the remains of five Kig'Yar minors in all directions. The rear half of the shield wall turned to face them, and launched a volley. Two of the Humans succumbed to extreme burns, another's face was mauled beyond recognition, and fell to the ground still writing in agony. The other six ducked behind cover. Two of them jumped to their feet and fired at a Kig'Yar in the center. His shield was knocked off balance by the first, and the second burst exploded in his ribcage. The Kig'Yar standing next to Yithii fell dead.

Before any more actions could be taken, the glass on the complex's third level shattered, and two dozen Kig'Yar with cutlasses jumped down on the Humans, their shocking attack preventing any counters. Most were immediately overwhelmed by numbers, but a single Human shot one in the head, and grabbed his cutlass. Though the device was cumbersome to him, he managed to take down two in CQB, before the remaining ten snipers appeared in the windows and fired a volley, killing him.

Although it was their second victory in an hour, Yithii knew the limits of his lance, and they could only keep this extensive combat up for so long. He reformed the ranks, and attempted to hold while his scouts found those Brutes.

MasterGreen999 18:43, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

11
Hiroji Kira sat in the cockpit of his M13B Kaiser Dragon, firing his M41B LAAG at the encroaching Jackals. One of the marines supporting him suddenly fell dead, a large hole in his head. His squad's designated marksman managed to take down the sniper, as Hiroji unleashed his MX2 Plasma Cannon on a large group of skirmishers whom were all armed with standard plasma pistols and handheld shields. Its sharp beam of plasma cut through the Jackal's handheld shields at once and killed all of them.

Suddenly, a Type-25 Wraith moved towards Hiroji's Kaiser. Hiroji attempted to move in close, but was stopped by the hail of a plasma turret. He then began to reverse tactics and backed off, using his LAAG to take out the turret Brute.

A blob of plasma mortar was fired at him, to which he managed to move outside the blast while only taking minimal damage and began locking on his target for his FANG missile. After a small wait, another plasma blob went after Hiroji's Kaiser, to which he managed to dodge again, but barely. He launched his FANG missile, which traversed through the air to hit the cockpit of the Wraith, puncturing the vehicle's armour and killing the driver.

Suddenly, a hail of fire came down upon the Kaiser, with two Choppers starting to charge Hiroji. The marines covering Hiroji managed to induce a hail of fire on one of the Brutes, who was shot out of his Chopper. Hiroji manged to land a TUSK rocket on the other, destroying it instantly.

A small group of leftover Brutes and Jackal skirmishers attempted to fire their small arms at the Kaiser, but Hiroji began to once again unload his MX2, making short work of their shields. Suddenly, however, one of them shot a fuel rod at the vehicle, shaking the vehicle. Hiroji quickly unleashed his LAAG on the Brute who did, as the other combatants scrambled for the fuel rod in a desperate attempt to stop the Kaiser. Most of them were mowed down, with two remaining Jackal skirmishers and two Brute minors retreating.

The marines and Hiroji surveyed the area.

"I think we're done here. Oohrah!" yelled Hiroji, as he and the remaining marines attempted to follow the retreating aliens.

-- <tt>Canis Lupus</tt>  - The Pack - - Kill - -  Join the Pack  - 19:59, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

12
Locklear looked through his laptop making sure he had done everything. Of course he did, it was the seventh time he went through the orders and had corrected everything by the second read. He sent it immediately as Dove walked in with a tray in his hands. In the tray was a large plate filled with food from the mess hall, coffee, and a glass of water. "Jesus Dove you're my aid not my butler."

Dove smiled. "Yes sir that's true but I know you haven't eaten since we boarded the ship." Dove put the tray down in front of superior and sat at one of the chairs in front of the desk. "Sir, you're not thinking about going in with the first wave are you?" The smile was gone, the usual joking aid was serious.

Locklear grabbed a fork and took in a mouthful of mashed potatoes, they werent as good as his wife's. "Of course I am. Most of the lieutenants are a bit green." He said matter of factly. He was worried, he had to be there in case things hit the fan.

"Well sir, you're not as young as the rest of us, you're gonna need a guard." Dove said.

Locklear put another fork full of food in his mouth, this time peas. "Who'd you have in mind?" Locklear said alrady knowing the answer. Dove grinned in return. "Alright Dove, get your gear ready." Dove smiled and got up to leave after thanking him. "And Dove, don't brng back to much Remnant gear." Locklear said, Dove had a small business going selling Remnant equipment taken from the dead or simple fakes to REMFs (Rear Echelon Mother Fuckers}. Locklear had laughed hard when Dove told him about the business, said REMFs were the perfect target, unwilling to fight but wanting the glory to tell friends and family back home. Dove left the office smiling.

"Archangel." Locklear said as he sipped on his coffee. Soon a small hologram appeared next to his laptop.

"Yes sir?" a sweet loving voice said, the hologram showed a small angel dressed in a simple white dress with long flowing black hair with oriental features on her face, long graceful wings wrapped around her for a moment than spreaded out to full length than folded back behind her.

"Archangel status report on the battalions." Locklear said continueing with his meal. Archangel spoke for ten minutes as he ate. Everything was normal, nothing to fix, nothing to change. Damn, Locklear needed something to keep him busy at the moment. "Thank you Archangel, that's all for now." The AI disappeared and Locklear continued eating when Dove reentered, this time with a two beers in his hands.

Dove sat down and handed one of the beers to Locklear, they laughed a bit. "Cheers."

Hollywood

13
"Targets sighted... sweet lock, firing!"

In the Katana's internal weapons bay, a CLAW missile ignited, screaming out from the craft to impact a Brute Seraph fighter. Although the shields protected the Seraph from a direct strike, the force from the blast was enough to knock the Seraph off center, flying into his wingman, then the two of them crashing into the ground.

"Alright Lewis! Two kills!" said Lewis' wingman, before himself scoring a kill on a Phantom. The 42nd drew first blood in the opening moments of the air war, before the formation was pounced from above by Seraph reinforcments. -- <font color="Red">Your Worst <font color="Red">Enemy <font color="White"><The SPARTAN-I> <font color="Red"><The Warrior><font color="White">[The Thriller] <font color="White">[The Project]<font color="Red">[The Unit] <font color="White">[The Vessel] 01:46, 29 July 2008 (UTC)

14
The doors to the mess hall opened with a hiss, allowing Jeremy entrance. Here and there, members of 2nd Battalion sat at the tables, eating a meagre lunch to keep from starving during the upcoming drop. He didn't recognize any of the men from his own platoon.

Lazy-ass bums. He thought to himself with a chuckle. He got in line with another Helljumper. He noticed the blond-haired boy, not a day over eighteen, kept glancing at him.

"What do you want?" Jeremy asked, layering a threatening tone under his question.

The kid hesitated. He gulped in anxiety and asked "Aren't you the Spartan kid?"

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. What of it?"

"I thought it was you. You just look different from the rest of the troops."

"How so?" He asked, half-curious as to what the recruit would say.

"Well, your hair's about six inches past regulation, for one." He replied. Jeremy had to give him that one. With his windswept black hair, he looked more like the emo kid from high school than the CO of an ODST Platoon. "You're a bit taller than most people." Jeremy could see that as well. At 6'3", he was somewhat taller than most troops.

"I get your point, kid." Jeremy butted in. He didn't like to talk about himself. It made him feel... special. With his grandfather being a Spartan, he felt too special to begin with. "Kid, CJ Patterson was my grandfather, it's common knowledge. But that doesn't automatically make me a Spartan. He taught me to shoot bullets and to dodge 'em. That's it." Jeremy wasn't sure why he called anyone below him in rank "kid". He was only 24. It was just a habit he picked up. Probably from gramps he mused to himself.

Jeremy then realized they had been served several minutes ago, and raced to a bench in a corner. He sat there contemplating his grandfather. He had taught him a lot, that was for sure, but was he really close enough to him to be labeled the "Spartan kid"? He had always told himself - wished to himself, that his abilities were self-taught skill, not some genetic mutation. As much as he loved CJ, he hated him for giving him an unfair advantage over his friends. As he sat there, he noticed someone walk through the door next to him.

He took a quick glance, and labeled him as Jose Marez, a Lance Corporal in his platoon. They had been friends for long before the Corps, however. Jose wasn't as eagle-eyed as his CO, and would have walked by him without noticing him if his friend hadn't whistled. Marez jerked his head to the side to see who had called him.

A bite of mashed potatoes - or cranberries, you could never really tell - still in his mouth, Jeremy called him over.

As he approached, Jeremy said "So, who kissed you?"

"Say what, sir?" His friend asked, confused.

"They say to wake Sleeping Beauty, their true love has to kiss them. Who was it?"

"Dunno, sir." He began. "You can kiss my ass if you want, though."

They glared at each other for a moment, and burst into a racous laughter. The entire mess hall turned to see what the commotion was about, particularly the young recruit who had never seen Jeremy smile, let alone laugh.

Mastergreen999

15
It had been a mad scramble, but Dragon Squadron had managed to launch from the UNSC Valiant and attack the oncoming Brute fighter craft. In the lead, Robert Davis V managed to shoot down several oncoming Seraphs in his Claymore, with Clyde Davis and Alice Peters flying in behind him, in their Katana and Knife, respectively. On their left, Aaron Peters, Joshua Peters and Roy Drake took down several more fighters with their Katanas, while much farther to the right Robert Nicholas Summers Jr., Nathaniel Walters and Justin Cragin Jr. fired on a smaller Brute ship, Nate unleashing pain with his Broadsword while Justin and Nick covered him in their Katana and Knife. Behind all this, Mary Cragin, Samuel Albert Davis, Marshall Drake and Jacob Harrison took on stragglers and flankers, the mixed fire of their Knife, Claymore, Broadsword and Katana destroying them quickly. The COM line crackled to life just as Robert blasted through another Seraph. "Dragon Squadron", came the voice of Admiral Gi, "You have your orders: the Brutes have targeted the UNSC Kursk. Your mission is to protect it at all costs. Admiral Gi, over and out" "Alright Dragons, you heard the man", said Robert, "Let's move!" Pushing the thrusters as hard as he could, the Claymore shot forward, quickly followed by the others. Robert sped towards the Kursk, and saw the oncoming tide of Brute craft. He remembered the stories he'd heard of the Second Battle of Earth; how the UNSC had been outnumbered and outgunned three to one, but still they had fought on. Now, it seemed a similar situation to Robert. But he was just like his father; he'd never give up, not even with his dying breath. None of them would, actually. Clyde was a fighter, and while not as good of a pilot as the others, he more stubborn and a harder fighter than any of them. Alice and Aaron were a lot like Clyde, just a little more level-headed and less of a rush-in style fighter, while Joshua was much more for thinking up a plan and having the others carry it out. Justin and Nate were show-offs and weren't your best bet when you needed help, while Nick was slightly more reversed, still being a show-off some but a lot more reliable, with Mary usually covering his back. Roy was a leader like Robert, as was Samuel, and his son Marshall was to an extent, though he was much more of a fighter. Jacob was much like Samuel, but the two had a strange rivalry, neither liking nor hating one another. Robert held his breath and gripped his control stick. This was it; the moment of truth. Turning on the COM line, he spoke. "Alright guys", Robert said, "Got anything to say?" "Yeah", said Clyde, "Let's kick some ape butt" "Yaaahoooo!", yelled Nick as he push the thrusters to their limit, blasting forward and opening fire upon the oncoming swarm of Brute fighters. Several exploded as Nick's shots hit, and Mary flew in to take care of the survivors before they could kill Nick. Robert flew forward, Clyde and Roy alongside him, all of them blasting through a horde of Seraph fighters as they headed straight for the Kursk. As a few broke through, they sped away, only to swiftly turn into brilliant explosions of light as Nate and Justin blasted through the group. Marshall and Alice handled another group, as Joshua and Aaron fought off yet another group of stragglers, them falling from the sky as holes were ripped through the cockpits. Even as Joshua and Aaron finished them off, another group threatened to shoot them from the skies, but Samuel hurtled in to open fire and take them down. Just as Samuel turned about, several shots hit his wing, and came dangerously close to his cockpit, just before the Seraph exploded as Jacob shot it down. "Thanks", said Samuel, but all he got was a muffled grunt. "Hey guys!", Nick said, "We got a problem at 10 o'clock!" Everyone looked at the given direction, only to see a small Brute ship break through the defensive line and head straight for the Kursk, launching waves of fighters and bombers. Robert twitched slightly at the sight of it. "Alright guys", Robert said, "We're going in hard and we're going in fast! Samuel, Marshall and Nate, you're with me; Roy, Clyde, you're covering us! Our jobs gonna be to take out that things engines before it can reach the Kursk! Everyone else, you're staying here; guard the Kursk at all costs! Now, let's move!" With that, the squadron split. Robert and his squad sped away towards the oncoming Frigate, while the others stayed behind to guard the Kursk. Samuel silently prayed that they'd all make it through.

The Phantom descended to the ground in a group with several others. The air around them exploded with the shots of surface-to-air weaponry, the shots hitting one of the Phantoms and causing it to go down, two large holes blown straight through it. Keilus blinked slightly as he heard the explosion, curious as to how many of the ships were left. But then he shook it off; it didn't matter, so long as they made it to the ground. Then, he and his pack would rip apart these pathetic humans and take their world, then use it to restore the glory of the Covenant. Finally, the Phantom landed, the guns blaring and blasting away two Warthogs, their inhabitants skin melted away. A nearby squad of marines was quickly killed off, though one marine with a Rocket Launcher did manage to destroy two of the Phantom's gun, but was killed after that. It didn't matter for his teammates as they scrambled to grab his Rocket Launcher, but by then it was too late, as Keilus and his squad jumped off the Phantom, killing the remaining marines. Two Brutes jumped onto the Choppers that the Phantom had been carrying as the Phantom itself took off to provide air support and troop transport elsewhere. The two Choppers sped forward, crushing the oncoming marines into pulp, their blood flying onto the charging Brutes. Keilus himself swung his mighty Gravity Hammer, crushing a marine into a gory pancake. As more marines charged him, Keilus grabbed one and threw him into two others, crushing the one's head with his hand and other two's back breaking on impact. This should be fun, thought Keilus.

Such a glorious prize. Not only would they be given three cruisers, outfitted with weapons and ready for war, but they could take whatever loot they could find on the planet for themselves as well. Once more did Dekd Nok realize how great a prize this was, a prize that could outmatch even his hatred for the Brutes. And now, he would be the one to claim the most of this bounty. It was a miracle, or perhaps a quirk of the universe, that Dekd Nok was even alive. With half a dozen mental problems, including no conscience and being sadistic, as well as having survived several bites from a rabid Kig-Yar and now carrying the disease himself, Dekd Nok had survived somehow, rising to the top of the Kig-Yar Clans with his sheer power. In the turmoil around the former Pirate Lord's death, he had killed and manipulated the late Pirate Lord's followers into following him, killing those that didn't follow him, taking the title of Kig-Yar Commander, or "Pirate Lord", for himself, taking on the name of Nok, or "Cruelty", to let his followers know that he showed no mercy. And now, the Phantom finally landed on the surface of the planet, Dekd Nok's Kig-Yar mercenaries unloading and attacking marine defenders. There were countless such air-drops of forces across the planet; the Kig-Yar had been hired as skirmishers to harass and distract from the main Brute forces, as job they would do well. Dekd Nok had landed as well, never being one to wait back and order troops from a ship or command post. Instead, he would join the fight, and revel in it. Seeing a charging marine, Dekd Nok fired with his Plasma Assaulter, a weapon he'd stolen from an Elite's corpse in a recent raid, but then holstered it and jumped onto the marine, biting into the side of his neck, actually digging a hole down to his wind pipe and ripping it out the side of his neck, killing him. Dekd Nok enjoyed this death momentarily, before turning to attack another oncoming marine, breaking the man's arm and then ripping it off before using it to batter the man on the ground, killing him via strangling him with his own arm. Dekd Nok turned to see who was next, enjoying every minute of the battle. This world would be hard-won, but he knew that the battle and the loot would be worth his while.

--<font color=#00FF00>MCPO James Davis LOMI HQ<font color=#33FFFF>I hear your cries<font color=#CC3333>May your works be honorable 23:08, 29 July 2008 (UTC)

16
Atik looked at the battle, amazed at how well it was going. He figured it was time to turn the tides in the Kig-Yar and Remnant’s favor.

“Move the ‘’Breaking Ruler’’ into the planet’s atmosphere! We’re taking this planet before this all goes bad!”

Dlag sat in the pilot seat of a boarding craft, the surface of Kanna whizzing by beneath it. Next to him sat Slat, and behind them were the Special Operations Kig-Yar Rangers

Slat scanned the horizon, looking for a nice target.

Flames erupted around the ‘’Breaking Ruler’’ as it entered Kanna’s atmosphere. They quickly subsided as the ship righted itself, just forty-five meters over the ground. A large grouping of humans opened fire with SPANKr rockets before a plasma torpedo engulfed and atomized them.

Atik’L-Yar smiled a devilish grin.

Logmon 00:58, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

17
Locklear cleaned and inspected his M98 Compact for the fifth time now. He pressed the clip released and looked inside, "Yep there's bullets in it." He was growing antsy, he was briefed on the situation on Kanna, things werent looking good for the groundforces. He slid the clip back into place and heard the satisfying click. Dove stood next to him going as he went through a small blue book. They were both ready for the fight, all of the 77th was. He and Dove were in his office in their dark grey BDUs (Battle Dress Uniforms) of the ODSTs, they had decided to leave behind the protective plating. Locklear's job was to lead the Regiment not the company he did before during the Great War. He looked at a small portrait with his wife sitting on a swing smiling at him, her dirty blonde hair blew with the wind.

"Sir, you think there's any REMFs on Kanna?" Dove said as he wrote in his little blue book.

"Dove, we're about to go into the largest battle since the Great War and all you can think about is screw over some REMFs?" Locklear said with a smile. When Dove was an ODST he had been wounded in a raid, while he was in the hospital some Rear Echelon Mother F***ers had stole his wallet, a necklace from his girlfriend, and his watch, ever since than he had been screwing over REMFs with his business.

"Well sir, it'd be easier selling there than having to bring the stuff with me back to Gundark."

Locklear laughed, Dove had connections everywhere, it was almost impossible to bring back enemy equipment but Dove had always pulled strings and always had a full supply to sell. "Dove, with the situation on Kanna, even the REMFs are in the fight."

Dove closed his blue book and put it into his left breast pocket. He stood there for a moment leaning on a desk. "How many you think we'll lose?"

Locklear had already thought about it, he had trained his men well he knew it. They had griped and complained about the intensity of their training and exercises. He knew it'd be damn difficult to kill one of his men, and if one did die he'd bring down a few Brute hides with him. He knew there would be casualties, there always were but his men would be fine. "The real question is how many do you think the Kongs will lose." Locklear said with confidence.

Hollywood

18
Hiroji and his marines continued to follow the retreating soldiers. Suddenly, plasma blasts burst from around all directions, with the marines dying almost instantly and with the movement of the Kaiser being heavily compromised.

"Hah! Human, you dare come to face us? If you are willing to face us, do not face us like a coward, in that giant hulk of useless scrap!" one of the Brute translators yelled to Hiroji, directly stating what his Chieftain beside him was saying.

Shit, it was an ambush... all along... a motherfucking ambush, thought Hiroji, only to be awoken from his thoughts by the sight of two Wraiths, coming to finish the Kaiser off. They fired large blobs of plasma mortar, causing Hiroji to attempt to dodge, only to lose the Kaser's arms. The troops surrounding the Kaiser all moved to the Wraith, laughing with glee to see the Kaiser dismembered and destroyed. However, another shot didn't, come, and suddenly, a Jackal had pried itself into the cockpit. Hiroji quickly grabbed his Revolver, and shot it once in the face. It fell into the cockpit, dead.

However, another hail of plasma mortar came, this time two blobs, and Hiroji unlocked all his missiles and rockets and fired. The FANG missile and TUSK Rockets took out the Wraiths along with most of the surrounding troops, while all living ones immediately routed. The plasma mortar then hit the Kaiser, just barely leaving the cockpit intact, but leaving the exoskeleton useless.

Hiroji left the cockpit, fishing out his his M10 and his M33 Revolver. He attempted to find any signs of communication devices, but couldn't. In the distance, however, he saw a civillian two-story house. After getting closer to it, he saw a Human woman hung on the roof, bloodied, with the words "DY ENFEDALS" crudely written in blood and badly-translated English. Hiroji quickly grabbed as many grenades he could carry from dead marines, Brutes, and Jackals, ran for the house, and managed to climb on to the roof. He tossed a frag and a plasma in the window and whispered under his breath:

"Good men have good deaths. Looks like the Gods don't like you much at all, filthy apes."

-- <tt>Canis Lupus</tt>  - The Pack - - Kill - -  Join the Pack  - 04:30, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

19
In a Herculean effort, Puller lifted the second massive Spiker from the Chieftain's sling and, with a strength born of desperation, fired the last two rounds into the Brute's chest. Growling, the Brute released the Human, and Puller scuttled away, seized his cast-off pistol and with a single burst, left the Brute in a bloody heap on the hangar floor.

Marus roared in pain, the wounds from the Spiker barbs in his chest leaving a red cascade down his chest. He was on the brink of death now, his power armor lying in a bloody puddle by his feet. His packmates gathered around him, trying to staunch the dark red flow of blood from his countless wounds. "Go on," he snarled. His comrades ignored his words. "Leave me!" he snarled once again. His packamtes till failed to heed his words. Then, ripping one of the bloody spikes from his chest, he lashed out, catching a Brute Minor in the stomach. "I have no need of your help!" he roared. Groaning and grunting, Marus rose to his feet. Grabbing a Nailer from the hands of another Brute, Marus swung it towards a nearby Brute Captain. "Take your Jirlhanae forward, or I shall nail you to the wall, Captain. I have no use for cowards in my pack!"

Although a single Nailer rifle should not have caused a pack of fierce Brutes to cower, a single Nailer in the hands of a monstrous Brute, his fur matted with a cascade of blood was enough to strike fear into the hearts of even the bravest Brute, and so Marus' pack turned back into the battle.

Marus himself limped towards a nearby Phantom, cursing his bad fortune and clutching his agonizingly painful wounds. A few Jacakals thought that this large, and so they thought, dying Brute would make an appetizing meal. But a few bursts from Marus' Nailer ensured that they would never hunger for Brute again.

Reaching the Phantom, Marus crawled aboard, and then the darkness overcame him...

"That was a close one, sir " it was Ensign O'Brien. Puller rubbed his bruised throat recalling the brush with death he had had only minute ago.

"Sure was. Those Bravo Kilos keep coming up with bigger stuff ever time we run into them. Only a Brute would weld two Spikers together...You manage to get through to ONI Command."

"Yes sir. They want us to hook up with a group of Marines on the other side of town, apparently there's some kind of weird Covie activity there they want us to check out."

"Okay, O'Brien. Oh and sir, and it look like just ran into the local motorpool. Five spanking new Weasels. Looks like we get to ride for a change."

"Sounds good to me. I got shotgun."

FightWithHonor

20
Out of the sky, a tight formation of five Seraph fighters dived in from their ships in outerspace. They pounced on the 42nd, who immediately began evasive manuvers to evade the new plasma weapons systems. Lewis' plane was hit as a single plasma bolt impacted his right wing, melting through the upper layers.

''Shit... if we go into space, I won't be able to make it back home without burning up...''

Lewis immeidately checked his RADAR, along with his known position of his home ship in outer space.

If this fight gets up there, make a run for it.

Lewis immediately turned his ship to the right, rolling over before coming head on at a Seraph. The Brute, losing situational awareness with another 42nd member on his six, pushed the controls down, causing the Seraph to nose dive into the ground.

"YEAH! ONE KILL FOR HAWKINS!"

The pilot turned his ship to the left as Lewis turned his left as well, and, they passed by only inches from each other before turning to engage the other Seraphs.

"FIRE!"

A MAC shell screamed away from the UNSC Dawn to Heaven, impacting on a Covenant CCS-Class Battle Cruiser, ripping through a section of it. Atmosphere vented from the ship until the Brute commanders locked down that section, preventing any furhter loss of atmosphere.

"FIRE ON THE CONTROL ROOM!"

The Dawn to Heaven re-positioned, then fired a volley of three MAC shells at the command room of the Battle Cruiser. The three shells ripped through it, causing atmosphere to vent. Then, the ship rolled over, and prepared to enter Kanna's atmosphere.

"Fire on the engines... finish the bastard."

The Dawn to Heaven fired another quick burst of three MAC shells at the engines. This caused them to overload, then explode violently. The ship was finished. THe lone UNSC frigate moved to engage a Covenant Assault Carrier. -- <font color="Red">Your Worst <font color="Red">Enemy <font color="White"><The SPARTAN-I> <font color="Red"><The Warrior><font color="White">[The Thriller] <font color="White">[The Project]<font color="Red">[The Unit] <font color="White">[The Vessel] 16:15, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

21
A Quintuplet of Phantoms dropped off Cheiftain Lepigok and his pack in the Industrial West, Section two-three. They were there because of a recient reinforcement call from a lance of Jackals in the area, and now all Lepigok had to do was find them...which of course he did. The Exectutive Chairman Contact MeMy Investments

22
9th of August, 2607, 9:51 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Industrial West, Sector two-two, Aleph City.

As Yithii's lance moved back into their defensive position, buoyed by their victory, their morale received a further boost. A group of Brutes, lead by a captain charged in, lead by his scouts. Immediately he began barking orders to the Kig-Yar, ordering them around as if he had always been there, leading them. As he began barking for them to mobilise and move out, a rumbling sound began to echo between the urban canyons, above the gun fire. The fine dust on the ground began to shake slightly before it became readily apparent what was going on. A M85B3 Coyote Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance swung around the corner, leaving a trail of dust behind it. The turret immediately traversed to face the Warthog, the 76mm cannon sighting it. There was a ear shattering boom, followed by the sound of the warthog being destroyed, the HE shell almost blowing it in two and sending it into a flip off the hill, landing upside down a barely recognisable hunk of burning wreckage. To the street to the right of the Kig-Yar position another Coyote emerged, firing on their flank. It hit the Brute Captain square in the chest, spraying the area with metal shrapnel, bone shrapnel and purple blood, leaving a fine purple mist in its wake. Fifty Calibre Machine guns chattered into life, chopping many to pieces. The gauntlet shields couldn't hope to hold against these huge armour piercing rounds, with any jackal trying to hold their ground filled with holes the size of fists, quite easily dismembering their small frame. As the snipers repositioned to fire down on the Tanks they let out a high pitched squawk before many of them fell over the edges of the building to their deaths. From the roof tops gun fire had opened up down on those below. Marines had struck back, firing down on them, raining hot lead and fragmentation grenades. One of the last Brutes declared a retreat before a machine gun round from the tank blew off the top half of his skull, leaving a bleeding brain stem and limp lower jaw. The order was clear. Retreat or die.

9th of August, 2607, 9:52 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Agricultural South, sector 1-5, Kanna Rice Line

The victory had been a brilliant. A massacre. Of 42 Marines, seven remained, with one fleeing back to the city and six more to use as slaves or snacks. Phantoms deployed more troops to the other villages, taking them swiftly as well. This vital supply line needed to be held, or the UNSC reinforcements could just flood into Aleph city and flush out their reinforcements. They would have to hunker down to defend their prize.

9th of August, 2607, 9:55 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Gothic Airport, Sector 3-2, Aleph City

The Brute assault had fared badly, the small ONI unit had succeeded where normal Marines may have simply broke. However, it wasn't over yet.

"We need reinforcements at the Rice Line, any units, we need to retake the Rice Line, Brutes took it, they got everybody, we need reinforcements or -" The radio went dead, followed by a buzzing sound and occasional bursts of gun fire.

The 'Rice Line' was their next port of call.

9th of August, 2607, 10:33 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Industrial West, Sector Two Five, Aleph City.

Drakos' Pack had not been totally successful but the Marines had been pushed back. However, a few minutes earlier there had been a massive exchange of fire. Upon getting around to link up with the pack on the other side, they found nothing but a mass of destruction and corpses of dozens of Brutes. Their communicators buzzed into life, relaying orders.

"Get to the Sector 3. We are amassing our forces there."

Sector 3 was outside the city limits, a small village, connected to the Rice Line. It seemed the Brute command post was stationed there."

9th of August, 2607, 10:03 Theta Nero System, orbit above Kanna, the UNSC Kursk

As the Seraph fighters pulled off from the attack on the Kursk, it seemed the Frigate heading for the Kursk was unstoppable, their little squadron posed no threat. However, the Kursk did. It turned sharply to face the Brute Frigate and fired off its MAC, smashing into its nose and dispelling its shield in a grim flash of grey light. A torrent of missiles impacted along its hull, hull, burning atmosphere billowing out. It was now open to attack. If Dragon Squadron could just press the attack, these few craft could defeat the superior Frigate. Behind them the Kursk moved up, point defence lasers snapping out. It was going to join them in close combat.

9th of August, 2607, 10:11 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Civilian South, Sector 7-9, Gimmel City.

In Gimmel City, the air drop had shocked them much more than it had in Aleph. Within minutes of the landing the Marines had been massacred or captured, along with a general butcher that occurred when they found the civilian bunkers and broke in. Already Phantoms full of meals, fresh meals or both headed up to waiting warships of both Pirates and Remnants, while many more were 'stored' in secure positions in Gimmel. The few Marines left began to bunker down, holding onto a few key buildings, turning them into virtual fortresses. Until heavy armour arrived, direct attack would be unadvisable, so a more stealthy approach may succeed.

9th of August, 2607, 10:21 Theta Nero System, Kanna, above Dalet City

As the Broken Ruler opened fire on the surface, there was a squeal of anger on the radio.

"Do that again whelp and I will come up there and rip out your eyes!" A Chieftain growled "The great Deliverance wants this world unscathed! You almost hit our warriors as well"

Dalet city was quickly falling to the Brute and Jackal assault. One major source of contention was the central mall. An aerial assault by stealth and blood thirsty Jackals could compromises their defence position.

9th of August, 2607, 10:24 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Civilian North-East, Sector 1-4, Aleph City.

The Brute at the end of the street looked on with glee, spotting the lone human move through the open without his exoskeleton. He levelled his fuel rod gun and tracked him running across the open with a toothy smirk. He squeezed the trigger and fired a few feet in front of the Marine. Corporal Hiroji Kira was going to have a nasty meeting with a ball of explosive green plasma. Then again, Brutes weren't very accurate.

9th of August, 2607, 10:11 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Industrial West, Sector 2-3, Aleph City.

It looks as though Lepigok hadn't been dropped into a very secure area. Tanks roamed around, annihilating forces nearby. Retreating to regroup at the command post where he could link up with armoured reinforcements.

9th of August, 2607, 10:07 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Industrial West, Sector 2-3, Aleph City.

The Death Stalker AA tank passed the corner of the construction building to face an open courtyard filled with building materials, cargo containers and a crane. There had to be almost forty Brutes in heavy cover, firing on the Marines who had become pinned by the two Phantoms floating above.

"Hey ladies, get some cover." The gunner on the Death Stalker laughed.

The four barrelled 40mm Misriah guns levelled on the closest Phantom and fired on it, immediately tearing it to pieces, shredding it and letting it crash to the ground. The other Phantom jetted off behind building cover, fleeing. However, the guns didn't stop firing. They turned down to the Brutes in the courtyard and kept firing. The 40mm exploded shells covered the courtyard in a hail of fire, explosive bomblets imbedding themselves in brutes before exploded. Limbs were blown off, heads exploded, rib cages burst, flesh and muscle blown off and shrapnel created a lethal storm that annihilated anybody outside of cover. The cargo containers were torn open like tin cans and the Crane blown to shreds, letting it collapse away from the building and onto more Brutes.

"Motion sensors clear. Nothing but bits of meat, thanks guys." The platoon CO laughed

"Crap, you see that!" One of the sergeants spotted as something dropped from orbit, screaming down to the ground at speed. It landed on the LZ, booster rockets slowing the ascent but leaving a massive scorched area.

"We got a Scarab tank!"

"Not for much longer!" Daniels shouted, his clam demeanour broken into a sinister laugh. There was a ear shattering boom as the very ground beneath the Scarab exploded violently, submerging in into the earth as the delicate sewer and subway systems underneath it, rigged with explosives, collapsed. It struggled for a few minutes until Crow and Swallow platoon stormed over it, annihilated the Brute guards and destroyed its power core. The earth shook and swelled as the creature exploded, sending out debris, alight with blue fire into the air.

"Nice, I bet those mother fuckers from above saw that."

"Listen up, we got new orders from Headquarters, we gotta go to the Rice Line, relieve some Marines there. If we can recapture it, that’s what we'll do." Captain Javella, the Company CO reported

"You heard the guy, we better mount up, soonish."

"Loot, I got some trouble." Corporal Munro reported.

Ace looked over to Crow Platoon's two Wolves carry a third, missing its leg.

"We can sort that out." Ace smiled, looking over to one of the flat bed Warthogs.

9th of August, 2607, 10:17 Theta Nero System, orbit above Kanna

Vice Admiral Gi stood nobly erect on the command deck of the Valiant, holding this position even as the ship rocked from Pulse Lasers blows. The shielding held well against their assaults. He held firm as the Brute ships maintained their distance while a handful snapped at them. They had lost but a handful of ships, the Brutes were acting conservatively though. However, the Assault Carrier pressing forth was going to shatter his defences.

"Into The Wild, target that Assault Carrier, now!" Gi ordered, prompting the Ares-class Battle cruiser to lob a slug at the carrier, smashing on its shielding with a violent, shimmering shock wave. More ships fired on it, even a fool hardy little Frigate, pounding on its armour and compromising numerous sections.

"Lieutenant Vale, aim for the cargo bay." He said, planting his hand on his weapons officer's shoulder.

The ship manoeuvred to fire, firing on the ship. The well aimed shot, gutted its cargo bay, spitting its cargo capacity into space. Brutes, tanks, Scarabs, Dropships all got sucked into the void. The loss of atmosphere spiralled the ship out of control and towards a flaming death as the ship depressurized and caught fire.

"Shields are holding. Recharge beginning." One of his bridge officers reported, easing Gi's mind.

(All Brutes in Aleph city, head for the command post outside the city, humans, head for the Rice Lines, anybody in Gimmel and Danel, go looting, pillaging, slaving and killing!)

23
August 9th, 2607, 11:00, Industrial West, Sector 2-4, Aleph City, Fortified Bunker

"Requesting Immediate Back-up! I repeat! Requesti-" the transmission stopped mid-sentence, and the sound of a Nailer rifle muffled the scream of a marine.

Darrick smashed his fist against the table, pinching the space between his eyes. "What's this?" he asked, and the "smart" AI Pontus answered. "Fifth interrupted transmission to be precise, Captain." The man next to him, Lieutenant Merth, spoke next. "Should I give the order?" he asked, and Aegean put his hand up. "We simply don't have enough troops. As it is we have our combat teams spread thin." He closed his eyes for a moment, and opened them again. "When the Colonel left and told us he'd come back with reinforcements... you think he meant it?"

As the Lieutenant was going to answer however, there was a thundering explosion, and the ceiling lamp flickered. "Contacts sir. Bravo Kilos scoming from the north."

The three marines positioned at the bunker's entrance began to open fire, and Captain Aegean loaded a 40mm slug into the M024 on his rifle. "Let's see what they got"

--117649AnnihilativeRepentance 01:57, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

24
9th of August, 2607, 9:35 (Kanna Local Time), En route to Theta Nero System, Kanna, aboard Zeus-class Super Carrier New York

Cryostasis chamber 07, normally darkened and gloomy, blazed suddenly to light from utter darkness. It was a room that was forty yards across, and fifty long, and was stacked with cryo-pods, in which, a half dozen score of naval personnel dozed. It was a scene common throughout the UNSC fleet; it had been the practice for hundreds of years to send crew into cryo during slipspace voyages, and while the implementing of faster slipspace drives had changed some practices, this one had remained the same.

However, while most of the chambers were sealed, one was venting gas, hissing through carefully placed vent valves. More unusual than this however, was the chamber’s resident. In the pod, a single figure laid on his back. He wore jet black armor, and light seemed to slide of it’s edges. He was easily seven feet tall, encased in the suit, and looked like a god out of Greek myth. A mirrored visor obscured his face, casting mystery and terror unto him, a truly miraculous sight to behold.

As the chamber hissed open and clouds of fog flowed out into the cryo bay, the armored soldier stepped out of his tube. He glanced around once, then strode to a doorway, exiting the chamber. The figure was a SPARTAN-II super solider, but his existence was top-secret, his life a cover up. His name was Leonid, SPARTAN-144, but for the purposes of the mission to Kanna, he called himself Egor, and was supposed to identify himself as a SPARTAN-III, despite his MJOLNIR armor.

Leonid walked through the maze of corridors on the ship for a good five minutes, before stopping in front of the armory. He thumbed a clearance pad and slipped inside the darkened room, and retrieved his weaponry, which was encased in it’s own equipment locker. He withdrew his M2A LAR, M1091 Sniper Rifle, and M98 Compact, and carefully inspected each of them, insuring that they were clean and that all of his equipment add-ons had been retained. Then, he withdrew other equipment, including grenades, flash-bangs, and a combat knife with a hair thin plasma edge.

When this was done, he moved to the corner of the armory, and reviewed the situation. He noted how his orders mandated that as soon as he entered the system, he was to drop planet-side, and support the forces there. They had given him a Herculean task, ordering him to do what one would send ten squads on, but unlike a less seasoned soldier, he didn’t much care. He didn’t question orders, not anymore. Not after the things he had done…and the people he had killed.

9th of August, 2607, 10:03 Theta Nero System, Kanna, near planetary space

As combat raged above the world of Kanna, and men and women fought and died left and right to protect what many held dear, the space not far from the main battle began to shift. It appeared to froth and boil with purple light, as a single craft emerged from slipspace. It took only a moment from the portal’s appearance for the ship to enter the system and leave the rift behind, drawing with it its power, forcing the slipspace transition vector to collapse.

Immediately after entering the system, the vessel headed for the outskirts of the combat zone. It was large, cumbersome, and was what appeared to be a cargo ship, meant for hauling supplies. It was vaguely rectangular in shape, but had three engines jutting from its back and a wedge shaped fore and bridge. The craft appeared to be old and mistreated—burn marks, comet impacts, and other markings of hard usage marked its hull. However, its pitted surface hid its true purpose: a mobile carrier for a single squadron of highly trained, UNSC loyal mercenaries.

As the craft headed in system, it maneuvered aggressively, dodging stray blasts from the battle, and established a link-up with the UNSC forces stationed there, announcing it’s presence, before it maneuvered behind the fleet, into relative safety, and abruptly stopped, using micro-thrusters to maintain precision station keeping.

As the craft held still, launch bays creaked open, silent in vacuum. From these bays, twelve unusual fighters streaked—repurposed and refitted Great War era Rapier-class interceptors, laden with modern arrays of technology and armed to the teeth with advanced weaponry. These craft exited the bay with speeds of dizzying proportions, almost, but not quite, those of more modern interceptors. They were a shiny black, sleek and slim, with an elongated hull, and two wide wings for atmospheric stabilization. As microscopic trash particles collided with the craft, they shimmered a faint blue—energy shielding.

The twelve fighter squadron grouped into a flying wedge formation, heading towards the thick of combat. They flew in precision formation of men and women who had practiced with each other for years—people who trusted each other implicitly. They were the 112th Naval Squadron, or the remains of it, no longer an official UNSC unit, but blessed by the government as a mercenary group working in liaison with the military.

In the cockpit of the lead fighter, a single pilot manned simplified but still complex controls, relying on her neural interface to assist her. She issued orders rapidly, directing her group forward, in order to assist whoever needed help. She was small, and thus not cramped in her fighter, despite its small size. Her hair was buzz-cut black, and her eyes were a striking blue, offsetting her otherwise plain appearance. She was small but heavily muscled—being as comfortable on ground as in space (one of the mercenary squadrons main goals), she was fit and as combat ready as an ODST shock trooper. Her name was Maria Williams, and was the daughter of two of the prominent soldiers from the original squadron.

“All wings on me. We’re assisting a couple of boys up ahead of us—they look like they need the help.” She ordered her squadron, voice icy.

Green confirmation LEDs flashed on her retinas, projected directly from her neural interface. She led her squadron towards a group of UNSC fighters, attempting to fend off a hoard of seraphs, which were harassing them in an attempt to attack a nearby UNSC ship, which Maria saw was marked as the UNSC Kursk. Maria also saw that farther on, a Covenant frigate was closing fast—trouble.

“Straight through em people, then break and engage.” Maria ordered her squad, but to her surprise, the Seraph fighters pulled up before her squad could get close.

As the purple piscine alien fighters pulled away, the Covenant frigate accelerated. It charged the UNSC group—and received a load of ordnance to the nose for it’s trouble. The Kursk turned sharply to face the craft, and it’s MAC cannon belched fire. A streak of white slammed into the nose of the frigate, and the ship’s shields flickered and failed. Meanwhile, Archer missiles slammed into the unshielded mass, burning along the hull of the craft. It was open to attack from the fighters, which it had not been a moment ago.

“Revise orders boys and girls,” said Maria “Hit that remnant bastard.”

The twelve Rapier craft of the 112th accelerated for the ship, past the idle Dragon Squadron. Pulse lasers slashed past them as they initiated evasive maneuvers. Behind them, Dragon mobilized, and jetted behind the 112th. The 112th open fired, and let loose a salvo of missiles—ASM-13 Talon missiles streaked from the underside of the wings of the Rapier/M interceptors—and slammed into hard points on the Covenant frigate.

As fire bloomed on the engines, pulse lasers, and the grav-lift, the 112th broke formation and jetted towards individual targets. Lisa led her group, one flight, after her chosen hard-point, the three blue-white pulsating drives on the back of the ship, the engines. Her flight of four streaked over the engines, emptying 115mm rounds and more Talon missiles into them. The engines overloaded and detonated as hundreds of rounds and half a dozen missiles hit them, making the whole ship list. Things were going good so far, and as Maria ordered her squadron to loop back for another pass, Dragon squadron descended on the frigate.

9th of August, 2607, 9:55 (Kanna Local Time), En route to Theta Nero System, Kanna, aboard Zeus-class Super Carrier New York

Deep inside the massive Zeus-class Super Carrier New York, a group of crewmen ran the entire ship. The bridge of the craft was buried as far away from the exterior of possible—guaranteeing that only a fatal blow would cut off the head of the ship. On the bridge stood Admiral James McHenry, a veteran officer and former naval bomber pilot. He slowly examined the screens ahead of him, taking in their contents. Readouts showed the New York’s position relative to the rest of his fleet, Taskforce Arrow, along with his position relative to the other UNSC forces in slipspace from Gundark.

As Admiral McHenry examined the readouts, his thoughts drifted away from the bridge, with its pulsing red alarm lights, blaring sirens, beeping computer consoles, and yelling crewmen. They first floated to the world of Kanna, and the atrocities the brutes were obviously doing there, along with it’s strained defense. However, it was not long after this that his thoughts drifted back to Gundark, his home, where his family were at, where his wife and nine year old son were taking cover in the shade of their home’s living room, apart from all troubles and cares and….

A crewman, Lieutenant Iwatta, bumped into the admiral and snapped him from his thoughts. The naval crewman apologized quickly, but James silenced him with a wave of his hand. He had more important things to do than listen to the aide apologize for something that wasn’t entirely his fault.

“Lieutenant, what’s our status?” asked McHenry, and Iwatta shifted from apologetic to gravely serious. It was one of the things James liked and simultaneously disliked about the officer—his tone and mindset could change without much warning.

“Sir, engines and MAC systems are hot. Shields read at ninety percent, climbing at a rate of one percent every fifteen minutes. With the slipspace generators going, its all we can manage.” Said Iwatta

McHenry shrugged.

“Understood. When we are within an hour to our destination, send all crew to stand-by. Until then, monitor all frequencies for further signals, and continue as you were.” Said James

More important things indeed…like figuring out how to get his massive payload of marines and ODSTs to the surface…and how to help the rest of the fleet win and save Kanna.

Spartan 501 05:43, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

25
9th of August, 2607, 10:02 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Agricultural South, sector 1-5, Kanna Rice Line

“Lakvanus” Solus nodded to the enlarged holographic Chieftain, his voice lowering past its usual pitch.

“Solus,” The projection nodded back from its metallic throne, “You have done well in capturing the first outpost of the Line, It seems I was right to give you authorization for an early assault.”

“Seems you were.” The Purple Brute smirked back.

“As you know we are sending in reinforcements to hold your position,” The towering hologram rumbled, jerking out is arm as if to make a point, to which his underling nodded, “I am going to increase that force, it has been made apparent the importance of the Line, and though you were lucky to capture the first village I believe the Infidels have realized their folly. We need to capture the Line, it provides a direct supply Line to two of the Humans Major cities, which is why you are being reimbursed with two Packs, a heavy Vehicle unit, and two Scarabs, Air Assaults are on standby to assault the third village and the fifth has already been taken, as Humans seem to accumulating at the second. You are in joint command of the assault, along with the Chieftains of the other Packs. I trust you will continue your success.” Lakvanus ended his monologue by leaning back, deep into his chair, smiling.

“Of course sir.” Solus said, as he bowed before the hologram, as the projection ended, dimming the room of the small building the comm equipment had been set up in. Solus walked out into the Village, light shining over the ghastly sight of a tower, covered in the bodies of 35 Marines who had been either crudely nailed or hung up. A Major, his Brute Shot slung over his shoulder, hurried over to him, as Solus walked towards the bonfire where a pair of the surviving Marines were being slowly rotated on thin uprooted trees.

“Sir, we’ve spotted friendlies heading for our LZ, Phantoms and another huge ship, it’s carrying Scarabs! Are these are reinforcements?” Joblus yelped, a suprising tone of glee in his voice as he halted his short sprint in an attempt to appear more casual. Solus nodded, Scarabs, nothing could hide the pleasure of having those monsters on their side.

-

Marley quickly tried to stuff the metal flask into his draw, knocking papers off his desk as a Marine entered his room.

“Dam it Marine, you heard of knocking?”

“Yes Sir!” The Marine shouted, knocking his boots together in attention.

Marley sighed, sweat slipping down his velvet dark skin, “What is it Private?”

“We’re nearing Kanna Sir; the other commanders of the Relief Force want to run over your tactics.” “Shit, right…right…Tell them the colonel will be ready in a moment.” Marley muttered as he scratched the back of his head, simultaneously trying to rub off the sweat that had accumulated on his cheek onto his arm.

“Are you allright sir?” The Marine asked, drooping out of the attention position as he spoke.

“What kind of question is that? Of course I’m…I’m not going to dignify that with an answer get out of here and tell them before I put you on cleaning duties for a week.” The Colonel of the UNSC Marines Relief Force said, raising his voice and pointing at the door as the Marine, somewhat shocked, quickly saluted and hurried out, allowing the Colonel to grab the flask and wrestle with the creases in his uniform.

26
'''9th of August, 2607, 10:34 (Kanna Local Time), En route to Theta Nero System, Kanna. Shore Party Briefing Room, Zeus-class Super Carrier Colorado'''

Jennifer looked around the large room in which the ODSTs of the 105th were gathered. The 101st Battalion's A Company and the 2nd Battalion's Bravo Company, as well as a few other operational detachments were seated in comfortable chairs, all facing the center holotank. As a platoon leader, she was assigned to sit in the third row, behind company staff, so she had a good view of the officer that calmly and quietly walked to the forefront of the room. The holographic display pad on the arm of her chair fizzled into light as he began to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he began, his arms folded behind his back in the parade rest position, "As you probably already know, we are about an hour out from Kanna, and have been recieving ominous situation reports from the surface via slipspace transcom. These reports are not good, as all of them essentially say that the forces already groundside cannot hold for much longer without our support.  They list atrocities committed by the Brutes, and locate key positions that they've managed to turn into strongholds." The officer, a major judging from the bars on his collar, cleared his throat and tapped the projector controls. A city grid sprang to life both on the holotank and on the armrest pads, highlighting a tall, heavily damaged but heavily fortified building that rose specter-like over the devastated landscape around him.

"This, boys and girls, is Gimmel City. More specifically, this is Pavlov's Tower, an industrial skyscraper that has held on to the ground around it through thick and thin.  It's getting its nickname from the Russian light colonel in charge of it, and from what I've heard, he's a crazy bastard.  But  he's also as tough as a brass monkey's balls.  He and a detachment of about thirty-five Marines have been able to hump guns, ammo, and supplies, as well as a few vehicles, into this tower.  They've been under constant fire from the Brutes, however and report that they've withstood a couple dozen waves, but with heavy casualties.  In case you haven't figured it out, we are going to hotdrop you sons-of-bitches onto Pavlov's Tower, along with some medium armor and a heavy weapons set.  You are to secure the immediate area and await further orders, as well as reinforcements. Ammo and supply drops, as well as abundant air support are readily available, so don't get too panicky." He grinned, a wry smile that said he was being sarcastic. Then he looked at his audience. "Questions?"

No one raised their hands, so he said, "105TH, WHO ARE WE?"

The assembled troopers, eager to please and full of pent up energy, screamed and bellowed their loudest. "HELLJUMPERS, SIR!"

"WHERE DO WE GO?"

"FEET FIRST INTO HELL, SIR!"

"WHOSE ASS ARE WE GONNA KICK?"

"THE REMNANT PUSSIES!!!"

"Alright, as you were. All of you are dismissed.  Get to the armory, get geared up, and be ready.  Leaders, the details of this briefing are in your Neural Nets, so be sure to check them out.  We drop in forty-five.  Good luck, kids."

 SPARTAN- ' 091 ' [ ' Admin ' ]   [ Talk ] 11:59, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

27
In the space of Kanna, 12th Age of Reclamation, Remnants' Seeker of the Covenant in control...

The Covenant and Remnants slowly exits out of slipspace, deploying several probes to survey the battlefield. From afar, the battle was seemingly dying, the flashing lights was dimming but the transmissions relayed by the Ship Captains made it clear that the battle for control over space is not over.

The Covenant and Remnants lowers their engine to a near 0, cloaked from enemies obsolete RADAR systems. "The battle continues on..." said the San 'Shyuum Consul as the Covenant ship drifts near the battle. "Go apart from the gore of war, we shall seek our Holy Artifacts..." ordered the Consul to the AI, Seeker of the Covenant. Around the AI, the Grunts walk sluggishly on the control modules and increase the ship's engines to a minimal, allowing a narrow-detection rate as calculated by the AI.

"The planet has been scanned, a total of 3 Artifacts are found." informs the AI as it steps off its holotank and materialise beside the Consul. "This war is a mere distraction for our enemies. Deliverance has sent the Legate to assist you on this "Holy" quest to reclaim the artifacts. Inform me when you retrieved all of them," said the AI as it turns its head over to the Consul. In great fear, the Consul shivers and backs a few inches. Slowly, the Consul gathers his strength and reaffirms his position. "The Great Journey will be achieved if we manage to retrieve these Artifacts. I bring forth from the High Prophet Deliverance, Believe in thee self and be blessed by the gods!" the Consul quotes. He reestablished his spirit and turns into the hollow face of the AI, "You will remember you place, Dervish. Though you're composed of fragments of the our Makers, you will respect the Hierarchs..."

The Covenant and Remnants slowly avoids the battle and enters the atmosphere...

Near the space battle between the UNSC and the Remnants of Kanna...

"Maam, we've received a hole in one of our RADAR." Informs Sam, the ONI Technician. He taps on the keyboards at the rate of 230 per minute. Jenny quickly bounces off her bunk and assists Sam as they process the information.

"So, it seems we've caught ourselves a Covenant Stealth Corvette. Send this report to HIGHCOM." Dahlia orders as she reappears in her Holotank. Suddenly, she grasps her head, and orders "Give me a connection to the BattleNet. I'm sensing something...something..."

The UNSC Memorial starts its engine and followed in near the path of the Covenant Stealth Corvette.

<font color="#0000FF"><tt>Little</tt> <font color="#0090FF"><tt>_</tt> <font color="#7DF9FF"><tt>Missy</tt> -  20:16, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

28
9th of August, 2607, 10:36 (Kanna Local Time), Theta Nero System, Kanna Orbit, aboard Kig'Yar Corsair Darkbrood 

The Darkbrood had performed exceedingly well in the space battle. At the moment, he had two frigates and a destroyed under his belt, as he went for a third frigate. The corsair wove its way through the carnage, taking quick shots at the Frigate, its hull in tatters. Kindik'Yar suspected that only the bridge and engines were still operable. As they close in for the kill, he cast away his weapons operator, manning the pulse laser himself. He took his sweet time, aiming for the one piece worth shooting: the core. Trilling with glee, he pulled the switch, and the pulse laser fired a burst of energy directly through the Human ship, detonating it in a pleasing ball of orange and gray.

Satisfied with his kill, he returned to his chair. As he sat, his COMM operator crowed out "News about Kindikii. They've been annihilated. An armored ambush wiped most of them and their Jiralhanae reinforcements out.

"Survivors?" Kindik asked.

"None of ours, sir. A couple Jiralhanae, that's all.

"It was for the best. It was time I took matters into my own hands anyways..." And with that, the Captain rose, heading to the lower hangar and armory. As he came through the door, almost 150 Kig'Yar sat preparing their weapons and dropships. Once he was noticed, the entire room saluted without hesitation, but with some haste.

"Kindikuu," Kindik'Yar began. "it's your time to fight. It's time we took matters into our own hands. We're dropping into the Rice Lane. From there we'll spread out, kill whatever moves, and steal whatever doesn't." The lance erupted into a raucous applause, at the thought of getting their own share at the loot. They had been angered they had to sit out the first wave, but Kindik knew what he was doing. He had a good feeling the first wave would, for the most part, be destroyed. He decided to keep his good troops back for the second.

Lance Kindikuu loaded up onto a dozen Phantoms, even then being horridly packed in. As the last few entered, Kindik'Yar boarded his own personal Phantom, accompanied by two-dozen of his Kig'Yar Cutthroats. As they launched from the ship, the Captain shouted over the COMM channel "For fame, glory, and power!"

9th of August, 2607, 10:44 (Kanna Local Time) En route to Theta Nero System, Barracks, Zeus-Class Super-Carrier Colorado

The rest of Blackheart had woken up in time for the speech, and had returned to the barracks to gather equipment. 35 men and women suited up in their body armor, and cleaned and selected weapons and equipment of all kinds. Jeremy sat on his bunk, trying to decide between a BR or SMG. He wasn't sure what the conditions would be on landing, so either would be suitable. He glanced around the room. Jose grabbed himself an SMG, and Roger sprang for a Sniper and SABRE launcher. The Sergeant sat in a secluded corner, calibrating the targeting system. He didn't talk much before battle. The platoon was split evenly between the possibilities he was psyching up for battle, or the only thing that could give him enough energy to speak was bullets zinging past his face.

Jeremy put the thought aside and selected the BR. He walked over to an explosives desk and plucked off two DP/HE frags. He'd figured they'd come in handy. Even Brute armor couldn't take more than a few pieces of shrapnel, which these frags provided in spades.

As he concentrated less and less on the immediate, he noticed that no one was talking. Normally, his platoon would be cracking jokes, and be out on the practice range, making bets on who was the best shot. No such luck today. His men were battle-hardened veterans, and for the first time in years they acted like it. If they could win this battle, the Covenant would be doomed; nothing was funny about that. He noticed about a dozen troops were missing, and went to the firing range to check on them.

He didn't find the betting contests as usual. All he found was 2nd squad practicing in perfect sync, knocking out Brute dummies with unparalleled coordination. The squad leader, Sergeant Cullen pointed out targets as they were still rising, and his team took them down before they were fully upright. Jeremy jogged over, stopping them for a moment.

"So, I take it you're prepared, Cullen?"

"Of course, sir. THis is the best I've ever seen my squad do. Might give yours a run for their money this time, sir."

"We'll see about that, Sergeant. Mind if I take a crack at it?"

"I don't see why not." Cullen said. His team backed off, allowing The First Sergeant some room. A Brute appeared behind a wall. Within an instant of an instant, Jeremy was there, watching with anxiety and anticipation as it rose. Before the dummy was above the wall, Patterson fired, his bullets passing through a gap in the helmet and taking off the Brute nose. It fell to the ground as another peeked out from behind a barn. Jeremy swung his rifle to the right, and fired another killing burst. For ten seconds the dummies rose and fell as the First Sergeant made effortless kills, years of practice giving him unparalleled skill among his team. When he finally finished, Second squad burst into applause, as had the rest of Blackheart, having entered the room to watch the little exhibition.

Roger called out to him "You're almost as good as a Spartan, sir!"

The smirk on Jeremy's face faded. Again with the Spartan kid. He loved his grandfather, but in no way wished to live in his shadow forever. He needed a way out. The Helljumpers had offered him a way, though it seemed rather ineffective. Before anyone else could comment, Jeremy called out to them.

"We'll be there any minute now, platoon! I'd suggest you get to your drop pods and be ready for launch in an instant!"

The entire platoon fell into line, saluted, and gave the loudest "SIR YES SIR!" he had ever heard in his life. They spun on their heels and were out of the room in an instant. Jeremy sat down on a nearby chair. His men were the best he could make them... would it be enough?

MasterGreen999 16:25, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

29
9th of August, 2607, 10:42 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Agricultural South, sector 1-5, Kanna Rice Line

Solus watched as the shadows of the pair of scarabs passed over his joyous soldiers, pride filling them, as they watched their lumbering mechanical beasts. But they were not the only gifts Lakvanus had presented them with, Wraiths hovered over the rice paddies water, which had now returned to a deep brown, and the tanks were surrounded by Brutes, who were slowly trudging through the liquid.

"Aha! Brothers! Good to see you all! What pack do you hail from Comrades!" Solus shouted, with outstretched arms, a wide grin stretched across his face, mushing up the runes dyed on his face.

"Chieftain Solus? We are from the Fralkus Pack!" Another Chieftain, plain looking, especially in comparison to the Purple Solus, shouted, from his perch ontop one of the Wraiths.

"That is one pack? You said two." Joblus whispered as he pulled the Purple Chieftain down to his eye level. As if on queue, noises echoed up from the bushes to the Villages east, from where the Scarabs had been dropped, as Kig-Yar erupted from the greenery.

"Kig-Yar? What are you doing here?" Solus roared, turning from his oncoming Brethren to face the new arrivals, pushing his way through his own pack to watch the Jackals march forwards, with one of the Jackals sprinting up to the Chieftain, barking in his face, before running back into the mob of his own kind, yelling and waving his shield.

The soldiers fell quiet, and opened up into a path to let a Jackal pass up to the Chieftain, "I Am Kindik'Yar, and I Apologise for my troops....we have been sent to replace the other pack as at the moment, they are preoccupied."

"Keep them in line Kindik, I can't afford loose canons in this situation."

"You have nothing to fear from my soldiers, their loyalty is absolute as long as....Income...is assured." The Jackal smiled, "Now, let us talk strategy."

"You will get to talk very little, remember your place, your warriors are subservient to mine to the extant you are to me, Lakvanus told me I would be sharing command with the other Chieftains, not with a Kig-Yar." Solus said, taking a step towards Kindik, who inturn stepped back, placing his hand on the hilt of his holstered weapon, before letting go, and with a grumble he averted his gave from the Brute, who turned and walked back to Fralkus, as he reached solid ground. Kindik swiveled his head around, taking in his surroundings, before turning back to his soldiers, screeching for them not to look bad, before clambering through the Brutes of the Solus Pack, after the Chieftain.

The Three leaders sat in the room the hologram had been set up, which now showed a lay-out of the Rice Line, a flat-top mountain range, covered in trees to its sides and rice paddies on top. The Mountains themselves had mostly been flattened by the humans for suitable agricultural territory, and it was at the South-Western end of the range, that they were positioned.

"I Propose, seeing as how the terrain would seem to favour the defense if the human force is currently large enough, that we send in the Wraiths and Scarabs in on a frontal assault, to be safe, as we know that they are lacking in equipment to combat these war-machines, Fralkus, your Jiralhanae are manning the vehicles, and acting as the infantry that accompanies them. My own force will circle around and flank any humans who try to either assault you, or retreat. The Kig-Yar will remain here and protect the base." Solus said calmly, motioning over the mp.

"BAH! My soldiers demand to be able to gather their riches, not to be kept house-sitting, they will riot!" Kindik screeched, as he lurched from the corner of the room.

"Yes, my warriors are too few to be an effective follow-up infantry if they are also manning vehicles." Fralkus spoke up, attempteing to appease the tension he felt building up.

"Very well, Kindik, your Kig-Yar will act as the infantry in the frontal assault, Fralkus, your Jiralhanae will man the vehicles, those not, will man the defenses here. Now if everyone is in agreement, we will launch the attack in twelve minutes." Solus said, raising his voice in anticipation, as the other two commanders nodded, and walked out to ready their troops.

30
"Son of a bitch we should have been there by now!" Locklear said getting impatient, something he normally wouldn't do especially under the men in his command. Luckily though it was only Dove and Archangel, another briefing had occured. His regiment was ready one of the first to be so and now they were all left with nothing to do but have anxiety bite at their rears. "How much longer are we going to have to wait!?!"

Dove grinned to himself amused, he knew the Lieutenant Colonel was excited. "Sir you already know the answer to that." Said Archangel stealing Dove's line. "May I suggest you take some time to sleep." Archangel said, brilliant feathered wings extended and light glowed behind her.

"Not a bad idea sir." Dove put in. "Hell the rest of the staff have done the same. Major Scott even had cookies and coffee delivered to him." Dove laughed, while he brought the treats to the regiment's intel officer he couldn't help but take a few cookies for himself. If Dove had to list a weakness, sweets were it. "Chocolate Chip Sir." he added wishing he had more.

"Dove hows III Battalion." Locklear asked leaning back in his chair trying to keep himself busy. He already knew the answer though, III Battalion was the regiment's ODSTs while I and II were marines. Dove was about to answer when Archangel did so instead. She replied how the ODSTs had been ready long before the rest of the regiment. Locklear sighed, "Alright, I'll be in my cabin." He got up and started walking down the hall.

"Whacha gonna do sir?" Dove asked with a smile.

"Sleep and than contraband your inventory!" Locklear said as he walked down the hall without looking back.

"Awww Sir come on!"

Hollywood

31
After all the Seraph singleships were destroyed, the 42nd exited Kanna's atmosphere and boarded the UNSC Dawn to Heaven. Lewis' plane was so badly damaged that he needed to switch to his secondary plane, which, really didn't matter anyway. Their next mission was to launch an attack on a Remnant Capital ship.

Arnold Leroy Lewis III, a Spartan 1.1, sat up in his bunk on an Athena class Prowler. He hated space voyages with a passion, and preffered his feet on the side of a Hornet in atmosphere. He remembered when he first joined the UNSC, right after the Covenant invaded Earth. He had fought on the North American continent very well, gaining the attention of UNSC HIGHCOM, who had him transferred to ONI and NavSpecWar. Those were the toughest years of his life... ODST training, SCUBA, Parachuting, Sniper School, and worst of all, the medical exams. But, now, he was a member of the elite UNSC Special Tactics and Operations Unit, Air Troop, practically placing him under the command of his brother.

He laughed at the dream he had that night, about the first time him and his deceased wife met. Then, he remembered how she died, after his son died from something called Metabolic Cascade Failure. She had grieved herself to death. Lewis had shut those feelings into the back of his mind, but, occasionaly, they surfaced. He again packed then into the back of his mind, took a shower, and got dressed in his camouflage fatigues. After having a cup of orange juice and a breakfast of sausage, biscuits, cereal, and an apple, he went to the Armory to check up on his baby.

''The M-99C Special Application Scoped Rifle... able to punch through the armor of a Scorpion and still have enough velocity to kill someone standing on the other side...''

He took it apart, cleaned the fine surfaces and the barrel, tuned the electrnoics, and put it back together. He then checked the tungsten rounds that were propelled from this magnificent weapon at 15,000 feet per second. Three rounds, three kills he thought to himself. He put the weapon back into its case, then took out his M-12 Submachine Gun. He cleaned it, put it back together, then tested it on the onboard range.

Still perfect.

Then, he removed his M73D Carbine from its case, and cleaned it. After finishing the cleaning, he calibrated the scope, then tested out on the onboard range.

Well, at least I know this Son of a Bitch still works.

He remembered the old days of being a sniper, and the one day he killed twenty chieftains. He loved the deadliness of the Gauss rifle, but, those days were over. He was a Sergeant back then, and now, being a Gunnery Sergeant, he had different duties. He was to lead his platoon into combat after disembarking from whatever they were on. Hornets, Pelicans, Gulls, whatever. Their lives were in his hands, and he knew it. He just hoped that he had trained the group well. -- <font color="Red">The Dawn <font color="Red">of a new Chronicle <font color="White"><The Sniper> <font color="Red"><The General> <The Prodigal Son> <font color="Red">[The Vessel] <font color="White">[The Unit] 18:53, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

32
The gentle purr of the Weasel's engine hummed in Puller's ears as the agile vehicle effortlessly took the tight corner at speed. He was cradling his M73 in his lap, the weapon set on "burst" mode, ready to supplement the firepower of the rear-mounted turret. The rubble of buildings demolished by the fighting surrounded him and his small ONI tea. The Brutes had hit hard here, killing most of the Marines defenders before pulling out to head for the Rice Line. Only a few Jackals remained, scavenging from abandoned houses, looting the bodies of Humans and Brutes alike. A few burst from the ONI team had sent them scattering, and their advance had been other wise unopposed. A gentle breeze tugged at Puller's boonie cap. He had removed his heavy helmet to give his bruised neck a rest. A few hours before a Brute Chieftain had nearly strangled Puller and altough he was fortunate to only have this minor injury, it still was a discomfort.

But then a throaty rumble of engines disturbed Puller. His column of Weasel slid around another pile of rubble, and there was a sight for an embattled Marine to weep at: a column of Warthogs over a mile long, packed with Marines assigned to bolster the defenses of the Rice Line. Puller's driver pulled up beside a Warthog with a set of stylised oak leaves on it. Shouting across the gap between the two vehicles to the passenger, a major, Puller discovered that all available Marine forces were to head to the Rice Line and await the releife force. Puller's column of grey-clad Weasels fell into line, and the long column of fast-moving vehicles snaked its way towards the Rice Line.

FightWithHonor

33
9th of August, 2607, 10:33 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Industrial West, Sector Two Five, Aleph City. The pain of the ambush mentally hit Novus. Then again that pain was blocked out by the physical state of his body. He couldn’t even move and had an immense throbbing pain in his right arm, leg and hip. The darkness swallowed his sight and his mind. Was death really this close? Then again was close to far away? Maybe he was dead, he felt like it. Then he heard footsteps. The firing had stopped too. Novus started to worry. Had the Humans moved up to search for survivors? Then the warm feeling of relief came:

“Brutes, spread out and search for any living brothers. Make sure that the area is secure too. We don’t want the same fate as this lot had.” It was his Chieftain; Drakos. He still couldn’t move though but then light entered his eyes. His mind opened too, as it came around to understand what exactly had just happened.

Novus fully opened his eyes and saw feet scuttle around to his fallen pack-mates. None of them seemed to be alive. One of the rescuing Minors roared in anger as he sulked on a body of a lost friend. There were no Humans left in sight but their destruction was hard to miss. Blood and body parts decorated the surrounding rubble. This anger and sorrow pushed Novus to gain control of his body. Then he twitched. Ever so slightly but he twitched his fingers in an attempt to draw attention.

“This is a mess. The Humans have slaughtered our brothers and left them all for us to clear up. They have a nerve. One I would like to rip straight into!” The Chieftain shouted. A few Brutes agreed with a roar of mourn and excitement combined. Novus felt happy and then he started to slowly move his left leg. He raised it up to a kneeling stance. He pushed up with his arms too. On all fours he stayed there blood dripping from his mouth and arms. He felt dizzy but tried hard to control his balance.

“Over here!” The Chieftain shouted. He rushed over to Novus and thundering footsteps of about three other Brutes came to his rescue too. He felt glad to be alive and rescued but his body still screamed at him to give up.

“What’s your name Minor?” The Chieftain asked as he squatted down beside him. Another Brute had already rested Novus against a wall but his head and arms flopped down with bleeding wounds.

“No… Nov…” He couldn’t say it. His mind and mouth were too wounded. He wanted to say his name and then tell them to leave and fight the Humans. But he couldn’t.

“He’s in an awful shape Chieftain. He’s been shot in the arm, hip and leg. If we don’t get him serious medical help within the next hour or two… then he’s gone.” The surrounding air fell silent and the only thing anyone could hear was the distant ripple of gun fire and booms of explosions. Novus felt wiped out and fear pushed that even further. Then the Chieftain’s hologram arm panel flickered to life. He stepped away and started to speak to his superior.

“Lets get you some pain killers and fix those wounds.” The Major said as he reached for the small first aid kit. Brutes usually fought to the death or not at all and so being on the edge of death was an embarrassment. The pack was there for three whole minutes while ammunition was collected, Novus was treated and the Chieftain was receiving orders. They all seemed too silent except the Chieftain and his buzzing hologram. Novus started to gain control of his body and started to walk.

“Brutes; we have orders. Get to the Sector 3. We are amassing our forces there. "The Chieftain relayed the orders just given to him and started to move. Then one of the pack’s Captains spoke to him.

“Drakos you can’t take him.” He pointed at Novus. “He’ll get us killed. Now I respect you…”

“Is it me or are you telling me what to do? You’ve just lost five of my men back there.” The Chieftain shouted and then moved closer to whisper. “You haven’t earned the right to be the rank you are and so don’t even try to question my commands. Is that understood? Or else your fate to be the same as the Humans'” With that he turned away with his bodyguards shortly following. The rest of the pack followed with Novus being helped by a Major. All twenty five of them walked out of the city. A small loss would be made into a large victory somewhere else. And Novus would be there to help claim it…

34
Lewis stood up in the small chamber and inspected the inside. If they were to go to ground, the lining of the Gull's would have to stand up to the plasma of the Brute weapons.

''Looks good... let's check out the pods...''

Lewis inspected the weapons pods, and made sure that everything was perfect. Although it was supposed to be the pilot's jobs to inspect their craft, Lewis took the extra time to make sure that his men, and himself, would be covered.

Lewis, now satisfied with the equipment, went to make sure that his men were prepared for battle.

"Alright boys. Within eight hours, we will be deploying to the surface of Kanna. This will be one of the first times the STO has been in combat, so, let's make a good impression on HIGHCOM. I also wanna make sure that my big brother loses this bet he made with me. He said that the ODSTs were better than us. Is that right men?"

"SIR, NO SIR!"

"OH, I CAN'T HEAR A FUCKIN' THING. SOUND OFF LOUDER!"

"SIR, NO SIR!"

"ARE WE GONNA KICK SOME BRUTE ASS MEN?"

"SIR, YES SIR!"

"ARE WE GONNA KICK THE ASSES OF THOSE ODST PUSSIES?"

"SIR, YES SIR!"

"Good. Finish inspecting your weapons, then get some rest. You're gonna need it."

-

"Alright 42nd, you guys are gonna be taking on a Covenant Capital Ship. You guys should know how to pull this off, you've done it before. Godspeed."

The 42nd moved to the hangar bay, climbed into their modified Katana's, then rocketed into space toward the first of the Covenant Capital Ships. -- <font color="Red">The Dawn <font color="Red">of a new Chronicle <font color="White"><The Sniper> <font color="Red"><The General> <The Prodigal Son> <font color="Red">[The Vessel] <font color="White">[The Unit] 05:17, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

35
The black mist slowly cleared from Marus' eyes. The gentle hum of the plasma engines powering down was mixed with the resonating "thump" of the Phantom's hull as it touched down on the rubble strewn landing pad. The cackles of jackals and the low grunts of Brutes could be heard as the pahntom unloaded its cargo. The crew un aware of the blood-flecked Brute, lying in the cargo bay. Painfully rising to his torn feet, Marus staggered out of the cargo door, snarling at a Jackal that dared come too close. Before him stood the tall, battle-scarred industrial building the Humans had come to call "Pavlov's Tower," although Marus cared little for names now, all he wanted to do was find the nearest aid station. After aimleesly limping for a few hundred feet, he came across the nearestone, a samll Jackalstation run by a one-eyed Jackal by the name of 'Dsask.

As he watched Marus duck beneath the low-door of the bullet-pocked house he was using to bandage wounds in 'Dsask let out a low chuckle. Like many doctors, both human and alien, he dabbled in various medical "experiments" while treating his patients. But his latest project had killed every Jackal he had given it to, ravaging their small bodies before the substance could work, but a Brute of Marus' size would be the perfect subject.

"Greetings, my lord" the Jackal wheedled in an obsequious tone ", how may I serve you?" the Brute's reply was rough and rumbling. "Heal my wounds you pirate, so I may serve the Covenant your heart despises, whatever your profiteering race may say."

"You are cruel, but powerful, my lord. I shall do what I can," with that, the wizened Kig-Yar drew a large syringe from a locked case. It was full of a clear, slightly bluish liquid, metaxahynide, 'Dsask's experiment. This serum increased heart and breathing rate to almost ten times the norm, overstimualting the nervous sytem, making whoever was injected with it incredibly strong, but it also caused permanent long-term damage to the body, and if overdosed death could be the result. 'Dsask had no clue what the correct dose for a Brute would be, so he simply emptied the syringe into Marus' leg as the Brute grumbled when the thick needle pierced his skin. It was then that Marus' leg began to sting. Instinctivly swatting at the source of the pain Marus, unused to the new found-strength the serum gave him, crushed 'Dsask against the wall. Then, grumbling as he felt his heart begin to rumble unnaturally, Marus turned and left the small aid station, ripping a pair of Covenant Carbines from the hands of two of the dying Jackals lying on blood-stained tarpaulins.

His normally yellow eyes turning a shade of blood-red, Marus rushed towards the sounds of battle, all pain forgotten as his mind began to pulse with only one thought, "Kill! Kill! KILL! Hurtling past limping wounded, Marus ducked into an alley and emerged at the base of Pavlov's Tower. The moment he appeared in the open, bullets began to tear the concrete around him. Although unarmored and exposed, Marus, ignored the whizzing bullets and charged forward, a blazing Carbine in each hand. The marines in the tower began to get the range and soon bullets were smashing into Marus' chest. But the metaxahynide had done its work, the super-human strength it had given Marus, allowed the chieftain to ignore his wounds and continue pressing forward, moving at a speed never before matched in war to this day.

A burst of armor-piercing rounds from a Marine's LMG ripped through Marus' chest. Pausing for a moment Marus seized a massive steel I-beam and pinned the Marine to the wall. Grabbing the LMG from the hand of the squirming soldier, Marus gunned down his comrades, going from man-to-man emptying their weapons into the nearby knots of huddled Marines. But then, a sniper’s bullet caught Marus in his head. Staggering, Marus limped for a few feet, then shook his head and kept going, relying more on primal instincts than commands from his dying brain. A second shot pierced his head, and a red cloud, blotted out Marus’ sight. Firing blindly, he was hit in the body by another burst of MG fire. Sinking to his knees, his body riddles with holes, Marus’ chest suddenly exploded as his over-worked heart exploded, sending a river of blood down his torn frame. The sounds of battle seemed to die for a moment as Marus crashed to the earth, his life-blood spent in the service of the Covenant he had lost his all to save.

FightWithHonor

36
9th of August, 2607, 10:44 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Industrial West, Sector 1-4, Aleph City

Ace hung onto the front rollcage as the flat bed warthog as it turned a corner, skidding throguh debris and leaving a trail of dust. They had intercepted a Brute column on their way to link up with the force heading to the 'Rice Line'. The infantry were weak targets for their guns. Ace was riding shotgun on the rear of a flat bed Warthog, his Wolf Exoskeletonh hunched on the back, firing one handed at the enemy forces. Behind him one of Crow's flatbeds was carrying a Wolf, sans a leg. It was strapped down to the back in a sitting position, firing off the back. Ace looked back momentarily and missed the brute step out in front of his hog. There was the sound of a 'thump' and the car bucked up.

"Hey Sarge, wadda ya call those chunky bits on our tires?" One of the marines laughed

"Slow Brutes!" He laughed

They had left a trail of dead and dying Brutes, riddled with bullets from Sector 2-3 to this position. They drove up onto a highway connection and up onto the main super route heading out of the city. A chain of hogs were heading out of the city and into the countryside, with a few Weasels driving up alongside them.

"Okay, lets floor it, everybody knows, Swallow platoon is always at the front!" Ace laughed, patting his drives shoulder. He heard Daniels swear over the comms as his Warthog was forced to catch up with his as they sped off past the other warthogs. Almost ten minutes out of the city was the Rice line, just a mile off the main highway. At the base of the hill was a abandoned Warehouse, taken by neither side. They were driving up ahead, followed with some other units playing catch up with them. One warthog from three battalion drove out in front of them, a unfortunate mistake. It was hit by a plasma mortar. It flipped in the air, hurling out its burning crew and crashed in front of Ace's Hog. His driver swerved to avoid it and began to take evasis manouvres as Wraiths began to silently creep out of hiding places. Something more fearsome came over the hill where the rice line was situated. Two purple, spindely bug like machines crawled out and immediatly spat two torrents of green plasma down at the warehouse complex. A little Weasel from some ONI special unit was decimated, only a burnt chassis remained. Another warthog was hit by a wave of hit and splash damge, setting fire to a crew member. It skidded out of control and as they tried to put out their comrade a Wraith slammed into the Warthog, crushing the crew and flipping it.

"Get us to cover and dismount!" Daniels ordered

Ace was ready to fight as the Warthog pulled up outside a set of smaller concrete buildings on the perimeter. The rest of Swallow platoon followed suite, taking hard cover as Brute forces moved in around them. Ace moved with charlie squad outside as a Wraith swung around the outer perimeter. It was busy trying to kill a swerving Warthog, giving time for a member of the squad to level his M41B2 Weapon Anti Vehicle/Anti Material t i. The gunner was too fast for him and turned to fire his plasma turret. Ace, in a split second decision stepped in front of him and began to fire his weapon from the hip in return fire. His shields took a pounding before they faded and plasma began to scorch his armour. The gunner meanwhile was torn apart by the .50 cal AP rounds, leaving him a bloodied mess. The Marine stepped back out and levelled his weapon.

"Heat lock confirmed, FIRING!"

The Missile fired out, shooting straight at the Wraith. It was going to hit its flank armour, a null shot, as it wouldn't pierce its armour straight away. Instead the missile jerked up into the air then straight down onto the Plasma Mortar canopy. The HEAT missile jettisoned a vortex of metal metal into the tank, hitting the primary plasma core and alighting it. The tank was engulfed by a ball of burning plasma, leaving behind a pool of metal slag. The retreat was called as the Scarabas moved into the warehouse compled then both stopped and remained on guard. Swallow platoon had been trapped in this complex, waiting for rescue. They hunkered down in the outer buildings, taking cover and keeping watch. Ace was stationed at the west window, watching one of the Scarabs crawl onto the roof of a Warehouse andstay on watch. Beside him the units marksman kept a firm eye on it.

"What are we gonna do sarge?"

"Wait it out... we gotta get back up.... soon..." He said, his train of thought interrupted by the sound of what sounded like Thunder in the distance.

"Is that a thunderstorm coming in?" One of the NCOs asked

"....somebody light a beacon, its Rolling Thunder!" He said

Lieutenant Ronald Sutherland Leaned back in his seat, looking at the holographic display sprawled out in front of them. The middle display showed a thermal image of a Scarab. He looked to his left and gave his comrade a thumbs up and gave a thumbs up to a man over his shoulder.

"Okay ladies, lets make these baby kongs regret setting foot on Kanna, FLIR Thermal lock active, move to battle postion."

"Got the second on RADAR, gonna move to engage."

"Locks confirmed, I've got a further eleven heat signatures with Brute IFF. Confirmed targets alright."

"Lets focus on those Scarabs first."

His shook as the holographic display faded and his little enclosed pod shook.

"Callsign Warlord, Barb away!"

"This is Hound, Barb away!"

"This is Vigalante, Barb away!"

Ace saw a brief streak of light hit the flank of the Scarab on the roof, bursting inside it in a massive ball of molten metal and flame, tearing it openm. A second then a third impacted on it and tore it to pieces. It was blasted in half, with its power core exploding again, blasting its rear end to balls of molten metal. The second exploded as well, being reduced to pieces as well. The thunder became almost deafening as three cross like objects passed over head. They twisted into the air swivelling around. They turned back upon themselves, firing tank hunting missiles at the ground, shattering Wraiths on the ground. Armour Piercing Incediary rounds punctured tanks with depleted uranium penetrating rods and enflamed the remains with incediary devices. The Brute armoured forces scattered.

"Axe Attack Jets!"

"This is 103 Attack squadron, we hear you ground pounders need some Brutes toasted." The radio squawked

"You fly boys are late!" One of the marines bellowed, shaking his fist to the sky.

"Better late than never, eh? Lets see if we can't clean this place up. Lets send 'em to hell!" One of the pilots retorted

The A-110 Axe Attack Jets moved into a formation, heading to the hill. The lead Axe released a torrent of bomblets from its DISORDER Bomblet Dispenser, the bombs impacting in the ground, buildings, Brutes and vehicles thne violently exploding a few seconds later in concerte, levelling a straight line. Thirtymm rotary cannons chattered, blasting holes in houses, tanks and brutes. Anti tank missiles busted open Wraiths, HAVOK sensor fuzed bombs oblitereated whole groups of infantry and tanks and swathes of Rockets decimated whole areas. Banshees were blasted from the sky by swathes of missile launched shrapnel, sending the fragments of them falling to the ground, flaming.

The Axes turned away from the combat, with their wings folding back, their tails riasing to make a distinct arrowhead shape and began to speed away, back to their airstrip.

"We're dry. We'll be back when we can, good luck."

"Thanks Warlord. You see any targets up there?"

"Looks at the east end theres a big thermal batch in one of the buildings, I saw some apes guarding it. I think we got boys in there. We saw gun fire at site four. Our pinned soldiers must be there."

"Captain, its Daniels, we got two confirmed targets up there, we can't hit both." Daniels said into his boom mic.

"Yeah, I was listening to Warlord. Head to support our boys pinned down, reinforcements will be arriving shortly to get you out. Crow, Sparrow Platoon, get our POWS. Anybody hanging around there, help Swallow Platoon."

"Looks like we're charging then." Ace smirked, cocking his gun.

9th of August, 2607, 10:48 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Nakatomi Village, outside Aleph City

The village captured early in the minutes of the invasion had become a command post for the Brutes who had been pushed out of Aleph. Almost 3000 Brutes had amassed here, ready for their next attack. They were almost four kilometers from the outskirts of the town, across a large open area. Every Brute pushed out of Aleph and a few extra ones had gathered here. High Chieftain Barabus stood in his command tent, facing a hologram of Lakvanus.

"The humans generated more resistance that previously thought capable. I am sorry I failed." He said, bowing his head in disgrace

"No matter, your early assault must of shaken them. With the Rice Line falling and the Jackals distracting them, their weakened forces will be easy pray. I want you to lead a full frontal attack at the City Gate. Smash through it and the humans and take the city." Lakvanus said without batting a eyelid.

Barabus looked up at him shocked "But what of the human defences?"

"They will of been strained and shocked by the earlier assaults. Wraiths and Scarabs will clear a path."

Lakvanus was getting desperate for victory. Desperate enough to launch this attack. However, his word was the word of the prophets. This was their mission. They would succed.

37
9th of August, 2607, 10:57 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Rice Line.

Kindik'Yar's troops were ferocious, more thugs than soldiers. But they weren't even treated as soldiers, but police enforcers. Due to his inferiority of his men, they had been subjected to patrolling the Rice Line in place of the Brutes until their next assault. The only thing that had stopped a civil war at the previous meeting was the other Chieftain's suggestion of letting the Kig'Yar lead the frontal infantry attack. The Captain began to wish he had landed at Pavlov's tower instead. The shooting hadn't stopped once there.

He and his personal guards marched through the Rice Line in a neat line, not one foot out of step. If he was going to do police work, he was going to do a good job of it. As his group marched past several huts, he heard a scuffle. His men hurried inside to see three Kig'Yar fighting with a Brute over a Human ring. Worthless at first glance, but the massive diamond on it made it very valuable.

"Give it to us!" A Kig'Yar hissed. "We were here first, and we outnumber you!"

The Brute chuckled. "You may outnumber me, but I could crush your skulls in a second, or beat you to paste with my Nailer--"

Before he could say anything else, Kindik'Yar phased to him, as if he were a ghost, and put his cutlass to the Brute's chest armor. "If you so much as think about that rifle, you'll be dead in an instant."

The Brute was definitely somewhat nervous now, but dared not to let it show. "And what leverage do you have against me? What say I just happen to slip on fall on my backing, 'accidentally' crushing you?"

Without a word, Kindik gracefully pulled the elegant cutlass across the chest plate, creating a paper-thin, but perfectly efficient cut across it. "What say I slit your throat?"

The Brute contemplated the moment. If he shot the three Kig'Yar, he'd be gutted. If he crushed the Captain, he'd be shot, and if he managed to survive both, two dozen more Kig'Yar waited to end his life. Realizing it was hopeless, the Brute shrugged off the Pirate and left the hut, searching for some other valuable artifact.

Kindik'Yar spat at the Brute as it left, and turned to his Kindikuu that had begun the fight.

"Captain, forgive us, but the Jiralhanae are violent, greedy, spiteful. They get on our nerves so greatly, we have to do something about them!"

"Don't worry, my Kindikuu, the Jiralhanae will be handled in time. For now, simply follow orders and be sure to grab anything you like. I guarantee there will be plenty more when we're finished here."

MasterGreen999 21:18, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

38
9th of August, 2607, 10:48 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Nakatomi Village, outside Aleph City

The Drakos pack arrived at the village and as the lower ranking Brutes of the pack scattered to seek medical help and rearm, the pack’s Chieftain walked over to the High Chieftain Barabus. Drakos pushed past many Brutes injured and worried. He’d never seen so much mess but he knew that something big was about to happen. Drakos strolled confidently though into Barabus’s command tent as if to show some sort of authority in this massive unorganised mess of sodiers. Barabus had just finished speaking to a hologram of Lakvanus, when Drakos walked in.

“Sorry master for interupting you. I am here to await your orders.” Drakos bowed slightly to the High Cheiftain in respect and then stood.

“How is your pack Drakos? Last time I heard, you were pushed hard and lost a lot of my men.” Barabus was obviously not impressed with Drakos’s faliure.

“We lost two sub-packs on dropoff and then another two were killed in action. Only twenty four survived the assault and we found only one survivor from those forces. I’m sorry master, but we misanticipated the Humans power.” Drakos showed remorse at his faliure in an attempt to gain Barabus’s sympathy. “You have failed my Drakos. As I have done to Lakvanus. However we shall learn from this and our upcomming assault will put us back in the league of victory.” Barabus spoke with equal remorse.

“Upcomming assault?”

“Yes, I have orders to launch a full punch straight into the gate of the city. We will converge on the Humans en mass, and will not stop until victory is gained.” There was a moment of silence in the command tent, while Barabus thought about the lives, which he was about to loose, and while Drakos struggled to understand the logic behind his orders.

“I respect your orders High Cheiftain… however I do not think that this is a wise plan to exicute in such dire times.” Drakos stood guilty but strong.

“I agree Drakos… I agree.”

Novus sat on a stool while he was injected with various needles and devices to moniter his health. He thought about his lost brothers and the upcomming fights, which were going to loose even more of them. He thought of revenge and the pleasure of killing any walking Human. The anger and rage pushed past the pain in his body. He wanted to go back out to war.

However he was in no fit condition to fight. However given the right treatment, new armour and weapons; he would be ready. He would be ready to fight. Then it struck him. What was he fighting for? Who was he fighting for? His own desire or his Cheiftain? Maybe even Lakvanus and the Prophet of Deliverance. However each time he thought; he struggled to grasp the true answer. Was this side of the war really the side he wanted to be on? Was this life of pain and loss all that he would come across in the future? Did he really know why he despised most species?

“Novus, once you’re patched up I want you over by the rest of our pack for briefing and arming. We’re making an assault on the city’s gate and you can then get you revenge.” Drakos spoke sharply to him and walked off. And that was the answer:

Revenge…

39
9th of August, 2607, 10:25 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Civilian North-East, Sector 1-4, Aleph City

Hiroji dived to the right, to which the Brute missed him by several feet.

"STAND STILL, BLOODY FUCKING C***!" yelled the Brute. Judging by his knowledge of the Human language, he confirmed it was the Brute translator from earlier. Hiroji smiled, and then ran, dodging several more blasts, into the nearby civillian house that had been torn with reckage due to his grenade bombarding. The Brute also ran in.

"This is it Human. In here, you cannot maneuver. Now die, waste of oxygen," said the Brute, as he shot off a blast, to which Hiroji dodged by very little, then threw down a flashbang scavenged from a Brute, immediately after. The Brute suddenly shot randomly, all of shots going wide of Hiroji and hitting the ceiling, causing the ceiling to collapse on the Brute, and his shield went off. The Brute was still alive, but crippled under the wreckage.

Meanwhile, Hiroji was also still alive, but he had lost his PDW and his body had been severely cut and scraped by falling glass and metal. As well, the Brute's sidearm, a Spiker, had went off and shot Hiroji in one of his shoulders.

"Good night," Hiroji said, as he began to fall unconcious, and he shot the Brute in the head with his M33 Revolver, ending the Brute's life.

9th of August, 2607, 10:53 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Industrial West, Sector 1-4, Aleph City

"QUICK, GET HIM ON THE STRETCHER, STAT!" a man in a medic uniform shouted to several other men.

Hiroji came from unconciousness.

"Who... are you?" Hiroji asked.

"We're trained medics son, we'll get you out of here as soon as we can," was the response Hiroji heard before slipping once again into unconciousness. He was taken away, and put to a soldier's hospital.

-- <tt>Canis Lupus</tt>  - The Pack - - Kill - -  Join the Pack  - 18:14, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

40
Theta Nero System, Kanna, 12th Age of Reclamation

The Covenant and Remnants slowly lands on the rough terrain of Kanna. Above them, the battle in the high orbit of Kanna continuous on, seemingly never ending. From afar, the San 'Shyuum Consul looks high up in the sky and touches his forehead, "Be blessed by the gods, the mighty Covenant will rise from its ashes and return those who rebel to the depths of hell." The Brutes around him answers, "Hail the Great Journey!". The Covenant Stealth Ship lowers its bay and releases the Covenant Expeditionary. Still stealthed, the Covenant Ship launches several probes to survey the area for possible hostile intent. "Onwards, the first Holy Artifact is located twenty miles away..." informs the Grunt Researcher, holding on to its electronical pads. The whole team follows the trail...

From the bridge of the Covenant Ship, the AI, Seeker of the Covenant unmasks itself. The grunts around it cried in fear as they see the image stood with its arms flex. "Ahn sumacanattra... Innahu, kembali thrua SoTc..." it mutters as the AI stood off its holotanks and held out its hands towards the controls. All of a sudden, the ships communication node comes alive and thousands of both Covenant and Human transmissions fills the chamber...

<font color="#0000FF"><tt>Little</tt> <font color="#0090FF"><tt>_</tt> <font color="#7DF9FF"><tt>Missy</tt> -  08:37, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

41
Puller's headset crackled to life. "ONI 43, break off and head for that factory complex." The convoy commander was trying to juggle requests for aid from the stranded clusters Marines trapped along the convoy's route. Familiar with the prowess ONI teams were known to show in combat, and so the commander had sent Puller's tiny huddle of Weasels to clear bail out a trapped platoon of Marines. The ONI team had already lost a Weasel and three men after a run-in with a Scarb, and they were eager to hit the Covies back for their loss.

Puller's driver switched into high gear and the Weasel stood on two wheels for a moment as it skidded towards a tired compound of smoke-stained factories. Behind them, Puller oculd hear the occasional thud of a Spiker and the answering chatter of a Warthog's turret. Ahead, the growls of Brutes and the frantic shouts of the beleaugered Marines could be heard. The Marines had taken cover inside a plasma-scarrd maglev station, and the rarity of gunfire from the terminal told Puller that the Marines were low on both ammo and men.

Racing alongside the tracks, the cluster of Weasels spread out, bullets spewing from their turrets. One was hit by a lucky Fuel Rod shot, overtured in a cloud of superheated gases. Its dust-stained driver emerged, only to be felled by a Jackal's sniper. But in spite of this casualty, the ONI men quickly scattered the surpised Brutes and Jackals.

The Weasel column parked in front of the terminal, and a bloodstained Marine limped out, extending his hand towards Puller, but wincing as he irritated the bent Nailer round half protruding from his shoulder. "I'm First Sergeant Lipton, Raven Platoon," the Marine grimaced.

"Right. Get the wounded assembled over there and we'll get a Pelican sent in, the rest of you, pile on the Weasels." In response, a ragged bunch of Marines dragged a heap of around ten groaning men, and another few piled onto Puller's Weasels and the pair of Mongooses that had belonged to Raven's lieutenant and his runner, before a Jackal had got them.

With green-clad Marines hanging off the sides and back of the tiny convoy, ONI 43 and the survivors of Raven Platoon, headed off towards the far-away sound of battle, hoping to reach the rmeainder of the Warthog Convoy, and the relative security of the Rice Line.

FightWithHonor

42
Staff Sergeant 'Ace' Warren was on point, bounding up a set of stairs in his Wolf Exoskeleton, followed by the rest of his unit. The loot trailed behind, already running out of steam. Ace's satmina was nothing short of inhuman, being able to stay ahead while piloting the heavy motions of the Wolf with such accuracy. The Stairs moved up the steep eastern side of the hill. On top of it was a cluster of eleven buildings, mostly houses or out buildings, low built, polycrete buildings, sturdy and tough, with a brick built Maglev station with a polycrete interior housing the last remnants of Bravo Company. The Brutes were taking their time with this. Rather than risk a dangerous storming of the building they had Banshees and Wraiths ensure the marines couldn't move. At least fourty men were trapped in there. From what the radio said, a Pelican was coming in to support them and pick them up but it didn't look certain, not with the Banshees on patrol. Further more, a ONI unit carrying the remnants of Raven platoon from Fox company was moving up the Maglev line. Thats all the support they would get. Ace fell to one knee about three meters from the top, just so his Exoskeleton would be hidden. One of the 'bunny ear' stalks on his shoulders flipped up and rose into the air, turning to race the buildings in front of them. Ace observed the camera on them and took a took around.

"Confirm, we have a MG nest in the northwest building facing the station. We got another just left of it. Nothing else in site."

He looked back to Daniels through his rear cam who gave on nod for them to move. Ace lead Alpha squad over the top and began to move forward in a low run to the first building when a Jackal patrol rounded the corner.

"Shit shit, open fire! They got us!"

The other two squads and the command section began to squabble for cover at the two nearest buildings while Ace dropped to one knee to give his first round of covering fire. He fired in single shots, the massive armour piercing rounds tearing flesh and bone apart and blowing limbs off, cutting a few in half and even decapitating a few.

"Get upstairs, fix that MG!"

It was already too late and plasma fire began to rain down from the roof tops. The troops moved into the buildings and occupied them, immediatly taking up firing positions on windows. PFC Denoza leveled his RPG at one of the upper windows spouting storms of blue fire and fired once, shooting a cloud of smoke backwards and blowing out the top floor of that building, sending out rubbled and shards of glass in a smoke filled explosion. Ace moved to the living room of one of the buildings, looking out across the street. There was one building, a hexagon shapped building made from concrete blocks, which was lightly guarded and gave thme a clear view over the whole street.

"Loot, we need to take that building, its going to give us area control!" Ace shouted over the comms, ducking to avoid a torrent of super heated spikes.

"No can do, they have that street covered from two directions."

"Sir, the attic has got a good firing position, I can lay down covering fire on that first MG post."

"Yeah, I got a firing position on that building to the north east. They try and fire, we got them pinned!"

"...Fine, take first squad, move by teams."

"Okay, team alpha, with me, Bravo, take the side with Wook, Charlie, get to the end of the street, get hardcover behind that truck and keep ay reinforcements at bay. What do you say to that Marines?"

"Oorah!"

He heard the semi automatic crack of a BR09 going off upstairs and then a loud chatter as well.

"Go go!"

Ace leapt clean out of the living room and into the garden before running straight through the fence and onto the wide street. He moved straight through the fence of the opposite house and pressed up against the wall. The door had been beaten down earlier. He observed it with his shoulder cameras while his men got into position.

"Alpha ready."

"Bravo ready."

"Charlie is in position."

"Frag out!"

A marine threw a frag greande in, the saftey 'spoon' coming off with a distinct ping. They were taught in the 23rd to always cook them first. There was a pair of lethal explosions, almost similtaneously, sending out white hot fragments of metal. Ace went in on point, firing on a bloodied Brute who survived. Alpha and Bravo moved upstairs, something he couldn't do in these little houses. Gun fire rang out before they reported clear. The 23rd knew how to clear a building.

"Okay move up, we got this building secure, sweep the adjacent building then move to the target building."

Ace moved outside and began to skirt around the back as second squad moved up. One of the men dropped as a shaft of brilliant pink light penetrated his torso.

"Sniper! We got a man down."

Ace spritned up to shield him as the building at the end of the street sprang open with fire. They dragged the wounded Marine to the cover of another building, securing it as they did. They now were scattered across three buildings, with plasma cannons and snipers hemming them in.

"Fuck, this ain't good, they not the north and east approaches covered by MG fire, south is covered by snipers, third squad reports a captain firing brute shots outta the building to the west."

"Hold your ground, I'm moving up, we'll take the sniper building." Daniels reported

"Negative, I think they have it on overwatch."

Daniels was already chanrging with Gamma team, the rest of third squad covering him. A Brute did indeed have it on overwatch. He smirked as his fuel rod gun traced the line the marines moved from cover to cover. Ace could only watch in horror as Daniels' limp, broken and burnt body somersaulted through the air. Daniels had been stupid and head strong, trying to outdo Ace. Fireteam Gamma hit the deck, going straight to ground. A hail of spikes and carbine rounds opened up, pining them down.

"Vladitch, I want your Gimpy covering us, Juan, same with your LMG. Wook, your with me, we need to go get them outta there, now!"

Prolonged bursts of fire erupted from two different positions, applying heavy fire to the Brutes. Ace, followed by Wook sprinted down the rubbled strewn street towards Fireteam Gamma as they depsertely tried to find some kind of cover. One of their guys was now dead, another wounded. Wook was several paces behind him and suddenly dived to the side as a explosion knocked him away.

"Wraith, over behind the building, its got you zeroed in!"

That wasn't just it. Two of the three Banshees turned their attention to the Weasels trying to get to the trapped Marines but now one had dropped in, strafing them. Ace dived to the side, avoiding a stream of plasma then a fuel rod and returned fire, punching several holes in it's side. A particle beam burnt into his shields at his left shoulder, redirecting his attention. Wook had gotten up to the car where the Marines had gone to ground and opened fire, spraying at the building to the left, Ace moving up to the right. The marines fell back in fashion, dragging their wounded. Ace stepped back behind them, backpeddling and delivering fire. Wook moving to cover before both cut and ran as the marines got back into buildings. Both Ace and Wook got to saftey now as well but it had become futile. Banshees, Wraiths, MGs, Snipers and now a pair of roving Prowlers kept them pinned in. As thier fire went silent, wishing to savour the UNSC's suffering, Ace noticed something that frightened him. On the road a pool of water had formed from a previous night's rainfall. It seemed to rythmically shake as something neared. By the frequency he guessed it was a Scarab, crawling up at them. Things were about to get a whole lot worse.

(No, you can not haz Scarab)

43
(Hiding inside the thick atmosphere of Kanna, UNSC Military Conflict 201334+)

"Maam, we're receiving a hack attempt near Sector 14," informs the ONI Technician Sam as he runs through the controls to maintain position. The Memorial engines was lowered to minimal, in which is capable of producing a fog which could cover the entire 200 metres sub-prowler.

Jenny quickly recover several probes from their initial scan of the planet, running back and forth towards the hangar to check the datas the machines intercepted. "Downloading and uploading the data intercepted to the Main Hub. Setting several connections to HIGHCOM and ONI Sec II and III," she informs as she runs down to the rear.

The time for intelligence has grown stressful than before. With hundreads of battles occuring around them, these intercepted communications and messages with each containing valuable information will be crucial for the UNSC to regain victory over Kanna. "I'm establishing COM over to Prowler Tutor." Dahlia informs as she materialise on the holotank. "With these information...hold on..."

Filling the main monitor of the Bridge was an intercepted message by the Covenant's High Chieftain. Dahlia quickly runs through the entire database, pulling out every known information regarding the Chieftain, along with battle runs, history operation and most importantly, the enemy's command over the Covenant legion. Dahlia crosses her hands and opens another channel to the UNSC ground commander, "Sir, relaying the enemy's High Chieftain message to you, crucial to end this battle... and possibly the future war."

The Ground Commander nods, affirming the streaming of the intercepted orders by the High Chieftain.

''You're the fifth sister of the dead, though I wonder why my fragments left their print upon you to lead the next war. To an obselete AI. That won't be a problem for me... The Return of the Old will come. The Covenant will soon unleash my makers, and soon... well... I think you know the rest... said the Seeker of the Covenant'' within Dahlia's mind.

{12t Age of Reclamation, Kanna, Grounds of the Tomb, Expeditionary Team for the Artefacts...)

The San 'Shyumm Consul held out his hand, pointing towards the Openning of a Alley. "The Gods has blessed us..." he said as the Expeditionary continues towards the cave. On the walls are ten different Forerunner Glyphs.

"Sorry for my intrusion," said the Brute Stalker. "...But these Glyphs are on the wrong design..." the Brute continues, pointing out the peculiar shapes and designs of the Glyphs as compared to the Forerunner's. "Could this be...?" The Consul gasps. He focuses his vision and floats higher in the air to observe and reference the peculiar glyphs. The translation system slowly captures and translates the Glyphs: <tt>"Bow Chicka Bow Wow"</tt>. "Darn these cretin...human filth..." curses the Consul as he returns to the ground.

The Grunts in front of them stops in their tracks. "Me have bad feeling about this." Said the Grunt Research as it focuses on its Motion Tracker. "You always have bad feeling! You had bad feeling about this morning's food nipple!" replied the other Grunt as they return to the Brute Pack.

The Grunt Research suddenly stops in its tracks again, focusing sharply into the Tracker. Shocked, the Grunt ran passing its friends and towards the Brute Stalker. "Mighty Brute, artefact is moving. You'll protect me now, yes?" It informs as the Brute gets hold of the information.

From afar, the Grunt pack screams from the darkness. "Save us, mighty Brutes!! Big spider thingy in dark scary cave!!" they shout as they ran behind the Brute Pack. The atmosphere of their surrounding intensify, the cold air flowing against them. A silhoutte slowly lowers itself from the ceiling of the alley. The Brute slowly activates their Camo and ventures deeply into the alley. "Protect the Consul, run to the east and head for the second Holy Artefact!" shouts the head Brute as it unlatches a Gravity Hammer from its back. "For the Covenant!!" screams the Brute as the barbaric apes charge into the cave. The Expeditionary Team quickly retreats to the streets of Kanna, escaping the Alley Route. Behind them, the Brutes' roars are heard along with a long shriek.

(Inside the Alley, Time Unknown, Location Unknown)

The Silhoutte crushes the wall and climbs high from the invisible Brute, the final one. "Come down and fight me!!" shouts the Brute, weilding a Gravity Hammer. Its Camo slowly wears off, revealing the cuts and bruises given by the Silhoutte. The Silhoutte gives a final shriek from the depths of the alley and lunges...

(...Two Minutes Later...)

The Vanguard drags the Brute Stalker to the top of the building and gives out a long roar. The Vanguard overwatches the conflict from the orbit landing into the grounds of Kanna. Around it, smokes and flames rise from the ashes it has caused.

The Seeker of the Covenant materialise in the alley, looking at the Brute Corpses, mutilised by the Silhoutte. Wearing its hood, the AI slowly leads the Vanguard to its next location...

<font color="#0000FF"><tt>Little</tt> <font color="#0090FF"><tt>_</tt> <font color="#7DF9FF"><tt>Missy</tt> -  17:20, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

44
The sky turned brilliant hues of blue and green for a split second before the impact of the shockwaves began to make seeing difficult. The blue and green flashes the plasma and fuel rods made as they smashed smoking craters into the ground sent the tiny convoy skidding in every direction.

The faint shout of "get off the road!" could be heard. It was the Marine sergeant, Lipton, standing half-exposed on the back of a speeding Mongoose.

After a few frantic seconds, and an overturned Weasel, Puller, Lipton and the ragged company of sailors and Marines found cover in a row of dusty houses. Although safe for the moment, they were trapped, they had walked into a Remnant ambush. But sides were now stalemated, with the Marines in the basement safe from Wraith plasma, and the Covenant artillerymen lacking enough infantry support to flush them out.

It was going to be a long haul Puller thought, and he was right...

FightWithHonor

45
Robert watched as the Frigate closed in on the Kursk, shot down another pair of Seraphs, then was incredibly thankful as another squadron of fighters swooped in to assist them. The Brute fighters and bombers were taken out as the new squadron, identified as the 112th, opened fire, and Dragon Squadron mobilized for a follow up assault. The Kursk itself opened fire on the oncoming frigate, its' MAC tearing apart the shields. Clyde and Roy swooped in, hitting the un-shielded frigate hard. Three members of the 112th hit at the forward guns, knocking off a few. Robert led Samuel, Nate and Marshall in for a run on the engines, with four members of the 112th covering them. Blasting through waves of Seraphs the four lined up for a run on the engines, intent on taking it out. Just at the last second, several Seraphs came in from the back, opening fire and blasting holes in the wings of Marshall and Nate. However, before Samuel and Robert could be hit, Maria of the 112th swooped in, taking down the Seraphs and giving the two the time they needed. Pushing it full-throttle, they soared in and unloaded. With all the Human fighters pulling out as fast as they could, the engines began to explode, and as the Kursk opened fire with another MAC round, the entire ship burst in a spectacular burst of light and fire. Pulling away, Robert and his allies sped back towards the Kursk, as he saw another wave of fighter craft closing in from a different direction, his teammates struggling to hold them off.

Keilus looked across the fields, the human city known as "Gimmel" on the horizon. He ordered his Brutes to charge, the Choppers slicing through the Marine ranks, splattering and squashing them. Keilus watched momentarily in satisfaction as the forward marines cowered and died for the few seconds before their deaths at the hands of his Brutes, then he ran forward and stabbed the end of his hammer staff into a marines' skull. Laughing, he turned to kick away charging marine into two others occupied with shooting at Keilus' pack. However, after that, he turned to the sound of a low rumble, as two Warthogs charged him. The first was nearly upon him, so without thinking Keilus swung his hammer, hoping for the best. It hit the Warthog scare in the front, causing it to explode, but throwing Keilus and his hammer far backwards, in opposite directions. Regaining his bearings, he stood up, rolling to the side as the second Warthog charged by. Pulling out his Nailer, he found it damaged, but managed to fire a few rounds to kill the gunner and passenger. Keilus attempted to fire on the driver, but the gun fouled up before he could, and as the vehicle turned around, he pulled out his Plasma Axe and prepared himself. The need to attack never came though, as a Beam Rifle shot soared across the battlefield and hit the driver, killing him and sending the Warthog off course, crashing it. Keilus looked up, only to see a Kig-Yar on a hill bordering the battle. Kig-Yar scum saving me, thought Keilus, so distasteful.

Kig-Yar Captain Gant'J-Yar nodded satisfactorily as the Warthog swerved and crashed, then exploded into a pillar of flame, all because of his shot. Perhaps he could weasel the Brute out of something later; of course, now was no time for such things. Gant looked over at Dekd Nok, who came the command for all the Kig-Yar to charge into the battle, Dekd Nok himself following closely. The Brutes were faring rather badly, and Dekd Nok's pirates would serve as the perfect assistance.

Within 30 minutes, the outer defenses were down and the Brutes and Kig-Yar were assaulting the city itself. This will be a very good day, thought Dekd Nok, grinning as he smelt the blood on the air.

--<font color=#00FF00>MCPO James Davis LOMI HQ<font color=#33FFFF>I hear your cries<font color=#CC3333>May your works be honorable 21:57, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

46
"So, this is what I get for following in my father's footsteps..." said Lewis as he swung his Katana toward the capital ship.

"Dogs, we're within range... release missiles!"

Within three seconds, every member of the 42nd had released the anti-capital ship ordnance at the nearest Covenant Carrier. The first shots opened up the shield, and, when the word came, the Dawn to Heaven released a hail of MAC shells at the wounded Carrier. The first shells gutted the ship, but, the brute fleetmasters shut down those areas, and, oxygen failed to escape. However, this allowed an opening for the 42nd to hit the ship.

"Alright Dogs, I'm goin in."

Lewis rolled the Katana and attacked the Carrier at the weakest point. The Plasma lines heated, cooled, and exploded. The other 42nd Aviators dove in on the weakened ship, and, mercifully, killed it. It exploded in a brilliant flash of light, and began to fall toward Kanna.

"The SPARTAN-IV program is progressing nicely... here are the stats on your nephew General."

-- <font color="Red">The Dawn <font color="Red">of a new Chronicle <font color="White"><The Sniper> <font color="Red"><The General> <The Prodigal Son> <font color="Red">[The Vessel] <font color="White">[The Unit] 22:07, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

47
Kindik'Yar and his Cutthroats came running as they heard the chanting of "Fight! Fight! Fight!" at the center of the HQ. Once they arrived, they found over a hundred Brutes and Kig'Yar gathered in a circle, cheering on some ruckus in the center. Kindik'Yar fought his way through the crowds to find a massive brawl in the center. Over a dozen Brutes were in unarmed combat with twenty of his Kindikuu, breaking their arms with ease and tossing them aside. As a Brute prepared to smash a Kindikuu's skull, a second of the Pirates jumped on his back, and twisted himself to cling to his chest. He bit at the primate's jugular vein, drawing a fountain of blood as the Kig'Yar side erupted in cheers. The other Brutes jumped the poor creature, and systematically ripped him apart as a plaything.

Kindik looked to his left, to see the Chieftain Solus standing by and laughing at the carnage.

"What are you doing?!" The Kig'Yar screeched.

"Watching a fight. It's rather amusing." The Chieftain chuckled to himself.

"This is madness! My men are being killed, as are yours! Won't you stop them?!"

"No. I felt the presence of weakling among my pack. I needed to weed them out one way or another, and this works fine. Only a fool could lose to a Jackal."

When Kindik'Yar heard the word those filthy Humans had given his people, he lost it. He drew his cutlass from his side, and rushed into the melee. He jumped through the air onto a Brute's back. He recognized him as the Brute that tried to steal a ring from his Kig'Yar.

Shame. he thought to himself. ''I spared him before, only to have to kill him now. What a waste.''

Without another thought, he placed his cutlass blade on the gorilla's neck, and ever-so-gently glided it along the surface, cutting a perfect line through his neck. The Brute's eyes grew wide, and he fell to the ground in a heap. From his back, Kindik leaped to another Brute, jabbing his cutlass deep in his side. The gash was one of many on this Brute, and was also the killing blow. He fell as well. Under his influence, Kindik'Yar's Kig'Yar went into a bloodlust, drawing cutlasses of their own, killing the Brutes until only one remained. The Brute, desperate, brought his fist down to Kindik, who activated his Point Defense Gauntlet, reflecting it like nothing. The Captain jabbed his cutlass into the Brute's chest, and wiggled it to make sure it hit something vital. It did, as the Brute was dead in an instant. Finished with this task, he turned to face Solus.

"My Kindikuu are through with your ignorance and hatred! We came to fight, not serve as slaved and police! Find another group to spearhead your assault, we are leaving for Dekd Nok's group! At least there we will be treated as equals, and not beasts of burden!" With a distinctive huff, Kig'Yar turned and left, his lance falling in behind him.

MasterGreen999 23:33, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

48
9th of August, 2607, 10:48 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Civilian South, Sector 7-9, Gimmel City

In the streets of Gimmel City, among the areas filled with tall skyscrapers and office buildings, teams of four to six brutes patrolled diligently. They walked slowly, with eyes peeled to the towers looming over them, through the abandoned streets, looking for a fresh kill. They grumbled and guffawed over their dull assignment, but performed their task without hesitation and discipline borne of years of fighting.

From his perch in his 24th floor apartment, Desmond Blake watched through his augur sniper scope as a team of brutes ransacked a sporty new 2608 generation Hog, searching it for survivors. Desmond observed the whole process, how they inspected the entire vehicle top to bottom, hoping for a live prisoner, or even a dead body.

Desmond however, knew they wouldn’t find anything. Not with the hog’s driver—his wife—hiding in the apartment with him and their 7 year old daughter. Desmond watched as the brutes withdrew and continued down the vehicle choked 4 lane road, off into the distance, where Desmond suspected lay a Covenant camp. This was the eleventh patrol to pass by their hidden location—and with the constant patrols, Desmond felt his luck might soon run dry.

Desmond slowly crawled away from his window, and into the living room. The area was adorned with a leather couch, a large holo-projector, a bookshelf, and a few chairs and tables. The room was decorated exquisitely, with lavish pieces and stylish artwork displayed on the walls and furniture. Desmond had never had the eye for that sort of thing, but his wife, Andrea, loved to dabble in things like that.

Desmond moved from the living room into the kitchen, then towards the entrance to the massive, four bedroom, nine roomed apartment. His pay as a police officer for the CAA was modest, but he had a sizeable pension from the UNSC, which paid for much of the family expenses. Desmond crept through the doorway and into the stairwell. He flashed a small red laser twice, and received a double green flash in return from the shadows of the blacked out stairwell.

Carl Vier, one of Desmond’s fellow officers in the Special Tactics Para Military Force, the elite unit Desmond was a part of, guarded the stairs. Vier was one of Desmond’s most trusted friends, and Desmond was glad him—and two other officers, on duty throughout the building—had been present during the Covenant invasion.

Desmond thought back to the panicked first few hours of the attack; first, the startling and terrifying news of the Brute fleet en-route, then the awe of watching the space battle unfold from planet side. Desmond was one of the few people in Gimmel who had kept their heads—Gimmel had a history of being a place of panicky, easily scared people. He had gotten his daughter, Lisa, out of school early, then picked up Andrea and headed for home, holing up there, where he prepared a variety of defenses. He had tried to rally his officers to support him, but had only managed to contact and meet up with a few before the Remnant got groundside.

After that, things had gone from bad to worse. Panic had spread throughout the city as the Remnant dropships performed rapid airborne assaults. People successfully got to the panic bunkers, but anxious civilians had emerged and led Brutes to the bunkers, where a slaughter had taken place. The marine forces had been useless, to shocked by the dropship attacks to put up a decent defense, and quickly massacred. Within half an hour, the defense of the city had been transformed into and all-out retreat, leaving civilians behind in hopes of saving them later.

Desmond slowly shook off the memories of the short-lived battle as Vier spoke quietly to him, his T.I.S.C. law enforcement SMG cradled in his hands.

“Status on the Kong patrol?” asked Vier

“Passed, but looted my hog.” Replied Desmond dryly.

“How many is that now?” asked Vier

“Eleven.” Desmond told him “With any luck, there won’t be a twelve.”

“Don’t count on it.” Said Vier

Desmond nodded, took a quick glance around the room, and returned to his post. He was getting anxious—and worse, he was showing it. In the ODSTs, or even in the practice ops for his attempt to graduate from the SPARTAN-III Alpha Company, he had never shown that kind of nervousness. He couldn’t help it though. His family was on the line.

9th of August, 2607, 12:35 (Kanna Local Time), En route to Theta Nero System, Kanna, aboard Zeus-class Super Carrier New York

Despite his status as a SPARTAN-II, Leonid wasn’t allowed almost anywhere. He was restricted from most areas of the massive Zeus-class Super Carrier, and wasn’t allowed near most mainline personnel. He was restricted from the mess hall, hangars, bridge, Ops Station, and gun deck. About the only place he was allowed was in his cryo chamber, the armory, and the range.

Leonid briefly attempted to occupy his time tuning his weapon at the armory, but found, that from years of tweaking, it was already perfectly cleaned and at maximum operation. So, after only a few hours in the armory, he made his way through the halls of the New York to the range. As he walked through the matte-gray passageways, his black sprayed MJOLNIR Mk. VII elicited strange looks from the assorted naval personnel he encountered. While they all recognized a SPARTAN—the heroes of the Great War—they had little idea why one was aboard their ship. And perhaps, they were afraid to, as Leonid seemed to cast a shadow among the crewmen as he walked.

Leonid arrived on the range and set up a quick group of targets. They were a series of clay casts of Brutes and Jackals, arrayed at 50, 100, 200, and 400 meters. While Leonid would have preferred to also have his standard 800, 1,600, and 2,500 meter targets, the limited space aboard the ship didn’t allow. Leonid quickly set to work, hitting targets with his M2A LAR at 100 and 200 meters, putting tight groupings in the key points of the targets. Then, he switched to his M1091 and open fired at the 400 meter targets. While a shot like that would have been difficult, if not impossible, with his M2A LAR, the M1091, capable of accuracy at up to 2,000 meters, and fitted with a 10x augur scope, was easily capable of putting repeated rounds in the targets without difficulty. After expending his ammunition for the M1091, he switched to his M98 Compact, hitting the 50 meter targets with ease. He fired on both semi-auto and burst for the majority of the time, then switched to full automatic for his last twenty rounds of ammunition.

Leonid checked the time stamp on his mission clock, and found he had been at the range for almost and hour. Leonid, content his weapons were zeroed, returned to the armory, and reloaded his spent ammunition, and cleaned and inspected his weapons for faults or potential jams. He then glanced at the newest action report from Kanna—the battle at Aleph city, the loss of Gimmel and a few other places, and the siege of the Rice Line. He couldn’t decide where he was best needed—but he didn’t need to. Undoubtedly, his superiors already had that covered…all he needed to do was ready himself, and only himself, for the brutality to come.

9th of August, 2607, 10:03 Theta Nero System, Kanna, planetary space

As the Covenant frigate detonated in a cloud of plasma and debris, the 112th gracefully arced away from the ship. Dragon Squadron looped back towards the Kursk, and Maria watched them go, letting her gaze drop to the Seraphs that Dragon was now engaging. She scanned her boards, and observed the situation on the ground—rapidly deteriorating, with the UNSC forces falling back rapidly.

Maria chinned her comm mike, and spoke to her squadron.

“Demons, were going atmospheric to help out where we can. Wings Three, Four, Six, Nine, Ten, and Eleven prepare to go dirt side with me. Everyone else, sit tight and provide close air support. Suck it up boys and girls, were helping out the infantry.” She told her pilots, and acknowledgment lights lit her board.

The 112th guided their Rapier/M interceptors toward the planet, speeding through the atmosphere. Maria’s eyes flickered across her boards, scanning her ships external temperatures even as the ship began to warm inside. Fire rolled off in waves as the squadron entered the lower levels of the atmosphere. Once at a few thousand feet, they softened their entry angle and glided to three hundred meters off the ground. The 112th upped their speed, gliding into Mach 4 and heading across the surface. Maria examined the terrain as they flew low over rolling hills and expansive forests, taking in the beauty of the planet.

After a few minutes of flying, outskirts of a city came into view.

“Slow to Mach 1.” Said Maria, and the squadron decelerated dramatically.

As they approached the outskirts, Maria noticed sparse Brute forces patrolling. Her HUD highlighted her current area as “Gimmel City Outskirts”, and a NAV marker appeared in the distance. The brute forces were heading there, a few hundred infantry.

“Light em up Demons.” Said Maria, and the squadron broke ranks and attacked.

Tracers filled the air as the 112th open fired with their primary weapons, dual wingtip mounted 115mm rotary cannons. The oversized rounds tore into the ground and let loose plumes of dirt, as alien bodies disappeared in clouds of blood. Armored vehicles were torn apart as the 112th strafed, ghosts exploding, heavier vehicles coming apart in pieces. After only a minute of fighting, the majority of the Covenant forces in their selective area were down, and the ground was mostly clear.

Maria’s HUD crackled, and the voice of Demon 7, Adrian Juno, hissed over her signal unit.

“Sir, sensors paint forty eight Seraph fighters inbound.” He told her.

“Understood.” She Said “We need to get dirt side. Watch the shop up here Adrian, you have lead. Be ready to cover us if we need. And keep your ears open for distress signals—if anyone calls, you’ve got authorization to help them out.” “Got it Ma’am.” Said Adrian, and the comm clicked off.

Maria guided her six squad-mates down to the ground, dropping to fifty meters, then down to ten, before using VTOL jets to ease onto the ground. Maria chose an expansive cave as their makeshift hangar, and as she landed, she activated the automated stealth gear that the 112th had modified their vehicles with.

Maria grabbed her mod equipped M2A Light Assault Rifle and pushed open the hatch of her Rapier. She slid out of the cockpit, as it closed behind her, and gathered with the others in the cave. The floor was a smooth rock, and the cave was dark, aside from the light granted by the entrance. Overhead, a group of bats took flight in response to the sudden noise of the interceptors.

Maria waited for her squad to assemble, and noted each of them individually. Demon Three, Sarah Cramer, M2A LAR like Maria. Demon Four, Jacki Stort, held a SRS99G-S3-AM Sniper Rifle, gathered from a specially made compartment in her rapier, with a M33 for personal defense. Abran Diego, Demon Six, carried a silenced M12 SMG, modded to the brim. Demons Nine and Ten, Mathew David and Tanner Grace, both carried M73D Carbines, with underslung grenade launchers. Robin Lemmings, Demon Eleven, had a M2A Light Assault Rifle like Maria and Sarah.

With her squad assembled, Maria motioned for her team to move out in the direction of the city. They were all clad in armor scavenged from marine units of the Second Battle of Earth, outfitted with Jackal shield gauntlets in place of full body units. The team had set down four miles from Gimmel city, and hiked the distance in a little under an hour in a half. It was downhill, and easy route, but they had to frequently stop to check their surroundings. Every once in a while, they would spot one of the 112th on an attack maneuver, or hear the booming report of the 115mm cannons from far off.

By the time they got to Gimmel, the adrenaline high of setting off on their mission was gone, replaced with ruthless determination. From afar, they observed via Jacki’s sniper scope as Covenant troops patrolled the city. They were pondering whether to move in, as the city was quiet and apparently conquered, when they heard the crack of rifle fire.

9th of August, 2607, 11:03 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Civilian South, Sector 7-9, Gimmel City

As Desmond looked out at the city, scanning it with his augur, he was surprised to hear to report of gunfire. He listened carefully. It was close—maybe within a block or two. Desmond glanced down at where the Brute patrol had vanished—and saw them running towards the sound. Desmond knew he might’ve been able to take them down, maybe help the marines that had to be the source of the disturbance. However, despite his gut instinct, he didn’t dare fire, lest he expose his position to the Covenant. And for probably the hundredth time that day, he wished that the STPMF issued suppressors to their sharpshooters.

Desmond wasn’t willing to fire—until a team of marines came running around the corner, fleeing. The brute patrol spotted them and fired, sending spikes flashing towards them. Desmond didn’t want to reveal his position, but wasn’t willing to watch good soldiers die when he could save them.

As the marines fired back and the brutes took cover, Desmond carefully edged his weapon through the open window of his apartment. He sighted through the scope, increased to maximum magnification, and drew a quick bead on the head of a golden armored Brute, who was directing the squad. The whole process of aiming through the scope felt completely natural to Desmond, who felt perfectly at home sniping. It was his calling, his specialty.

Desmond paused and took a deep breath, then pulled the trigger between the beats of his heart.

The crack of the sniper rifle resonated through the canyon of buildings loudly, and the lead brute fell to the ground, twitching, as the 10.2x51mm round Desmond had fired penetrated through it’s armor and cut into it’s brain. The brute roared and died, and it’s soldiers looked to the sky in alarm, firing randomly. Desmond fired again, downing another of the squad, even as the report of his rifle echoed.

The marines, inspired by Desmond’s help, ran towards the Brutes, and took cover on the flanks of the beasts. While Desmond continued firing his M1091 Sniper Rifle, the marines, using MA6A Assault Rifles and BR09 Battle Rifles, hit the beasts in the side, and finished the five unit patrol off.

Desmond knew it was time sacrifice some stealth for speed. He got up from his perch and ran to the stairwell, where Vier stood expectantly, surprise on his face.

“Get a hold of Jerry and get him down to street level ASAP.” Desmond said, and Vier nodded and turned to a small radio transmitter, which was linked to a network of single beam comm line stations.

Desmond turned and ran back to the room. As he came into the living room, he heard Lisa crying quietly, and Andrea trying to comfort her. He pushed aside thoughts of them for a moment, and ran to the window. He flashed a signal light at the marines three times, waited, and received a reply. Desmond signaled for them to approach the building—quickly. Time was almost out.

Spartan 501 05:18, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

49
9th of August, 2607, 11:13 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Rice Line, Sector 5, Greater Aleph district

Ace let out a silent pray as the now rhythmic thud of what sounded like a Scarab got closer and closer, almost up the hill now. He wasn't a religious man but he guessed it couldn't hurt him now. Both the assault by Swallow platoon and the ONI unit supporting the remains of Raven platoon had failed, with the Scarab coming to end it once and for all.

"Wraith!" One of his men called out

A Wraith swung around the corner and faced the building where they had gone to ground. It faced directly at them while the secondary gunner kept in cover. It's plasma mortar seemed to glow ominously and as it powered up to deliver a coup de grace to the pinned marines, something thudded into its side then blasted a hole clean through it, sending a spray of molten metal through the other side. The Brutes tried to vacate the Wraith as it began to shake before it finally exploded, the Mortar canopy area now gone, a flaming wreck. The gunner survived, if a little singed and turned to face this new threat. There was a whirring sound and then a clatter of gunfire which tore the Brute in two. HEI-AP rounds and blown it to shreds and punched tungsten carbide penetrator rods through it with ease. Ace saw the form of his savoir. A sixteen foot tall walking battle tank, from 2nd Battalion of the 23rd. A M5 Ogre All Terrain Armoured Battle Walker. It strode onwards, walking straight over the Wraith and crushing the wreck before unleashing swathes of fire from its dual 20mm Rotary cannons. Prowlers were chopped to pieces and buildings reduced to Swiss cheese, their defenders reduced to small pieces of charred meat. The AA turret on the rough began to spout out fire, cutting a Banshee down with flak fire before destroying another by penetrating it with three tungsten carbide rods, reducing it to several flaming pieces of metal that tumbled through the air. More of these beasts arrived, their nose adorned with the image of a feminine angel with burning wings holding a stylised spear.

"Sorry we're late for the party, let’s clear this place out." One of the pilots reported

"Okay, pin down their machine gunners, trash their tanks and get moving!" Ace roared, leaping from the building where he hid. The rest of his unit emerged from their hiding places to fire on the enemy. The Brutes tried to fall back to stronger positions but were cut down in cross fires across the street. Squad by Squad they attached themselves to Ogres and began covering their feet. A brute fighting in a building across the street tried to throw a spike grenade at the Ogre but was immediately neutralized by a shaft of red light that obliterated it. The lead Ogre confronted a chieftain who immediately levelled their Fuel Rod gun at it. It seemed to challenge him, not returning fire. He fired but the orb of destructive energy seemed to scatter about a meter from the Ogre as it surrounded itself in an orb of dim green light. It returned fire with its 20mm guns, making the chieftain disappear in a spray of polycrete dust and blood. Behind them a Wraith emerged and fired on the rear Ogre. A sphere made up of tessellating geometric shapes sprang up around it. The mortar impacted on it, exploding but left the Ogre and the marines at its feet safe from harm. As the dust the explosion rose cleared, the bubble shield dissipated, allowing the Ogre to spit two FANG missiles at it in return, blowing the Wraith to pieces. Above them a set of four of Pelicans swung over head.

"Look, pick up!" one of the Sergeants cheered

A quad of Gulls passed over head, delivering brutal 20mm fire to Brutes on the ground and swung around. The marines trapped in the Mag Lev station were relieved, picked up by the Gulls. Two Pelicans moved to pick up Raven platoon and ONI FOT 43, along with their Weasels that could be stored internally. The Gulls covered them as the last two Pelicans came down on the edges of the hill to pick up Swallow Platoon. The Pelicans picked up the Ogres, their legs tucking in. They pulled back at speed, heading back towards Aleph. The POW rescue had been successful as well. The Crew Chief had his head in the cockpit and pulled it back through, shutting the door after him.

"Looks like you boys ain't finished yet. All the Marines in Aleph are getting gathered up for something big, HQ won't say what. Looks like a big showdown is going to go down." The Chief said

"You hear that boys? Better lock and load. We got more killing to do."

In orbit above Kanna

The Kursk, for the moment, was safe. In fact, all the attacks by the Brute forces had fallen back. The probing of the UNSC Defence was finished. Now the ships seemed to amass into a pair of arrowhead formations. They were planning their final attack. Being heavily outnumbered, the defenders of Kanna, their naval power down by 30% from casualties, could only pray. Vice Admiral Gi made a prayer to Buddha. Maybe he wouldn't abandon him in his time of need. Either way, things looked bad for them. Annihilation was guaranteed.

"Okay, begin issuing orders, all ships begin repairs, get weapons reloaded and ready, recall all craft for rearming and repair. We need to get ready for the last assault." Gi ordered calmly.

9th of August, 2607, 10:48 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Civilian South, Gimmel City

Gimmel city was largely conquered by Brute forces. Of the six panic bunkers only two remained sealed, while those under the control of the Brutes had either turned into all you can eat buffets or the populace had been dragged out kicking a screaming to the Brute and Jackal dropships for later use as meals or slaves. The last three secure positions groundside was Pavlov's Tower near the edge of the Industrial sector, with a open car park giving them a perfect killing field and a position held in secret by law enforcement officers and now a group of war weary Marines, though encroaching Jackal Hunter-Killer patrol units may compromise this hidden position. It was all a matter of time. Of course, the infiltration by the ground based 112th. Of course, the recent air raid by the 112th and their modified Rapiers had revealed a deadly problem with them. Duel to their large calibres and loud guns ammo was limited and firing immediately revealed their position, rendering their stealth system null.

9th of August, 2607, 11:13 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Outside the Aleph city gates, Greater Aleph district

High Chieftain Barabus observed Aleph city through his powerful monocular. He zoomed in on the gates and a smirk crossed his mouth. Only the gate was manned, the perimeter, formed with a number of trench works, bunkers and low fortified buildings were unmanned par the tank traps and barbed wire. This was going to be much easier than he imagined. He barked the order out and his force rose. Almost 3000 Brutes rose up from the edge of the plateau on which Aleph city stood. Supported by Prowlers, Choppers and Wraiths, almost three hundred along with three Scarabs, twenty Banshees and eleven Phantoms. Immediately, they broke into a charge, charging down the high way and across the smaller roads and Rice Paddies that surrounded the immediate area. A swarm charged at the Gate in an arrowhead formation, with vehicles spearheading then Brutes, followed by the Scarabs and the air force swarming above. This would be glorious. There would be some casualties but they could overrun the small amount of defenders and sweep into the city with ease.

9th of August, 2607, 11:13 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Aleph City southern defence line, Trench Line Bravo-3

Second Lieutenant 'Ace' Warren walked down the trench line, walking past his unit. As soon as they got back to Aleph he got field promoted to lead his unit. They got a few replacements from leftovers of other units, resulting in them being at full strength again. His Wolf was about ten meters down the trench, in standby, waiting for him to get in.

"Remember your training.... and keep your eyes down range. Don't fire until we get the signal from command." He said, pacing about his men. It had started to rain with a fine drizzle, the water washing into the polycrete base of the trenches and down into the drains. The trenches were well prepared for them at least. Ace stroke the golden 'butter bar' on his collar. It made him feel a little uneasy. Lieutenants had always been his enemies. Well, that and the Brutes. His radio buzzed with two clicks. That was the signal. The Brutes were advancing. Ace rushed back to his Wolf and climbed in. He slipped his legs and arms in then pulled down the pilot harness then the pilot shield before the Wolf came alive. The 3D holographic display came on, showing all cameras and weapon link. He had swapped his MB69 for a MB67, the increase in ammo would serve him well. He remained crouched and cracked a smile. Once the Brutes were in 500 meters all units would fire.

Barabus continued to observe the rushing hoard from his Phantom, floating at the rear of the advance. It would be a glorious massacre. But something suddenly unnerved him. The human defenders on the gate were too calm. Their usually accurate snipers had not yet opened fire. Not even their AA or AT cannons had begun to fire.

"It’s a trap! Withdraw!" He barked

It was already too late. His massive army was filled with blood lust. Then they passed the 500 meter mark.

"The Brutes are in range, OPEN FIRE!" The radio reported

"Rise up!" Ace shouted in a synthesised voice, making all of his troops move to attention. They climbed onto the parapets and levelled their guns at the enemy. Almost 1000 marines and 300 vehicles manned this defensive position, with supporting aircraft. In one unison bark 1000 rifles, snipers, machine guns and missile launchers barked into life. Behind the trench works the camo sheeting covering M545 Flatbow Cannons, 120 mm Anti tank guns, was withdrawn, revealing these monstrosities. Entrenched Scorpions, Scorpion AVEs, Fat Tail and Death Stalker AA and AAA tanks, Monitor tanks, beats with 90mm Gauss cannons, Komodos, monsters with THOR Lasers and Goannas, monster tanks that fire 350mm Rocket Mortar shells. Behind this Bombardiers, Hounds, King Cobras, Vipers, Brown Bear walker killers, Cubs and Cobras artillery vehicles lay in waiting. In one single moment, off of these every soldier on the line and every vehicle supporting them opened fire. It was like hell had erupted, with flames mortars, tank shells, missiles, rockets and tens of thousands of bullets filling the air. Immediately the Brute line was engulfed in fire as shells, missiles and rockets hit home and bullets pounded into the line of charging flesh. Ace fired down range, never letting go of his trigger, shedding dozens of .50 cal rounds into the air. BRs and ARs were fired in tighter bursts of three or single shots while snipers cracked almost constantly, with the chatter of machine guns constantly drowning it all out. Over head the 103 Attack Squadron lazily flew over head, dispersing bomblets, sensor fused munitions bombs, Fuel Air Bombs, torrents of missiles and rockets and a deadly swathe of lethal tank busting shells. As they flew they left a bloody swathe in the middle of the hoard. The Brutes didn't care and rushed over their own dead, storming to the enemy line. A scarab charged through the hellfire that had consumed its comrades and tried to get in effective range of the line but was halted by a streak of red light that punched through its front leg, blowing it clean off. A Komodo tank began sniping it, with a Monitor comrade punching a 90mm uranium slug through its gut, blowing the power core out and forcing it to collapse onto its own troops before it exploded. Another was torn to shreds by anti walker missiles, shredding it to pieces and leaving it crippled and useless. The last was consumed by a fuel air bomb, disappearing in a hellish ball of fire and leaving it crumbled on the floor, its outer hull melted to slag and internal systems burnt and melted. From above it seemed like a wave of fire kept screaming out of this thin line of green at the onrushing hoard, culling wave after wave. Within twenty minutes it had ended. Within twenty minutes almost 2500 Brutes were dead and many more wounded, the handful of survivors retreating. The Marines were ordered to cease fire and observe the massacre. As the smoke cleared it showed the extent of the battle. In a line almost 400 meters deep and two kilometres wide there was nothing but charred corpses, sometimes stacked five bodies high. The area was cratered and the rice paddies were stained deep purple with Brute blood. The small air unit had been plucked from the sky by AA fire, leaving them destroyed and devastated. A single, grisly order came down the line.

"Now you learn why you have combat knives. Marines, advance."

The few struggling survivors faced a wall of green advancing at them. The Brutes had taught the marines well in barbarity. Brute survivors were stabbed, beaten to death, left to bleed out, crushed by armoured vehicles, set alight on the ground with thermite grenades, drowned in the blood of their comrades, thrown onto the fires of their burning vehicles, mutilated, and torn to pieces by Wolf Exoskeletons. As Warren's platoon passed and crippled Crusher HAT, they heard the screams of the trapped Brutes inside. He looked to one of the specialists, carrying a flame thrower and nodded. He cracked the troop bay door open a little while his marine poured his whole tank of Pyrosene-VI into the vehicle. He felt the heat wash from the inside as the Brutes were incinerated, their shrieks piercing his ears. He sealed the troop bay back up and backed off, his unit laughing.

Almost 200 Brutes escaped the battle, mostly wounded. The battle for Aleph city was over, with the death of a whole Brute army. However, the battle for Kanna was just heating up.

50
9th of August, 2607, 11:06 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Civilian South, Sector 7-9, Gimmel City

As soon as the marines were safe, things went from bad to worse. On the horizon, Desmond spotted incoming aircraft—banshees on recon. He dropped his M1091 on the Kitchen table and grabbed his T.I.S.C SMG, and ran downstairs. He took a lift—powered by an emergency oxygen fueled generator Desmond had installed—to the bottom of the apartment complex, and rushed past the main desk. One of his agents, Jimmy Horus, was bunkered down behind it. In the street, another agent, Terry Gambini, was helping the marine squad inside.

The leader was a man with dark circles under his eyes and body language that spoke of borderline depression. His team was dull eyed, with slack mouths and limp gazes, hefting their weapons without much care. Clearly, they had been through hell and back, and Desmond wondered if they would be much use in a fight. As the squad and Terry entered into the lobby through a pair of double glass doors, Desmond approached them.

“You alright?” asked Desmond

“Not a chance in hell.” Replied the squad leader, with a sudden spark. It quickly dimmed—but life was there. “You sure did help us out. Who the hell are you?” asked the squad leader

“Lieutenant Desmond Blake, STPMF.” Replied Desmond

The squad leader looked him over.

“Law Enforcement eh? Well, I guess your those badass hostage situation guys…so you’re not all bad.”

Desmond sighed.

“Get your troops bunkered down squad leader, I’m assuming tactical command, as of 11:07 local time. We’ve got to get ourselves ready—the attack will be coming soon.”

The sergeant looked shocked for a moment, unused to being addressed like a subordinate by a CAA police officer. Then, the look faded, and his stare became more focused, his eyes filled with intensity.

“On it sir.” He said “Move your asses ladies, second floor, pronto!”

The marines sharpened at the leader’s voice. They checked their weapons, and the blank, weary looks faded. They ran for the stairs, to better firing angles.

The squad leader stopped in front of Desmond, and waited for a moment.

“You can’t hope to hold out. We tried and got our assess kicked. We gotta move.” He told Desmond

“I know.” Desmond replied “But we got nowhere to go. The hike out of the city would be dangerous, and we’ve got civilians here. We’ve got to try and ride the wave, and hide.”

The leader shook his head.

“No sir, we can’t just—”

Suddenly, the comm cracked with Vier’s voice.

“Sir, banshees are gone! Jackal squad incoming, looks like forty plus!”

“No time now.” Said Desmond the Sergeant “Get up to your men, and I’ll get to mine.”

The squad leader nodded, and ran to the elevator. Desmond made sure Terry and Jimmy were safely behind cover, then sprinted to the lift. He keyed it, and it rose to the 24th floor. Desmond ran to the staircase with Vier, entered his room, and grabbed his M1091 from the table. He scanned the street, and spotted the Jackals sprinting towards his position.

He flicked off the safety of his rifle, and open fired. The battle was joined.

9th of August, 2607, 11:13 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Civilian South, Sector 7-9, Gimmel City

In the shadows of the tall skyscrapers, the 112th moved quickly and quietly. While a fighter squadron, they, as mercenaries, had been trained for ground fighting as well, and a significant number of them were actually more comfortable boot-on-dirt than in the cockpit. The 112th Ground Team moved in line formation, with Maria leading point.

The team crept silently through the vehicle choked streets and rubble strewn walkways. In the distance, they could hear roars; savage Brutes having a feast of the civilian populace. One half a dozen occasions, they encountered jackal patrol groups—which were either eliminated, or evaded. For half an hour they searched for the site of the firing they had heard earlier—till the sound of battle filled their ears. Plasma rifle fire, sniper rounds, carbine bolts, sub machine gun rounds, and explosions.

Maria signaled her squad to stay close. They sprinted towards the sound of combat, rounded a city block corner—and stopped, dead in their tracks. Ahead of them, a battle raged. From an apartment building, gunfire lashed out at Covenant forces. Jackals attempted to gain access to the structure, but were stopped by machine gun fire from the lobby. As the raiding avian creatures tried to establish a shield wall, grenades fell upon them—standard issue, marine M9 frags.

“Ground to Air, we’ve got a situation, status report, ASAP.” Whispered Maria

“Ma’am, under heavy fire. Most of the Seraphs are down, but we got company—the Covenant troops are reacting to our little assaults with AA. Ammo is almost dry.” Said Adrian, and Maria cursed

“Shit! How are our fighters?” she asked

Static washed over the channel, then Adrian’s voice came back, weak. “Can’t tell, under heavy attack! Looks like fighting those Seraphs and strafing the convoy might’ve been a bad idea, I think they homed in on your location. Be advised, we may be overrun”

“Copy.” Said Maria “Blow up a couple aliens for me.”

The channel vanished into static.

Maria turned to her squad. The latest Covenant attack had used three shield walls, on the front, top, and rear, and had gotten close. Only sniper fire, through the attack slots, had prevented the Jackals from entering the building. They had to get over there an help.

“Jacki, give us some cover. Robin, defend her. Everyone else, follow me in.” said Maria

The team broke and headed for the jackals. Jacki Stort, the team’s sniper, slung her rifle and climbed onto an elevated pedestrian walkway, which connected two buildings together, crossed the street, and stood two stories high. Robin Lennings covered her, while Maria took her team right up the middle. They dodged in and out of cover, staying protected.

“Hit them!” cried Maria

Sniper fire hit a lead jackal in the head, blowing it’s brains out over the asphalt. A wispy white vapor trail led back to Jacki’s position, but the Jackals never got a chance to deal with them—the others were already on them. Two members, Mathew David and Tanner Grace, let loose grenades from their under slung grenade launchers, which detonated in the center of the enemy formation, tossing bodies aside like rag dolls. Maria ordered an automatic barrage of fire from the flanks, which tore into the vulnerable enemy. With the M2A LAR’s large ammo capacity, Maria was able to fire on full auto and take down almost a dozen closely bunched Jackals.

The jackals turned to face them, open firing. The team slid behind cover, firing from behind burned out vehicles. Maria rolled behind a tan colored 2608 Hog, which was trashed and destroyed, activating her shield gauntlet for extra defense. The green energy shield snapped into place with a hum, and was instantly proven useful—a barrage of green heat hit it and it flashed orange—she’d gotten it up just in time not to get roasted.

As the combat raged, Maria swore under her breath. This wasn’t what she wanted—in a hostile controlled zone like this, extended combat was bad, bad news.

9th of August, 2607, 10:55 (Kanna Local Time), En route to Theta Nero System, Kanna, aboard Zeus-class Super Carrier New York

Poring over armament readiness charts, Admiral James McHenry was snapped from his reverie quite suddenly. From the communications station, Lieutenant Maja exclaimed with surprise: “Inbound data packet from Kanna!”

McHenry looked up from a readout of missile reserves. The Lieutenant looked up at him, and the Admiral issued quick orders.

“Put it on my screen.” He barked.

The Admiral glanced down as the readout changed. He quickly inputted a pass code, and pressed enter. Immediately the screen flashed green, then morphed into a blank document. He glanced at authorization. Top secret. Curious.

///<tt>UNSC NARROW BAND SUB TO SLIP SPACE TRANSMISSION </tt>/// <font size="1.7"><tt>FILE ACCESS GRANTED</tt> /// <font size="1.7"><tt>WORM-PROTOCOL FIREWALL ENABLED/FILE ERASED</tt> ///

<tt>ENCRYPTION CODE: TANGO-JULIET-SABER PUBLIC KEY: N/A FROM: KANNA DEFENSE OPERATOR AH-4193753 TO: 'ALL INBOUND UNSC RELIEF FORCES SUBJECT: KANNA SYSTEM DEFENSE SITUATION

<font size="1.7">/FILE EXTRACTION-RE-ENCRYPTION COMPLETE/ /START FILE/


 * ATTENTION ALL INBOUND UNSC FORCES.
 * TROOP AND VESSEL LEVELS REACHING CRITICALLY LOW LEVELS.

APPROXIMATELY SEVENTY PERCENT OF NAVAL VESSELS OPERABLE AFTER INITIAL ASSAULTS. 30% DAMAGED, DESTROYED, OR DISABLED.

GROUND FORCES AT 25% STRENGTH (ROUGH APPROXIMATION). MAJORITY OF MAJOR POPULATION CENTERS NEUTRALIZED.

PRIMARY BRUTE NAVAL OFFENSIVE STILL TO COME. DAMAGE ESTIMATES AT NEAR 100%. GROUND FORCES HAVE FEW REMAINING STRONGHOLDS. BATTLE STILL HEATING UP. INFANTRY TROOPS REQUESTING IMMEDIATE REINFORCEMENTS. </tt>

<tt><font size="1.7">/END FILE/ /SCRAMBLE-DESTRUCTION PROCESS ENABLE/ <font size="1.7">PRESS ENTER TO CONTINUE. </tt>

Admiral McHenry closed the file with a wince. Things were getting worse on the surface and in orbit. McHenry forced himself to filter out the battle in orbit. He had to focus on getting his ship borne troops on the surface. If he launched them from dropships while in orbit, it would extend their deployment time, as they would have to battle with reentry. Furthermore, the majority of the Brute forces were still in orbit, and fighter craft would tear apart his transports. McHenry glanced at his readouts—damage estimates were at 27% if deployed from orbit. Unacceptable.

Instead of an orbital launch however, James had another idea: atmospheric. He checked his fleet’s specs; they were all green for the operation he was planning. Closing his files, he drafted up orders and compiled a strategic attack plan. He referenced an orbital map, then sent his orders.

They were risky. They called for an immediate approach of the planet upon entering the system, and a bypassing of the orbital battle until the marines and other navy forces were on the ground. After that, their entire strategy would change—and hopefully, the situation on the ground would change.

9th of August, 2607, 11:16 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Civilian South, Sector 7-9, Gimmel City

For a few moments, Desmond was even able to comprehend what was happening. The jackal attacks had been getting close, and the perimeter had been ready to break—when things had fallen apart on the Covenant side. Gunfire had hit the flanks of the avian creatures with a barrage that had made their assault falter.

At first, Desmond was unsure if it was really happening, or if he was delusional. Then realization set in, that help had arrived. And then again—that time was running out.

Desmond glanced through his scope to their rescuers. It was a team of seven, clad in outdated and arcane 2552 era marine armor—which, interestingly, was outfitted with shield gauntlets. They held modern weaponry however—much of it better than what Desmond’s police squad was provided with.

The newcomers advantage from surprise didn’t last long. The Jackals reformed their shield wall to counter this new defense, shifting to cover both sides that they were under attack from, but in the process, weakening their vertical defenses. Desmond knew that without good cover, the newcomers wouldn’t last long. They appeared well trained and skilled—perhaps they were a NavSpecWar team—but that wouldn’t save them from the merciless barrage of green plasma the jackals were likely to lay down.

Desmond ducked out from cover and looked out his apartment window. He aimed his sniper rifle and open fired—emptying his clip, and taking down eight jackals, six with headshots, and two more with double rounds to the chest.

The jackal teams, poorly trained, turned to fire at Desmond, despite the fact that their plasma pistols were not effective at long range. However, when they turned, their shields turned with them. A double handful of frag grenades landed among the jackal formation—detonating and tearing it apart even as dual 40mm M204 grenades landed moments later.

The Jackals had taken heavy casualties. They were now pulling back, bunching up, making their shield wall tighter into a virtual ball—but their retreat was slow, and they were still capable of outbound fire. Desmond’s team couldn’t evacuate until those Jackals were away, and in the time the avian creatures would take to withdraw, more reinforcements could arrive.

9th of August, 2607, 11:17 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Civilian South, Sector 7-9, Gimmel City

As the Jackals fell back, Maria’s lines of thought were much the same as the law enforcement officers she did not yet know, perched 240 feet above her. The jackals were purposely withdrawing slowly—which could prove deadly if the 112th were to extract these survivors.

Maria’s shield gauntlet was down, overheated from an overcharged bolt of a plasma pistol and still recharging. She didn’t have the protection to move from cover behind the hog, which was now burned and slagged from a barrage of green heat, and couldn’t very well destroy the enemy with only a LAR, and at a range of almost 200 meters. Maria’s mind was racing, trying to figure out a way to take out the enemy forces, when it was instantly revealed to her.

Over her comm, the voice of Adrian spoke. It was filled with static and difficult to understand, cutting off at times, but Maria got the gist of things.

“Ma’am, this is air lead. We’ve taken the Seraphs down and are on station momentarily—more fighters are inbound. Still can’t see what happened with your fighters, but we can lend you a hand.” He said

Maria’s heart jumped, and she glanced behind her. In the distance, she could hear an approaching roar—the 112th cruising towards the city below Mach 1.

“Copy Adrian.” She replied “This is ground lead, we got a target for you. Close air support, use the 35mm nose guns.”

Adrian’s voice hissed again, easier to understand.

“Copy, all loaded up. Get me a target, and we’ll blow it away.”

Maria peeked out from cover, and activated her targeting laser. It was programmed to transfer target data to the members of the squadron automatically—and give them a target with less than a millimeter flaw area to shoot at. The laser wasn’t visible, but a small red circle appeared on Maria’s retinas, denoting where she was marking. She angled the laser until it was directly on the center of the Jackals, the keyed her comm.

“Target marked. Take them down!” she yelled

Confirmation crackled, but it was filtered out by a deafening roar. The 112th in the sky accelerated to Mach 2—and passed over the city firing. They moved as fast as they did to avoid AA fire, and as they passed over, they let loose a barrage of 35mm cannon fire—rounds smaller than the huge 115mm guns that nevertheless were incredibly deadly. The Jackals were sliced to pieces by the five strafing 112th members, as concrete shattered beneath them. Their bodies were pulverized, bones snapped like twigs, then the 112th passed and was away. The air raid had been undeniably successful—the Covenant forces were destroyed.

9th of August, 2607, 11:18 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Civilian South, Sector 7-9, Gimmel City

As the air raid was finished, Desmond grabbed his sniper rifle and his T.I.S.C, and ran for his bedroom. He eased open the door, and was surprised to see the barrel of a M6A pistol pointing in his face.

Andrea clutched Lisa in her arms, and held the shaking pistol at the doorway.

“Just me.” Breathed Desmond

Andrea lowered the gun, a look of sheer terror on her face. She was brave—he wouldn’t have married her otherwise—but was no soldier. Lisa wasn’t crying anymore, and though she looked scared, she also looked relieved. She must have known Desmond’s presence meant that things had gotten better.

“Daddy!” cried Lisa, and she hugged him. He kissed her forehead, then quickly turned to Andrea.

“We’ve gotten help from outside. It’s time go.” He said

Andrea nodded.

“I figured as much, from the bombers.”

Desmond left them to get themselves ready. He ran to the kitchen, and grabbed food, ammo, and water, from assorted containers. He also grabbed a photo of four day old Mitchell—their first child, who had been born prematurely, and died, breaking Desmond’s heart.

By the time Desmond was ready, Andrea was carrying Lisa to the staircase. Vier glanced at them anxiously as he saw the three of them moving towards him—he called up the lift and had it ready by the time they got on. After falling rapidly for a few seconds, they exited the lift. The marines were gathered in the lobby—and one of their number was missing. The sergeant carried an extra dog-tag—and looked grimmer than before.

As Andrea and Lisa were readied to leave by Terry and Vier, and the marines kept watch on the perimeter, Desmond pushed through the glass doors into the street. He spotted his rescuers heading towards him warily. One of them, who Desmond had seen hiding behind his hog, looked like she was in charge. She approached Desmond, M2A LAR at her side, and he saw she was quite young. However, he thought he recognized her—something was eerily familiar about her face.

“I sure am glad to see your team.” Said Desmond “Can you get us out of here?”

The woman’s expression didn’t change much, but her eyes flickered a bit.

“That’s why were here. Are your people ready to move? We need to go as quickly as possible.” She said

Desmond nodded.

“Within forty seconds, we’ll be able to go. I trust you have a ride out of here?” he told her

“Fighters.” Said the soldier. Desmond was confused—this group was pilots? Why were they so good on the ground. “It’ll be tight, but we might fit.”

Desmond glanced over at the apartment. Everyone was emerging. Andrea had a holster on, with the M6A in it, but Vier, much larger than her, carried Lisa.

“Good.” Said Desmond “We’re we headed?”

“City outskirts.” Said the soldier “We parked our Rapier’s in a cave.”

Again, the mention of fighters—and the soldier had mentioned her squad specifically as the pilots. Desmond knew they couldn’t be standard troops—and maybe, they weren’t even UNSC troops at all.

“Alright.” Said Desmond “Lets move.”

The pilot nodded and signaled her squad to move out. The group, numbering a fifteen, moved quickly away from the apartment. As they jogged, Desmond moved to the front of the group, where the pilot leader was at.

“Might I ask, who are you?” he asked

The pilot looked over at him. Desmond noticed a scar above her right eye.

“Maria Williams, of the 112th Mercenary Naval Squadron.”

Desmond knew the name—the Demons were legendary, as were all of their members. He didn’t know the unit had been in service since Rejuvenation—but knew that this “Maria” had to be the daughter of Jace Williams, the legendary pilot.

Spartan 501 06:27, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

Reinforcements
9th of August, 2607, 16:01 Theta Nero System, Kanna

Vice Admiral Vo Chi Gi stood on the command deck of the Valiant, watching the holographic video display. Captain Wallace Klein was on the screen, continually interupted by fuzzing. Behind him sparks buzzed on the dmiied deck.

"Our main gun is none functional. Even with the gear we have on ship, without a proper shipyard, its never going to get fixed. Our secondary gun is still full functional." He said, his voice strained by the bad connection and the stress

"This is the Avenger." the Cpatain reported on a second unfolding holographic screen "We have power distribution problems from the last bout of fire. We've lost three heavy guns and two guns. We can't supply enough power for all of them either, meaning we can only operate 70% of our remaining guns."

"Make sure you keep your surviving broadside charged and on station. Make sure you get the bastards."

The Avenger's captain smiled and switched off comms.

"Sir, the Brute fleet is moving." Norn reported

The tactical map expanded, showing almost 190 Brute ships moving towards them as one deadly swarm.

"All ships, warm MACs, get your Archer firing solutions online. Prepare to release firing locks on the AVENGER Nukes. We'll go out with a bang."

"What do you mean sir.... reinfrocements arrive in two hours?" One of his bridge officers said, dumbstruck

"In two hours we are going to be one with the void."

9th of August, 2607, 16:01 Theta Nero System, Kanna, Aleph District, Nakatomi Village

Warren moved with his unit as the last of the clean up finished. A 'Flame Scorpion' torched the building the Brutes had retreated into, engulfing it in flame. They had barred the doors and torched it through the windows. The sound of flaming brutes was satisfying. He was going to go light a cigar on the flaming corpses but a radio transmission interuppted him.

"Echo Company, we got new orders. Lets move." The company commander reported

"What the fuck is this shit. Why are we always on the front?" One of the NCOs whined

"Cos we're the best. The best go to the front, and kill the enemy, isn't that right?" Warren shouted

There was a resounding response of 'Oo-rah' from his squad that made him smile.

Echo Comapny had been gathered at this village while a series of Pangolin, Armadillio, Warthogs, Troop Transports and flat beds were airlifted in. After mounting up the squad set out. Their new objective was a cross roads and a bridge, covering a vital position over the one of the many river deltas and connecting to Danel city. When reinforcements arrived, they'd need this bridge to bring in ground forces. The took the main road there, with the gunners being constantly on guard, though Ace gave himself time to relax, smoking a Sweet William Cigar. They passed occasional abandoned vehicles, destroyed vehicles, a few burnt Warthogs and a Wraith torn open by an explosion. Just as he got at ease, the call came down the line.

"Troops, dismount!"

He threw away his half smoked cigar and frowned. The vehicles pulled over to the side of the road and stopped. The passneger of Ace's hog unhooked him, allowing him to get off. He clambered down and marched up the hill with his unit following close. Captain Javella was new the prow of the hill the road headed up to, stood beside a trio of tanks, talking to their commander. He looked to Warren as he came up and registered his arrival.

"Second Lieutenant, welcome. Congratualtions on your promotion." he said none chalantly, looking at a holographic map slate with the tank commander.

"Tell that to Daniels." Ace said solemnly

"Daniels fucked up. Problem is, he was stupid enough to do it in a combat situation. Officers have it or they don't." He said, not caring

"Anyway sir, we're here to volenteer for point duty." He said. While he seemed to be bossing his unit, they agreed. They liked it best on point."

"Good, saves me having to pick Volenteers. You'll be moving up behind the Avee. You'll have supporting fire from the other to Scorpions, you have to try and take those buildings intact."

"Any idea on the garrison?" A Bokken from Aleph AFB took recon twenty minutes ago. Seems you have a Wraith and two Prowlers on the northern edge, Got two Shades watching the south end of the Bridge. Thermals show buildings marked on TACCOM all have hostiles in them. Those will have to be cleared. Gonna have the Warthog LRVs and Crow and Sparrow platoons on Overwatch. They'll move up and keep pinning fire on the enemy."

"Sounds too easy, wahts the catch?"

"As soon as we take it, we have to hold until relieved. That could be up to two hours away."

"Wait, what, reinforcements arrive in two hours? What about the forces in Aleph?"

"Spread thin defending it or doing the same job as us. Basically, we're on our own." He said, as if they shouldn't be surprised.

"Fine, just tell us when to go."

9th of August, 2607, 16:01. Slipspace en-route to Kanna

Fleet Admiral Vladmir Tupolovitch twitched. They were going to be two hours late. By the time they got there, the Remnant would of succeded. He frowned as the forward holographic screen displayed the vivd colours of slipspace travel. He was prepared to retire to his cabin for a time before the ship suddenly jolted.

"Report, what was that?" He said, leaping up

The holographic image of a bare chested warrior in a cloak and patches of chainmail armour and horned crown.

"Slipspace disotortion, the route ahead is interupted." He growled.

"Baldur, analyis." Tupolovitch ordered

Baldur waited a few seconds before answering "Object, moving at speed relative to us, nineteen kilometers ahead of us. RADAR and LIDAR analysis is inconclusive, it matches no known ship in records.

The 3D display showed a vessel, the whole command deck looking at it. It was shaped rather like a one edged sword, with a long, thin, pointed edge nose and then a thicker midriff before a bulged out engine section. It fishtailed out in front of them, running ahead of the fleet. Suddenly the Ship shook, the Ragnarök moving from side to side.

"Another Slipspace disruption! Its increasing in force!"

"Everybody to battle positions, have everybody ready!"

For almost twenty minutes the ship rocked violently until something weirder happened. The ship ahead of them seemed to fade away before their very eyes, as did the very walls of the slipspace tunnel.

The fleet came out of slipspace by the fourth planet of a solar system.

"Quickly, analyise star charts, I want to known where we are."

"It appears we are in the Theta Nero system..."

"But our mission clock, it was only 8 hours in. We arrived two hours early?" He ordered

"Confirmed. We just passed some kind of slip space distortion." Baldur frowned, tucking his cloak close to his body.

The bridge crew was silent, as was the fleet radio signals.

"Sir, whats our orders?"

"Close RADARs, their Tereus should have them jammed, accelerate to full speed, hit those bastards on the flank. I want our carriers to break straight through for the planet. Kill every last Brute." He shouted

The whole fleet began to accelerate violently towards the enemy. It was death or glory now.

"Go to ground!" Ace roared

The Scoprion AVE raised its canister gun to the second story building and fired, shattering the whole floor in a storm of smashed bricks and dust. Bricks fell on the heads of the marines, their shielding and helmets protecting them. A spray of purple plasma flew over their heads before it was cut short by another explosion.

"Brutes, in the open left side!"

Using the tanks and the AVE's crew shields as cover the Marines of Swallow Platoon fired on a pack of Brutes moving into the open. There was a set of screams as they were cut down, their small amount of return fire impacting on their shielding and amounting to nought.

"Second squad, your with me, lets take this building." he ordered, pointing to objective three. It was a three story building facing across the river and the other side. A burst of plasma on the upper floor prompted the scorpion supporting on the far left to blast it. It gutted aroom on the second story, scattering the defenders on that floor. Ace and Second Squad moved up to the door way and threw in a greande. There was a white hot flash of light, followed by the gutteral screams of Brutes. They moved in, firing on the enemy as they screamed and wailed, swiping blindly.

"Storming!"

In a brisk whirlwind firefight the Brutes were annihilated. As they sweeped the three floors, with Ace reamaining on the bottom with a fire team then two more heading to the next two floors repsectively, there was a frantic shout on the radio.

"Wraith, across the river, its zeroing us in!"

There was the distinct 'thwoom' and then a explosion that rocked the building.

"SITREP!"

"This is fireteam Delta, we lost Martins, Johan is wounded."

"Get outside to the corpsman, now!" he ordered "Somebody, take out that fucking tank."

"On it!"

On the floor above Lance Corperal Miike unhooked a olive green tube from the back of Private Winters and then unlatched and extended the barrel out to the front, folded out a site and a grip then leveled it on his shoulder. He took site on the Wraith, moving behind a low wall to get into a new firing position. He looked through his thermal site, with it locking onto the weak canopy.

"Thermal locked, clear, fire in the hole!"

He fired, the missile streaking straight out. It shot at the tank before darting upwards and then diving straight back down on its canopy. It hit the mortar, burrowing throguh the delicate plasma assembly then explosiding, sending a stream of molten metal in a state of superplasticity through it's canopy at hyper velocity, gutting the tank. The power plant exploded, sending blue flames high into the air. He dumped the tube to the side with a smile. but this soon faded as a torrent of spiker and plasma fire from the opposite bank opened up on them.

"They've got pinning fire on us, requesting fire support!"

"Confirmed, firing!"

Both the Scorpions and the AVE moved into position, firing. A combination of HE and HESH shells demolished the front of the building in a collection of thunderous explosions, leaving a gaping wound in them.

"We have a Prowler moving across the adjacent road!" Miike reported

"Got it on thermals." one of the tankers replied cooly. He flicked a switch to autoload a sabot discarding round then began tracking it through a simulated holographic image of it created by a mixture of thermal and GPS targetting, tracking it with the motion of his head, the turret doing the same. He fired, the tungsten spike piercing through a building then the rotary engine of the prowler, causing the rotary system to spin critically out of control, acting like a billard ball would in a washing machine, thrashing the inside before a fuel leak caused by shrapnel was ignited by the friction of the rotary engine, blasting the vehicle to pieces internally. This happened all within seconds, letting the flaming debris tumble at high speed from the other side of the building.

"Okay, move to supporting positions, we're gonna let Crow platoon advance across the bridge."

His platoon took to hard cover as Crow platoon moved up behind a AVE, with Scorpions assiting from this side of the river. They cleared the other side. the Brutes scattered into the surrounding farm areas, dissapearing.

"Nice work Echo company. Lets dig in." Captain Javella said with some satisfaction. Pelicans above them began to drop down supplies, including plenty of ammo, mines, barricades, sandbags and a number of AIE-486I Heavy Machine Guns.

Almost thirty minutes had passed and hell had broken loose. The Tanks had entrenched themselves on the otherside of the river while the Marines minned the area and added a large number of machine gun firing positions. Brutes rushed at them from all sides, spikers filling the air.

Ace ducked low as another barrage of machine gun fire ripped over his units head, cutting down Brutes on the otherside of his unit. He jumped back out, firing .50 cal rounds then the forward 102mm rocket. Limbs went flying, followed by screams.

"Shift fire right! Right flank is collapsing!"

A Wolf from second squad moved over to cover the retreating squad but almost instantly dissapeared in a burning ball of blue plasma. A burning hulk tumbled out of the inferno.

"Fall across to the otherside!" Javella ordered. Ace wasn't going to aruge. A missile tore open the Wraith hounding them, giving them some respite. As the majority of the unit fell back, Ace held his ground for a second, gunning down Brutes as they blindly charged him in a frenzy. Despite his heavy hitting fire they charged over him. The desperatly clawed at his armour, trying to find a weak point but he tore them off like ragdolls, crushing them with his actuated hydrolic muscles, tearing muscle, breaking bone and crushing skulls. He continued to tear them to pieces as his squad got to the short bridge and began retreating in order. A wave of gun fire tore around him, hitting him and cutting the Brutes down and pinning the rest down. He retrived his gun and retreated, thankful for the support, despite the dents. As they got to the other side the artillery and enemy gun fire on the otherside ensured the Marines wouldn't be retaking the other side. Without a massed reinforcement or some support, their chances of holding the bridge would get slimmer.

(Reinforcements have arrived, at long last, eh? Heres the list of your targets for you boys and girls.

Happy hunting)
 * Special Commando Unit, including fireteam sierra, reinforced by SPARTAN-144, striking at a Brute headquaters in Danel, aiming to take three buildings used as headquaters, barracks and comms centre respectively and hold against counter attack. Support provided by Owl stealth VTOLS
 * STO are dropping in on a Tern to Danel to sabotage ammo dumps, barracks and vehicle depots and also assasinate leaders.
 * SRS are to drop across the wilderness area between Gimmel and danel to provide deep recon.
 * 345th German Armour are to land in Aleph and attack Gimmel frontally, supported by the 226th Infantry Battalion
 * 105th ODST are to drop to secure the bridges across the river delta to reinforce marines there and hold until armour reaches them. This includes ODST fire Team Omega and Omega Squad
 * 101st ODST are to drop around Gimmel and assault it to secure vital city entry routes before armour arrives, 101st battalion are to secure Pavlov building.
 * 25th HighLanders will resecure the 'Rice Line'.
 * 77th airborne to strike from above at Danel, 6th armoured and 10th Gaelic will attack from land and sea.
 * 114th will drop and support the 345th with forward combat engineering in Gimmel.
 * Naval wise, bomb the hell outta those Brutes from behind or rush for plantery drop for carriers.

1
Night had fallen on the battlefield. Gurkonus sat on a ledge of a Human bridge, listening to the explosions in the distance. The battle had been long and brutal, but his pack had annihilated the Human defenders of this bridge. It was theirs, but at a price. Only a dozen or so of his pack remained, though his Captain and the pack Chieftain, Horagaunus had survived. The rest of the pack stood in a nearby field, watching the explosions in the air. He listened half-heartedly as they gave praise to the many Human ships they saw being destroyed. But Gurkonus' ears picked up when he heard a worried tone among them. He walked over to his pack, and asked what had occurred.

"Look, Gurkonus" his Captain uttered in his guttural voice. "Look to the skies. Falling stars have appeared." He looked to see he spoke the truth. Just short of three dozen stars began to fall through the night sky. It was beautiful in an eerie way, but something was wrong. Gurkonus couldn't tell what, exactly, but there was definitely something amiss. Then, it all came together. Half of the stars suddenly shifted in course, now heading... straight for them!

"Take cover, whelps!" the Captain screamed. "Get out of the way!" But it was too late. Before any of them could turn around, they were upon them. In a split second, the Minor's head processed infinite pieces of information. He could tell, in that instant of time, that they were no meteorites, but Human Insertion Craft. However, he spent his last moment thinking of not where they came from, but who.

Who had managed such an impossible drop?

Sergeant Roger Wilkoe groaned in shock as his Insertion Pod crashed to the ground. Normally, it wouldn't have been so rough a landing, but Jeremy had insisted they come in style: Right on top of the Brutes. The door began to hiss open, but Roger was no patient man, so he kicked it open to speed up the process, grabbing his Sniper Rifle and SABRE launcher, and jumped out of the pod. At his feet lay a bleeding corpse, a Brute Minor, with a somewhat puzzled look on his face.

"Hey, boys!" Roger called out. "You should see the look on this sumbitch's face!"

Several feet away, another door was kicked down, as Jose Marez jumped to the ground.

"Did you one better, Wilkoe! I landed on a Captain! That counts as two kills!"

"Maybe on a cold day in hell, Corporal! Speaking of fire and fury, where's Jeremy?"

The Blackheart's tech specialist, Ronald Lambardo, stood next to Roger now. He fiddled with his HUD, scanning the air for something. "Got him," he called out. "and God help him, you won't believe who he's aiming at!"

The 17 ODSTs looked to air, to see a final Pod streak through the sky, fire, turning it to more a missile than a lander. Then, the Blackhearts looked at its destination: A Brute Chieftain had just stepped off the bridge, roaring in fury at this foe plummeting towards him. It closed in at remarkable speed, but this Chieftain was fast. He swung his hammer in perfect timing, hitting the pod dead on, and skyrocketing it into the air. The door of the pod fell off, revealing a single Blackheart decked out in M6B body armor, grasping in one hand a frag grenade, in the other a Sabre missile launcher. He sprung from the spinning pod, directly above the Chieftain. The spin gave him time to calculate his throw. With perfect accuracy, he tossed the frag to the Brute's feet. The throw twirled him through the air, allowing him to line up a shot with the SABRE, firing a missile directly at the Chieftain. It sped towards him, and detonated in sync with the grenade, creating a massive flash as the Brute disappeared from existance.

The ODST fell maybe twenty feet before crashing to the ground. The rest of Blackheart rushed to him to help him up, but they were shrugged off. Roger came running, screaming in shock and anger at him.

"What the hell were you thinking! You could have been killed by that fall! It's a (!) miracle you're even alive right now, dammit!"

Jeremy took off his helmet and shook off the sweat. He flashed his trademark smile at Roger. "Like you always say, Roger, luck's in my blood. My gramps is a Spartan remember?"

There was no time for celebrations however, as almost a dozzen Brutes appeared on the upper part of the bridge.

"Everyone on the ground!" Jeremy yelled! "Roger provide suppressing fire! Any other snipers, back him up! Everyone else, take cover behind the pods!" Blackheart quickly switched from joke to combat mode, as everyone hit the dirt in unison. Roger opened fire with his rifle, scoring a kill with the first shot. Three others took shots of their own, though only one made contact with a Brute's leg. The rest of the platoon crawled behind the pods, as Jeremy began to bark orders into the COMM.

"Fire team Echo, swing around the right! Delta, the left! Foxtrot, provide covering fire from your position! Cullen, where the hell is second squad?!"

The COMM crackled to life as Sergeant Cullen sent back his response.

''We're on the other side of the bridge, sir. We've got our own problems, but the Vipers came in with the Relief. They'll give you some aerial support.''

"That's great!" Jeremy retorted. "If they don't steal our wallets while they do it!"

"Bubba" Higgs watched from his cockpit as several dozen of his Viper Hornets flew over the rolling fields. The Relief force was short on aerial unit, so they came to the Viper mercenaries to assist. They were only happy to help... for the right price. They had already scored three Banshee kills, and were swinging back to a bridge. Apparently some of the Helljumpers were pinned down, and needed assitance.

An easy job, Higgs thought to himself. We should demand their wallets as payment for making us do a low-brow task like this.

His flight reached the bridge, to see eight Brutes fire on a group of ODSTs. Several were locked in melee combat by now, so a bombardment was impossible.

"Boys, we're going groundside!" He called out.

The Hornets quickly landed on the bridge, and a dozen ground troops got out. Equipped in ancient but effective M6 Covenant-Era armor, they blended in well in the night. Higgs ordered his men to follow him, and came to a ladder. Normally he would have worried about the noise the clunky armor would make, but the nearby firefight prevented that worrysome dilemma. They quickly filed up the ladders, and found themselves on the same level as most of the Brutes. They snuck behind them quickly and quietly, and pounced in an instant.

Armed with ancient machetes and CQB Knives, they found gaps in the Brute's armor and stabbed the vital sections, bringing them down silently. Higgs looked below him, as a Brute began to bring an ODST up. He was going to break his back on his knee. Higgs jumped from his vantage point, landing directly on top of the Brute. He pulled out a pistol from his side and brought it to the Brute's temple.

"Say goodnight, bitch!" He fired, and splattered his brains on the bridge cables. The ODST fell to the ground with a sigh of relief. Higgs noticed that while the group he saved approached, another group came from the other side. Their commander must have split them up for a pincer movement. Risky with such a small platoon, but it had proven effecive enough. The CO approached, and put his hand up. Higgs grasped it firmly.

"'Bubba' Higgs, 17th Viper Wing."

"First Sergeant Jeremy Patterson, ODST 105th, Blackheart Platoon. Thanks for the assistance, we needed help pretty badly."

"I'll say ya' did." He released the Sergeant's hand. "Now then, greetings are over, we have to get back in the sky. I'll leave six of my men to give aerial support to this bridge. The rest of us are going."

"Very well, thanks again. I guarantee this bridge won't be ignored for long. I reckon by midnight there'll be another convoy trying to take this sucker. Good luck to your men, Higgs."

"Same to you, Patterson." Higgs replied, already walking back to his Hornet. Nice kid. He thought to himself.

Shame he'll have to die defending a lousy bridge.

MasterGreen999 20:31, 13 August 2008 (UTC)