Halo: First contact... again...
 

Markez looked over the railing and saw someone in the gunner seat, "Hey!" He called down to him. "Did I say you could sit in my God damn chair!? No I God damn did not! Get the hell out of my God damn seat before I come down there and kick your God damn ass! God damn it!" That's when he could hear plasma fire from right behind him, "God damn it! Fire on sight! Find your target and keep shootin' at it until it's dead!" He rushed down the ramp and looked up at Chris, "What the hell did I just get finished telling you, God damn it!? Get out of my God damn seat! God damn it, I'm pissed!! Move!"

Billy ducked as an overcharged plasma bolt hit the wall behind him. Running back down the ramp, he opened fire with his pistol, taking out three grunts.

"Looks like the shit has hit the fan!" Billy shouted as he kept firing. "Hit 'em!"

ooc: Well, you were gone, punker. Covering fire anyone :p ?

Yes, sir!
he barked, feeling slightly dumb, but forgetting quickly as he brought the battle rifle up to his eye and sent a round flying

Jason stood at the top of the ramp of the smaller structure next to the one spitting the plasma into the sky. He heard Markez order to fire on sight, and he did just that. Three grunts fell dead from three shots from his pistol. He holstered the smaller weapon and brought the rifle out once again. He dropped into his favored prone firing position, and started tracking targets.

Mike was taking out grunts one by one, all head shots for some reason. He lobbed a frag over his current cover, yelling, "FRAG OUT!" at the same time. He saw the magled bodies of more grunts fly over him. He then started shooting some more, bodies falling limply on the ground.

Calvin, not wanting to leave the buggy, leaned out of the driver seat and started blasting with his shotgun.

Jimmy shot a grunt as it charged towards him, stopping it mid flight and causing it to roll down the hill until it stopped dead in front of him and dropped a plasma grenade. Jimmy picked it up and yelled "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" before throwing it onto another grunt who instinctly ran into a pack of enemies, obliterating them in a hail of blue agony.

Jimmy grinned "poor bastards, betcha didn't see that coming" He turned around and was met with a sight he really hoped he wouldn't see any time during this conflict. One of the larger covenant soldiers had snuck around the side of the building and behind the marine squad and was now staring him in the face looking rather annoyed. Jimmy was seemingly lucky to be knocked flying by a royal pistol whipping if it wasn't for the fact that the covie had decided to try again. Jimmy swooped on the Covenant soldier's mistake and ducked under the attack, pointing his pistol into its torso reigon and reducing its innards to a fine paste with some well timed shots.

Joel was on a smal hill shooting at the enemys. He got 3 of them almost immidiatly. Once again he took his time aiming. "Come on bastard...come on..." He said as he got another.

"God damn it!" He jumped into his seat and started to fire the big gun at any and every Elite there was. The gun shook violently, his shoulders losing sensation, but that didn't stop them, "Oh yeah! Take that you bastard!!" As another Elite lost track of his mind, and the rest of his head as well. "Driver! hurry up and get me some sights! C'mon!"

The Marines were doing a good job holding down the fort, the way that they first came was now spewing aliens, but it was still nothing He and his men couldn't handle, it was the dropship behind them they didn't notice, dropping off a few grunts, a handful of Jackels, but more that that, three Elites made their way to the marines back, intent on not wasting any ammo on these pithy humans. One of them shouted inaudible as the other smaller aliens made a battle cry and charged at them.

Markez was the first to look over his shoulder, "What!? Those bastards are behind us! Circle around and attack what you can! Damn it! Where's my driver!?" Aw man... I don't think we're gonna make it. We're surrounded on all sides, and they just keep coming in. God... I thank you for what life I've had... "Huh?" He turned his sights again as he heard rifle fire from behind him, the way the Marines had come, only to see something in green, flanking the Covenant, "Master Chief, sir!" Markez nodded. Check that... we'll do just fine...

Joel jumped for cover as he saw the elites trying to flank them. It all seemed to get a bit too hot to handle, but just then support arrived from behind. "Wohoo! Just in time!" Joel then shot a few covenants just to make him feel a little more happy.

Chris kept his fire constant, in the space between every 3 heartbeats, a shot, a kill, and 2 more beats. he rounded his sight on a jackal coming up behind them and shot out its knee, lowing his weapon long enough to pull a grenade from his belt. He pulled the pin and held it one....two....three!
and heaved it in the direction of the force from the dropship. Then he heard the lieutenant yelling for a driver. He can't give me shit for taking that seat
He shouldered the rifle and pulled himself up into the driver's seat, yelling over the din of battle
where to, sir!?

Despite the appearance of the Master Chief, Jimmy wasn't out of the woods yet. He was in another duel with another elite. Jimmy ducked a swinging attack from a needler and responded with quick slam to what he thought was its kidneys. The Elite roared in pain and tried to swing again and fire a few shots but was met with a rifle-butt to the stomach which made it roar even louder. It took another swing which connected on Jimmy's left arm, ripping fatigues and flesh alike. This time it was Jimmy's time to scream in pain.

Instead of giving up, He gatherered his strength and delivered a rifle-butt to its hideous face, stunning it outright. Jimmy shoved the barrel into its mouth and muttered "fire in the hole" before blowing its head apart with automatic death.

As the Master Cheif showed up on the scene, Billy felt a surge of morale. He ignited his plasma sword and charged into the battle. He felled a jackal by slicing through the arm carrying the shiled, and then the alien's lungs. A couple of Elites, a Blue and an blade carrying Gold, noticed Billy and charged at him. As Billy crossed swords with the Gold, he drew his shotgun and fired point-blank into the Blue's chest. The shield collapsed, and the buckshot tore up the Elite's chest. As the rookie died, Billy turned his attention on the commander. He parried the Gold Elite's sword stokes, rolled to avoid an overhead slash, and cut the Elite's legs off at the knees. The commander fell howling, until Billy leveled the MD9 at his head.

"You want to appease your gods? I'll send you to tell them how bad you guys are doing." Billy snarled as he blew the Elite's brains out.

(Oh look, my computer starts acting up for a day, and someone steals my seat. Dammit!, I'll just squeeze in another...........Yes........The more the merrier, right?....)

Calvin bashed a grunt over the head as he ran for an overturned Warthog up ahead. He flipped it and jumped in. Just then, a lumburing hunter walked to the vehicle and Calvin had to swerve to avoid its explosive attack. He drove at full speed around the area as he attemted to run down various covenent, including the hunter. However they just kept dogging. "What?!" exclaimed Calvin "Your big, lumbering, and covered in heavy armor, and you can jump THAT well......". suddenly, Calvin spotted somthing bright on his tire that kept twirling around in a circle "Huh?" said Calvin as he looked at it. Then Calvin quickly relized something. He relized he had a plasma grenade stuck on his left front wheel. With pure instint, he lept from the vehicle as the grenade exploded and crashed afew feet away. Calvin looked from where he landed and saw the hunter as it closed in "ah........#$%@ it!....." was all he could say.

OOC: Technically, there were no Hunters on Halo at this time...but whatever...adopt, adapt, improve.

BIC: Billy saw Calvin leap from the Warthog as it exploded...amd then he noticed the Hunter closing in on Calvin. Quickly Billy brought the MD9 up, sighted on the hunter's unprotected back, and opened fire. The first bullet clanged off armor, but the second shot went through the unprotected spine of the alien. The hunter's legs suddenly gave out from under him as he crashed to the ground in a spray of orange blood...dead

Billy ran over to Calvin, laying down a line of shotgun blasts that took out a few grunts, then using a grenade to wipe out an Elite and a Jackal.

"Hunters always fight in pairs...where the hell is the second one?" He asked Calvin.

Joel saw a Hunter getting killed near the warthog. The Hunter had tried to kill a marine. Joel then quiqly thought that he had only seen one and thought "Don't Hunters fight in pairs?" Joel then saw what appeared to be a Hunter near the warthog trying to flank and quiqly disposed of it with just one shot from long distance.

"I don't care! Just drive around and hit as many of these little bastards as you can! Go on! DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE!" He took out a few more grunts with his gun, "G'damn it! There are only so many sightings over here, there are more over there! Get movin!"

hoo-rah, sir!
Chris bellowed, tearing around the group of defending marines and swinging the back end of the warthog around, bashing a few onciming grunts and turning back into the approaching group from the dropship, plasma fire peppering the truck's side, angling the vehicle for a small hill and yelling
Impact!
As he jumped it and landed directly on top of two jackals, the vehicle's shocks absorbing the fall quite nicely

(Oh really? I guess I just don't remember the beginning well enough. Anyway, I just wanted two of them as like, a boss...........Sorta thing. I wanted something a little harder.)

Calvin got up and picked up his shotgun "thank you, good lad!" he said to Billy. He looked around to see if there were any more closing in. He could then hear the sound of something large running to him. Turning to the sound he saw yet another hunter heading for them. Calvin shot acouple shots at it, but they simply dinged off of its sheild. Calvin then jumped away and hurled a grenade at it as he tried to get back to his Warthong. The grenade bounced off of the hunter and exploded in mid-air.

3 O'clock, sir!
Chris yelled back, turning sharply to the right and taking an arc behind the hunter he was referring to. He knew that the Lieutenant had seen it, but he wasn't one to guess...

Mike was busy taking out grunts one-by-one that he wasn't paying attention to anything else. He had his shotgun on the ground next to him and frequently picked it up if something got to close, or he wanted to take advantage of the buckshot. He smacked a grunt on the head as it got too close to him, its weak head collapsing under the hit.

"I see it soldier! What do you think I am, blind!? Just keep driving!" He pulled down the trigger and watched the bullets fly out of the rotating barrels, and off the Hunter's armor, "Damn it! Come on! One of them has got to hit!" As if answering his prayer, the Hunter stood up, after feeling several shots into his orange fleshy skin, then curling up on the ground, then dying. "Hell ya! Come on now, let's finish them up!"

Jason saw the hunters, but determined that others would jump on the chance to say they took down one. He focused instead on taking out jackals and elites. He already had a kill total of about fifteen or so. But they just kept coming. More dropships dropped off more troops. Even with the Master Chief they would be hard pressed to hold out much longer. "Doesn't matter as long as I still have this," he patted his bulging pack of ammo. He was tracking the path in front of Master Chief when he saw a strange haze behind the Spartan. The air seemed a bit distorted. "Cloaked," Jason breathed. He waited until he saw the ripple in the air again, this time directly behind Master Chief. Jason fired what he hoped was a body shot. It was. The blue elite's shields and cloak collapsed. Another quick shot from Jason dropped it in a heap.

Now that both the hunters were dead, Calvin got to his Warthor and flipped it up again. "okay....." he said to himself "the rest should be a breeze..." he laughed and ran over a jackel.

Jimmy dispensed with another elite with a swift shot to the face after going surgical on its kneecaps. he rejoined the group and mopped his brow. Fighting Covenant was one thing, but when you had to duke it out with two elites in hand to hand then you start to feel kind of exhausted.

He shot another grunt and glanced at the Master Chief "dammit he makes it look so easy"

The dropships had all been left, and all there really was a handful of grunts running about, too scared to really do anything. "C'mon! You all ain't dead yet! I'll change that!" And so it happened that the Marines won the battle, with the help of Master Chief. Markez dropped from his seat and walked up to him. "Thanks sir. Until you shoed up... I thought we were cooked..."

"No problem..." Cortana answered through the Chief's radio.

"Any UNSC personal, respond!" As another dropship came into the soldiers ears.

"Is that you Bowhammer?" Cortana asked.

"Aye sir, here to pick up some Marines and transport them to base."

Markez turned around and saw the dropship hover close by, "All right! You heard the lady! Everyone pile in, you all get some time off. Good work soldiers. I won't drill ya too hard back at camp..." He jumped in and took a seat towards the edge of the dropship, and waited for a few marines to step in, taking a head count.

Somehow, that didn't seem nearly as hard as I thought it would be, Mike thought. He had seen much worse before and was thinking that the Covenant weren't even trying. That was probably just a scouting unit, so they were in for trouble if they cam up against a full assult force in this situation. He shook the thought away and replaced it with something more positive, knowing a well earned break was coming soon.

Jason ran from his position to the dropship. He took a seat up front. "That was a blast," he said, chuckling to himself.

(ooc: Isn't it Foehammer?)

Joel ran to the dropships taking a seat next to Jason. "So how many did you get?"

Calvin parked his Warthog into the dropship (is that right?) and sat back in his seat "Well.......that could have gone better......." he muttered to himself.

Jimmy slumped down into a seat and strapped himself in. He was exhausted, though fighting two elites in melee combat will do that to you. He glanced around at the others who looked at like he felt. Jimmy went to mop his brow but winced in pain as the wound on his left arm made itself known once more. For once he felt kind of worried. Things were only going to get worse before they got better.

OOC: Yes, it is Foehammer...although MC consistently belives otherwise. For further reference, Foehammer's dropship call number is Echo 419, which is another way to refer to the dropship itself. Also, the Warthog cannot be parked inside the dropship, rather it latches on to it just beyond the payload bay where the soldiers sit.

BIC: Billy swept the area one last time before boarding the dropship.

It'll be great to get over to alpha base and catch some R&R before we have to go fight more of these Covie bastards He thought.

"Hey...how much did everyone get? I got about 12, including a hunter."

"I got 18 exactly." Joel said and grinned.

"Oh yeah....." said Calvin "The hunter...." he gave a thumbs up to Billy "Thanks again for that save, me lad!" Calvin re-loaded his shotgun "As for me.....I didn't do so well. I believe I only got 8 or 9." he chuckled softly "I guess I might be gettin' rusty.

"About 20." Jason said. "Lots of elites." He smiled, then leaned his head back in his seat. He closed his eyes, and took in what he gotten himself into.

OOC: Screw you all! Who's GM, that's right! ME! Ahem... I mean I have a hearing problem... I thought it was Bowhammer, but it is Foehammer, thanks for the help!

"I'm glad you all kept count, but don't be countin' you're blessings now... This war ain't over!" He sat back in his seat. "I mean... what do you all want, a medal!?" Markez sat back and took in a deep breath. "All right! Everyone strapped in? Good... Foehammer..." He grinned and took in another breath, "Get us back to base..."

OOC: Actually...I don't think dropships have seat belts...or they didn't render them in the game...I'm just rambling.

BIC: The dropship took off, headed for the Marines main base. As it circled the tower, Billy noticed a few more lifeboats burning in to the surface. He also saw the Master Cheif board a warthog and head in the direction of those lifeboats.

Wow...he's probably only been here as long as us...and he already seems to have an understanding of the situation...

Jimmy shrugged "I really couldn't care less all I know is taking on two covie elites in hand to hand is worth at least five kills with a firearm. I think I got some grunts too, though I really can't remember." He slumped back into his seat and placed his trust in the pilot.

Billy looked over at Jimmy. "I agree on the HTH issue...but I wouldn't want to take on an Elite close up without a shotgun or this." he held up the unlit plasma sword handle.

Jason opened one eye slightly. "I'll never understand why you like getting so close to those things. Bam. Head shot and they're dead without knowing it. It's like being the angel of death or something."

"I never said sniping was bad...in fact I like using a sniper rifle as much as the next Marine. I'm just saying that if it comes to it, I'm ready to take on an Elite before he bites my head off or something." Billy said.

Jimmy laughed a bit "its not like I had a choice. Tweedledum showed me the top of his plasma rifle at 60 miles an hour and when I'd finished with him Tweedledee decided to have a look at what my left arm looks like all torn up. All together not a nice experience."

Calvin wasin't listining. He was thinking to himself and making some notches on his shotgun with a knife.

The ship took off and floated above the surface of the ring, giving the soldiers a good view of the entire place. It was a world, and it had different climates in different areas. It took off, flying fowards at a very high velocity. "All right boys and girls, we'll be at the base shortly."

"Good. Thanks Foehammer. It'll be good to get back home. If that's what you wanna call it. But I guess we're gonna have to, what, with us being on this ring and all."

"Hey, A home is a place where there a bed for the weary soldier. You all must be tired."

"Naw! I think my men are ready for another run! Put her down, then just drive real slow and we'll follow you to the command shuttle."

"It's several hundred miles from here."

"Good!" Markez pumped a fist. "Let's get a move on." But he grinned and looked at his squad, "No... that's all right ladies. I'm gonna give ya the rest of the day off, enjoy it!"



In short time, the plains had turned into a fall type setting, and then they seemed to be in some sort of desert scene. Flying a few more miles, Markez squinted his eyes when he saw something grey in the distance. "Hey! It's the Pillar! Everyone! Take a look at you're sanctuary. This is where we are gonna spend the rest of our time on this rock." He took a deep breath, and released it quick, "Beautiful thing isn't it?"

"Well...I've seen better..." Joel said quietly.

Jason jabbed Joel with his elbow. "Quiet!" he muttered. "You want him to actually make us take that run?"

ooc: I've found a way around the password my parents put on the computer...any way I can jump back in?

btw- I just finished reading the second Halo book (The Flood), and it rocked my world.

OOC: Sure, I didn't say that you had to leave.

ooc: Sweet. I didn't assume I was booted, just thought I would pipe in before I started posting again.

Chris peered out where the LT was motioning to; a tall hill with a bluff on top, a bit of smoke rising from points along the height of the hill rising to it.
ODST's got to it first. Nice to have someone making the beds for us.
he joked, smiling back at the few Helljumpers in the dropship.

Jimmy glanced at the POA and smiled "yay time for me to get patched up and get some damn sleep. Not like Its gonna be easy though. This arm's gonna be giving me hell for a while yet"

"Well I ment...that...this place looks great..." Joel said out loud.

"Hey, relax," Billy said tp Joel. "The point is we can finally relax for a while before the Covies come looking for blood."

"Well they might come looking for blood, but what they will get is there own blood...and somehow I dont think that thats waht came for..." Joel said and grinned.

"Damn right." Billy grinned.

Calvin finished the work on his gun and put it down. He then sat back and closed his eyes. He stroaked his cross as he tried to sleep.

"So how many bullets did you vaste?"

"None"

"What? You're lying."

"No, I'm serious. I didn't waste any shots. Even though I guess you could say the shotgun could have some wasted buckshot."

"Well...I wasted exactly the amount that I had kills..."

Billy laughed a bit. "Good one."

"WhatCHA want a cookie!?" Markez snapped at the two. He looked back at the POA. "It'll be good to get home."

OOC: I was told to do this...this essentially ties up some loose ends.

BIC: As Echo-419 began heading towards the POA, Cortana's voice came over all of the comm channels in the dropship, and on the Marine's helmets.

"Attention all UNSC forces. You are instructed to avoid the POA crash site. It has been seized by Covenant forces. In addition, Captain Keyes has been found alive, but the Covies have also taken him captive as well. More information will be forthcoming. Cortana out."

Foehammer came in over the PA. "Well, looks like we aren't heading there today. Besides which, I have orders to take you to Alpha Base, where the ODST's have already got things set up for us. It's on a desert plateau not too far from the POA site, but it's far enough so that the Covies won't really know we're there."

ooc: oops, I thought that we were heading there already...

OOC: don't worry. That had to be done because our GM didn't remember that the POA had been seized by the Covenant. He tends to forget somethings...that's why I'm here...to ensure accuracy...to a degree of course.

OOC: ... What do ya want, a cookie?

Markez nodded. "All right. Take us there then. We'll take a short break, but don't think for a MOMENT that you ladies get a chance to breathe. We just got signed up for another mission. We'll wait until we hear something from the chief, and then we're off again. Got that marines!?" They all replied in unison.

It only took a few moments to reach their final destination. "All right men! Pile out! Gather up supplies, then find a place to sit for a second. When I get the call, we're out! Foehammer. Contuinue on with the rescues. Make sure I get all my Marines back."

Jake adjusted the shotgun across his back, and toyed with the belt packs that contained his weaponry tools and ammo, getting them comfortable in the pilot's seat. It hadn't been fun watching half of his group get obliterated in their crash. It'd been less fun to watch half of what was left die in a Covenant assault on their position. It had, however, been a stroke of sheer luck they'd managed to find a 'bird that could fly. He'd managed to get his group out of there just in time to see a few Covie dropships fly by, and in time to hear Cortana calling to Echo-419, Foehammer, for pickup on some other marines. He looked back at the drop bay, and called out, "Everyone okay back there?" He got grunts and shouts from the marines and Helljumpers in the back. He smiled to himself, and said, "Good. Now hold on to your stockings, ladies. This isn't going to be an easy landing." He flew to the location with the most friendly activity, and saw several intact dropships parked in the open, with several mobile buildings erected. Must be the command post, he thought. "Okay, grab on, I'm takin' her down!"

Jake hopped out of the Pelican and pulled the sack of weapons out after him. It had taken up space, and been a bit of a danger should something have happened, but he didn't care - weapons were going to be valuable, here. He watched the remainder of his platoon stagger out of the dropship, many of them wounded. He'd been hurt, sure, but they'd gotten it worse. He could also see medics and techs headed out to them, to patch up Marine and dropship alike. He moved off towards the base, slinging the sack over his back. He had some work to do.

"I'm being reassigned?" Jake couldn't believe it. Going back out in the field already? He hadn't had more than an hour's rest after his heroics, and he'd already been slapped with another unit. "Yes, Corporal, reassigned. UNSC Marine unit, under Sgt. Markez. Real good man, good commander. He'll make good use of your talents, Corporal. Now get moving; you report ASAP. And leave that junk here; you're no techie, you're a Marine, boy! Act like it!" Jake snapped to attention and saluted the officer. "Yes, SIR!" "By the way...Corporal...the Lieutenant has put you up for promotion for your actions today. You were close anyway, but after today, you should be getting that new chevron in no time. I'll let you know what's happening with that." "Yes, SIR!" Jake stood even straighter. Promoted! Unbelievable!

Jake strode out to the place he was told he'd be able to find Sgt. Markez, carrying his papers. "Hope these guys are good," he muttered. "I'd hate to have to carry them in battle. I'm no SPARTAN..." He spotted the Sergeant, and stepped up to him, holding out his papers. "Sir, Corporal Jacob Evans, reporting to kill some Covie bastards, SIR!"

Calvin bolted up and grabbed his things. He also managed to find another grenade and put it with his other three. Now all he had to do was wait.......And stuff.......

Markez turned around. "Ah? What the hell do you want?" He took a look at him. "Oh yeah... you one of those Marines that helped your platoon get the hell out of there right?" He nodded. "Yep... I thought so. You deserve that promotion. I'm glad that I gave it to ya. I think it'll come in handy. Now that I know you can handle control, I just might give some to ya. Anyway, make sure you're ready to go, when we do need ya."

Billy replenished his grenade and pistol ammo supply, then returned to E-419 to keep an eye on the LZ.

Jason tossed the bag of grenades he had in the center of the area the marines were gathered in. "Take what you need. I'm sick of lugging that thing around." He reloaded his rifle and pistol. He tried to relax and doze a little, but he was still keyed up from everything that had happened. He got up and started pacing.

Jake nodded, and saluted the Sergeant. "Yes, sir! You can count on me. If anyone has any weapons problems, send 'em to me, and I can take care of it. I'll actually be nearby, working on some special modifications. Nothing too dangerous...at least, not to us." He grinned, the grin of a predatory creature, and turned on his heel, double-timing it back to his quarters to get his sack of weapons, so that he could study the Covie's weaponry a little more. It wouldn't be long now until he could figure it out...he knew it...

Chris unloaded from Echo-419 with the rest of the marines and sat with a few from the group he had been fighting with, a against a wall opposite the landing pads, and pulled out a candy bar that he hoped to contentedly munch on for as long as possible.

Joel took all the ammunition he needed to his pistol and sniper rifle. He took some granades too, but not too many from the back that Jason had tossed to the ground. He then went to sat with the rest of the marines. Joel quiqly fell aslseep cause of the quietnes and cause of the fact that he was tired.

OOC: Wait a minute...Azeir was never in this RP...what the hell?

ooc: This sure is getting weird...

OOC: No, we just had a recruitment drive thread for no reason. Here's your sign. Now, eihter ask MC to join or please remove your posts.

OOC: Do we get to ignore what he wrote then?

ooc: My question exactly...

OOC: Delete all posts in reference to responsing to him. That should clear things up a bit. He hasn't signed up, so ignore his orders and delte posts referring to acknowledement of those orders