Falo (IC)

[Shade Leshyr]

Neo placed a hand on her helmeted head, sighing. Today was getting to be a lot more than a simple mission. Vaguely, she wondered where all these new Immortals were coming from, but she put it out of her mind for now, or at least, it was forced out of her mind by the sudden, disturbing image of a pair of disemboweled elites striking up a conversation before the small vixen revealed the puppeteer, "Don't do that again," Neo said to the wolfess, "I prefer it when they stay dead, cause in this platoon, they have a nasty habit of getting back up..." the more veteran Immortals all nodded their agreement...

Neo turned her attention to the kid with the experimental rifle, "Ok, you, here's the deal, we're throwing out what they told you up at that shit hole they call basic training, 'cause that stuff doesn't really happen all that much. Here's what you do, you stay behind our frontline people, shoot the covvies dead, and we all go home alive... and watch your back, 'cause you'll find some shit that will keep you from sleeping at night... oh, and if the elite has a girl voice, don't shoot... long story, don't ask. Move out!"

The Immortals moved forward, heading toward the sound of the fire fight. Rounding a bend in the alley, the path opened up onto a small road. Across from them was a badly plasma burned hotel with a sign barely staying up on the top, Zanzibar through a hole in the side of the building, a squad of marines could be seen popping up to trade shots with the elites and grunts that surrounded the hole with plasma turrets... and the marines' barrier of rubble was melting fast under the continuous assault.

However, the immortals were behind the covvie lines...

"Give 'em hell!" Neo yelled as she opened fire on a pair of grunts before finding some cover as several elites turned to deal with the new threat, only to receive some shells from the marines inside the hotel...

[Takeru]

Nick couldn't help but shudder as he tried to forget the wolfess's display of insanity, trying to deny himself the fact that he found it just a little funny. He forced it from his head as he nodded to the commander. Nick knew full well what the covenant were capable of... Years of being a marine before becoming an Immortal had taught him that much. He decided not to say anything though, as he could see how how stressed the commander seemed to be. He wondering how he would be able to tell if an elite had a female voice through his scope, and why he shouldn't shoot them if they did, but made a mental note of the order anyway. He pulled his rifle up to his eyes as the elites came into view and he smiled a wicked grin before getting down on one knee, steadying his aim further.

Nick muttered inside his helmet, and a custom HUD activated, painting each life signal in a different color: Red for Hostiles, blue for friendlies, yellow for unknown. He prioritized his targets, setting his sights on an elite near the back still focused on the marines. He watched as the green crosshairs formed on his sights around the elites vital areas. Might be a good time to test the normal shell... but I only have about twenty... should save them, he thought before opening fire, shooting two quick shots at the elite, one to drop it's shields, another to pierce it's skull. Nick watched with a grim satisfaction as it was knocked back a few feet from the impact, the purple blood spilling onto the ground. Anyone behind him, which would most likely be no one, would see that his tail was wagging...

Nick quickly moved onto his next target, taking out a pair of retreating grunts, again smiling as they fell to the ground dead. "This is too easy" He said to himself, making sure his external mic was off. He pushed the release trigger for the ammo cartridge, sliding in another, slamming it in after making sure it was lined up.

[wolf_skinchanger]

"Gladly!" Nightshade responded. Engaging his cloak, he used his sonar to aid his aim as he flew above the battleground, his twin pistols granting air support to the marines pinned down by the turrets.

~~~~~

Damien, meanwhile, was in his element; using Shard's magic, he launched her stored energy in the form of flying blades, one at a time. Each blade eradicated an elite's shield as it connected, allowing Damien to finish them off with his rifle.

[Takeru]

Nick stood dumbstruck as he saw multiple blades shoot out of Damien's hand, momentarily losing his focus as he just stared. "What sort of squad did I just get dropped into?" He asked over the general comm, sounding very very confused. "Next thing you know, you're all going to start shooting lightning from your eyes and bringing the dead back to life". His voice sounded both shocked and jovial. He regained his focus, and aimed at a plasma grenade being armed by an elite. He took a deep breath and fired as he saw the object glow blue. He laughed as he saw it blow up, taking the elite's arm with it. "I love doing that." He says softly, forgetting he had kept the open comm on.

[Buzzwolf]

An audible 'CRACK' came from the small pistol in the vixens hand, as a jet of bright blue flame erupted from the end of the barrel and caused the pistol to kick for the sky, an elite getting knocked clean off his feet by the blast, shields depleted and a nice hole through the chest section of his armor, through the elite, and out the back. not a single drop of blood falling, the hole already cauterized by the blast.

The small fox muttered a few curses under her breath, diving for cover behind a pillar, as the cylinder exposed it's glowing hot core, needing to cool after the single shot, a small tool slipped from the end of her glove and she started tweaking the design again.

The wolfess barely acknowledged the command to 'not play with the puppet's again', having no idea what she had really meant by the phrase, but was forced to dive for cover, hearing the sizzle of plasma rounds glancing off her shields before she could make it. "Fuckin covvies wanna play hardball eh? I'll give 'em hardball..." She pulls what appears to be a sodacan from her hip, sparks jumping from her hand to it as she charges the device, a thin growl coming from her helmet as another plasma bolt splashes against her cover. She hurls the device over her cover, and it ding's after a few seconds, it's powerful magnets attracting it to the nearest covenant, and latching on like it was welded to the armor. The elite scrabbled and fell trying to get the device off, failing horribly and exploding in a ball of fire, taking the turret close by and a small squad of grunts with it. Human made 'sticky' grenades....and all they took, was someone with the capacity to generate the electricity to arm them.

The short vixen leaned from cover, getting an idea where the rest of the covenant stood as she waited for the cylinder to finish it's cooling cycle, diving back down as the remaining plasma turret turned it's hot attention on her, splashing hot plasma against her cover, chipping away at chunks with every shot, forcing her to fire blind at the opposer

[Takeru]

Nick cursed as a plasma turret started to shoot at him, and he dove behind cover. He waited for just a moment after the fire stopped to pop his head up, his HUD automatically marking the position of the turret and multiple enemies. I won't have time to take it out with a normal shot before it starts to melt my shields. Plasma shot would be good. He thought, reaching behind his back, and opening a container attached to his armor, pulling out a single cartridge. It was shaped like a sniper bullet, but looked like it was made of glass, and inside it was a blue glowing liquid. Liquid Nitrogen surrounding the bullet caused frost to start to form on the bullet, and Nick's gauntlet, as he quickly closed the pouch. He smiled and flipped a switch near the butt of his gun, and watched as the barrel of the gun started to shift, revealing itself to be made of multiple metal plates, that now separated and extended outwards, increasing the length of the barrel by a good foot and a half, and widening diameter by about an inch. He waited for a second, then flt relieved as electricity start to arch between the opening of the plates, indicating the gun was ready to be loaded and fired. Nick pushed a button near the same switch and a panel on the top of the gun opened. Nick slid the bullet in and push the button again, hearing the mechanical click of the process inside warming up the plasma. He smiled as the green light on top lit up, giving him the all ready. He checked his HUD for the position of the turret and nodded, waiting once more for the plasma fire to stop. Once it had, he counted to 3 and stood up, sweeping his gun toward the turret, and fired.

The bullet traveled about 100 feet from his gun, and then there ware a brief blue flash, and a small burst, like a weak plasma grenade had exploded in the air. Then, a line of plasma about the size of the barrel of Nick's gun shot through the air, originating from the point of the small burst of energy. It shot right through the turret, melting the parts as it passed through them, and then did the same to the elite that was operating hit, a sizable hole now adorning it's chest. No blood came from the wound, the plasma sealing the wound even as it made it. Nick smirked under his visor, noting each detail as well as recording the shot with his on-helmet camera, as instructed by the Techs. The elite fell down, no longer having any lungs with which to scream. His tail wagged again before his gun gave a shrill hiss and slots on the side opened, releasing a large amount of steam, causing the temp in Nick's suit to rise, and his shields to flicked as he ducked behind cover, setting the rifle down. "Damn... That's hot. Techs need to work on a better cooling system." He muttered. "If that was a normal shot, whats the overcharge gunna need to cool down?"

[Shade Leshyr]

A large elite in Gold armor barked at the elites and grunts remaining, pointing to the two main targets, those being the sniper and the vixen with the power pistol. The operators of two of the three turrets aimed at the hotel struggled to turn the heavy machines around to attack the Immortals as the two already facing their way unloaded. The buildings and ground around the Immortals were quickly becoming glass as the group traded fire with the covenant. Then something the elites and grunts didn't expect happened. With an old fashioned rebel yell, the marines in the hotel jumped to their feet and charged the enemy line, tossing frag grenades.

The line broke as the operators of the half turned turrets abandoned the useless machines, running in panic to be picked off one by one. The three elites still standing after the grenade barrage were standing in a rough triangle, doing their best to hold off both the Immortals and marines. Several marines fell to plasma fire, but in the end the double assault proved to be their undoing, the gold armored elite using his last breath to clasp his two "fingers" together in an imitation of the single fingered salute humans favored.

The leader of the marines snapped a crisp salute, "Good to see you Immortals, we thought we were goners for a minute there. Wish we had time to chat, but ONI wants you lot across the bridge on the double. We've got warthogs being dropped on the far side of the hotel, follow us!" The marines lead the Immortals through the hole into the hotel then to the far side of the building where even as they watched, the pelicans were dropping a sizable offensive of warthogs. The six marines still alive took two, leaving the Immortals to clamber into the vehicles as they chose.

Neo jumped into the driver's seat of one warthog, Shade jumping in next to her. Off in the distance, the covenant ship could be seen hovering over the main part of the city and Neo pointed at it, "Remember guys, that's the target, engage enemies, but keep pushing no matter what!" She floored it, nearly throwing their gunner out as she raced toward the large underground road where she could just barely make out a hole in the side.

As they rounded a corner leading toward the hole, the scream of ghosts met their ears and the sound was quickly followed by a fleet of ghosts hot on their tails...

[Takeru]

Nick picked up his still very hot rifle as he followed the rest of the Immortals, his HUD flashing and warning him about the temperature of the gun. Techies need to fix this damn cooling system... He thought, before a private com opened by itself. He rolled his eyes as the familiar voice of 'Doc' talked to him.

"From the video feed you had going, I see the shot works perfectly. But looks like the cooling system isn't adjusted right, correct?" Doc asked in his thick German accent, talking rapidly and with an excited voice. Nick could almost picture him pacing back and forth as he talked, gesturing with his hands as he always did. "I figured as much, but the techs never listen to me. They constantly told me that it would be fine, that all the tests show that the cooling system works fine. But they never take into account the environment! You are fighting in a very humid place, normal cooling won't be enough... That's why I packed you a little gift, My favorite wolf! Check the fifth pouch on your left."

Nick smiled as Doc said "gift", and reached into the pouch, pulling out a metal cylinder. "Let me guess, Liquid Nitrogen?" he asked, making sure all other coms were closed.

"Such a smart boy." Doc said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Yes, it is. Let me access the gun so I can open the port for you to shove it in. Its not on the blueprints, cause I made it secretly. Techs didn't want it, no telling why. I don't think they like you very much."

"To be fair, I did wreck theirs toys a few times." Nick said, chuckling as he remembered the first prototype he had, and how it exploded into pieces when he tried to fire it.

"They designed it, not you. that was their fault." Doc said, and a small opening revealed itself on the butt of the gun. "Shove it in there and the cooling should be just fine."

"Thanks Doc, your a life saver." Nick said, closing the com and putting the cylinder the opening. He checked all the systems of the rifle one last time and smiled. He looked up and saw warthogs being dropped and swore silently. Sniping would prove difficult from a moving vehicle, and he never was a good driver, so a gunner seat would be the best option for him... and that meant more standing. "Oh well, at least I don't have to walk." He said to himself, hopping in the nearest gunner seat, only to find himself nearly thrown out of it as the driver floored the gas. He turned to see he had gotten in a car with the commander, and another solder he didn't know. He cursed again, telling himself next time to look who he was in a car with, not wanting to pester Neo anymore than he already had. Nick's ear twitched as he heard the sound of ghosts, and turned the gun to face behind them. "Heads up, we got company" He hailed on the open com, letting loose a stream of bullets from the mounted machine gun.

[Buzzwolf]

Beta barely got a chance to admire the damaged the hastily built weapon has caused. She kicked the elite, flipping the body over, smiling at how easily the round had tore through shields, armor and flesh alike "just gotta figure out how to keep the cooling systems under control..." she hmm'd looking the small weapon over in her hands as the pelicans dropped the set of warthogs off for them. She smirked and holstered the pistol, claiming the drivers seat, revving the engine as Torq clambered into the passengers side, latching herself in to be able to hang out and pick off targets

She would've gotten flipped out of the if not for her harness as the back end dropped, bottoming out the suspension as a large body landed on it. 

She turned to the sound of tearing metal, as the heavily armored immortal wrenched the MAC gun from its mount, attaching himself to the roll cage and taking up a stance facing backwards, the massive gun resting supported against his hip. As she stared, she realized who had joined them, Alex, the vixens partner, catching a ride rather than sticking to the shadows

The moment the shocks returned to their compensation position, beta floored it, spinning the tires and walking the back end around to chase after the lead wart hog

the warthog shook as the cannon with a resounding THOOM, a ball of blue flame erupting behind them as the heavy MAC round obliterated one of the ghosts

"were clear!" Torq activated her comm, firing backwards at the pursuing ghosts "where we headed with the hogs!?"

[Shade Leshyr]

With the surviving marines following in their own hog, Neo scanned the area quickly, searching for a way to bypass the road which no doubt was swarming with covenant. Then she saw it, a bit of the blasted out section of the tunnel formed a perfect ramp to the top of the tunnel, leading straight to the metropolis where their target was floating over the city. She twisted her fingers to her helmet, marking the ramp before she tore toward it at full speed. Up and over they went, coming off the ramp a good ten feet over the tunnel and landing with jarring impact.

Turning toward the metropolis, Neo floored it, not even checking if the others were following. Tal grunted as he braced himself in the driver's seat of his hog, "Hot damn woman, you drive like a maniac." he muttered, checking to make sure Dus was still in the seat next to him before racing after Neo. They made it halfway to the metropolis before things began to fall apart. With a loud whirring, the scarab that had broken their pelican rose up and brought its foot down upon the marine's hog, smashing it underfoot as it levered itself up onto the tunnel. "FLOOR IT," Neo screamed, "SPREAD OUT!"

The scarab spotted them as soon as they started moving and the plasma turret turned toward them, opening fire, but the mobile tank was slow enough that the distance between them gave the Immortal's enough time to get out of the way, but the glow issuing from the main cannon let them know just what the covenant were planning to use to destroy them...

[Buzzwolf]

A loud Han Solo-esk "YEEEeeHaw!" tore across the comms as Beta launched the hog over the ramp and tore after Neos, landing with a heavy thud, bottoming out the suspension, again, before the whole hog bounced in the air again as it's shocked rebounded before stabilizing and hauling ass after Neo's.

Torq however, didn't notice much beyond they yell as she grabbed the roll cage in an utter death grip under the vixens driving, her Rifle dangling loose, bouncing against her armor uselessly.

Another earsplitting crack came from teh back of the Hog as Alex fired the cannon off behind them. Alex also happened to be the first in that Hog to see the Scarab, a low "Oh..shit..." coming a moment before the Marines Hog erupted in a ball of fire under the foot of the Scarabs foot, Neo's Call to scatter coming a moment later.

Beta whipped the warthog hard to the side to avoid the hot beam of energy cutting a crater through the landscape, Torq's eyes going wide as the Lance headed right for them, the back end swinging wide as the smaller vixen floored it and walked it further, slicing a few inches of the MAC cannon off, and the rear corner of the hog before peeling away in the clear, Alex's MAC cannon roaring it's thunder out at the Scarab as he Searched for a weak point to take it down.

[Shade Leshyr]

Neo swore under her breath as the Scarab's main cannon lit up and gave a loud BOOM as it launched the beam of overloaded energy in their direction, "Everyone follow me!" she shouted into the radio before grabbing Shade's shoulder with one hand and calling out "HOLD ON!" to Nick, then she twisted the wheel, hard, and pushed the brakes. The back end of the warthog lifted free of the ground and the entire warthog flipped. Nick stayed in the gunner seat only by the grace of the magnetic locks on his feet. The warthog performed a complete roll as it turned, somehow managing to stay upright as it landed, the Scarab's main gun splashing the ground just behind them as Neo sat up in her seat and floored the gas.

Tal swore at the top of his lungs as he drove his massive foot against the brake and skidded the warthog to turn around, "WOMAN, WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A LONG CHAT ABOUT YOUR DRIVING IF WE LIVE THROUGH THIS!" Slamming on the gas, he tore off after Neo, wondering what the hell she had in mind by charging the giant tank. Shade sat up, having been momentarily stunned by the insane move, "Commander, I don't mean to be a pain, but could you WARN PEOPLE BEFORE YOU DO SHIT LIKE THAT!?" Neo turned her gaze on him, "Marine, did I give you permission to b*****? Now buck up, it's time to kill us a Scarab! Grab the rookie, we're leaving!" she pointed to the incoming leg of the tank.

Shade paled beneath his helmet, "Even for you Neo, this is insane..." Nevertheless, Shade hooked his hand around the canopy of the warthog and levered himself up, walking across the roll cage to the gunner seat. Removing the locks from Nick's feet, Shade wrapped his arm around the Immortal's waist, "What ever you do, don't stop climbing!"

The leg approached... and Neo's HUD light flashed green before she rapidly pulled her legs up onto the seat and jumped, Shade following with his arm around Nick. Their hog rushed forward to be crushed by the titanic foot as it came down, crumpling the warthog into scrap metal. Rifter and Neo's whip flashed out, Rifter burying into the armored plating while the whip snapped around the Scarab's knee, bringing the two Immortal's close enough to engage their boots' magnetic places, Shade hooking Nick around to do the same before withdrawing Rifter and scaling the leg after Neo...

Grunts looked over the edge of the Scarab's main body in a panic, taking shots at the three, each shot going wide with the grunts' fearful shaking...

[Takeru]

Nick opened his mouth to ask 'Why? and to what?!', but Neo flipped the hog before he even got the first syllable out. He clutched the gun for dear life, suppressing the urge to scream and call Neo a few choice names. He grunted as the hog landed upright, and said "I'll give you one thing Neo. You are a good driver. An insane driver, but your good at it." He then tilted his head when Neo said 'grab the rookie, we're leaving, wondering what she meant, or at least he did until Shade started to pick him up. He didn't protest, at least out loud, but did say under his breath "My god you are strong..." as he marveled at Shade picking up not only his two hundred pound form, but also his at least five hundred pound armor as well. "Don't stop climbing? Climbing... Oh, that." He said, turning his gaze to the scarab they were rapidly approaching. "Is she always this insane?" Nick asked moments before the hog rammed into the leg of the scarab. He engaged his mag-locks before nodding to Shade, and deciding to ask about the whip and sword, which seemed to come from nowhere, at a later time. He began to climb, ducking as he heard plasma shots.

Nick began to climb faster, angered by not only the grunts who shot at him, but the fact that he had apparently been dropped into the most insane squad ever, with a rifle that was just as likely to kill him as the enemy was, and a commander that made bat-shit crazy seem calm. He growled softly as his speed increased further, fueled by his own anger. He reached the deck of the scarab quickly and dashed toward a grunt that had been firing at him, completely ignoring the plasma shots that caused his shield to flicker. He reached the grunt before it had the time to turn around, and he picked it up by it's neck, tossing it over the side, before landing a kick in the gut of the one next to it, sending it tumbling over the far side. His HUD flashed warnings that went unheeded as he grave a primal howl while drawing his rifle, enjoying himself a little too much as he fired a round through an emerging elite's skull.

[wolf_skinchanger]

Disengaging his cloak, Nightshade appeared from out of the sky, locking his mines onto those joints and hinges of the scarab that appeared weakest to his mechanic's eyes, or as close as he could manage as he swooped past each point. As he passed by Shade, Neo and Nick, he opened a com channel to Neo. "I'm not certain, but you three might wanna get down from there."

Once all of the mines were placed, Nightshade swooped away. Pulling loose his remote and pressing the button, he watched as the giant walking tank's knees were all blasted from either side. He hadn't expected to use his whole collection on a single target, but something this large certainly warranted it, and he took special pride in the decision to place his last two mines on the mounting joint of the main turret.

[Shade Leshyr]

Neo and Shade both followed Nick up and over the siding of the Scarab's main body, watching grunts scatter only to be rounded up by Elites charging up from somewhere in the belly of the battle tank and forced to fight. Needler rounds bounced off of the Immortals' shields as the grunts focused, fear of death and their elite masters giving them the accuracy they had been lacking moments ago. Three-shot bursts fell upon the grunts as Neo and Shade joined Nick in gunning down their adversaries even as more elites and a squadron of jackals rushed out, taking up formation.

A trio of jackals fell before the phalanx was completed, forming a solid wall of unyielding shields. At a word from an elite standing behind the phalanx, the group moved forward as one, taking pot-shots around their shields, driving the Immortals back, intending to drive them off the Scarab. Just as the three were nearly stepping off, a number of resounding explosions rang out and the Scarab tilted dangerously to the opposite side. The attack plan of the Covenant soldiers rapidly turned against them as the tank fell, sending them skidding off to fall to their deaths while Neo, Shade, and Nick found a timely handhold on the Scarab's edge.

More explosions sounded as Nightshade's mines around the main gun struck something vital and the Scarab gave out a loud whine as the front exploded, sending bits of debris flying over the top of Beta's warthog and the legs of the tank went limp, bringing it down fully to where the trio of Immortals clinging to it could slide down safely to the road and crawl triumphantly from the wreckage to see the gravity lift of their target disengage. A pelican dove in low behind the assembled Immortals and Sgt. Johnson's voice rang out over an open channel "THAT'S RIGHT YOU MOTHERS! RUN!"

"Not if we can help it Sargent. Extract the Immortals and return to In Amber Clad." Without a word, Neo threw several hand gestures, signalling the Immortals to mount up into the pelican. She stopped Nick as he started to board, "Great work kid, we'll make an Immortal out of you yet." Helping him in, she went to Nightshade next and silently patted his arm respectfully. As soon as all the Immortals were on board, the pelican lifted off and accelerated toward the Prowler-class vessel above them. Tal's horrified snort drew their attention to the super carrier, who was initiating a slipspace jump above the city!

They only saw a moment of it before the In Amber Clad's hanger filled their vision, but as the pelican docked, the ship accelerated... directly toward the super carrier! Neo swore at the top of her lungs as white light enveloped the ship seconds before the hanger doors sealed shut. Silence filled the small space in the pelican until Shade cleared his throat "Well.... now we know there is a crazier driver than you Neo."