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2559
Location Unknown
Time/Date Unknown
Ryan Kendal stirred to a clouded reality of awareness. His eyes flickered back and forth until the blur started to clear.
He lay in a crumpled heap at the feet of a large black clad warrior.
"What was that for?" Kendal asked angrily.
The Elite declined his head slightly to look down upon him. "It was necessary to our mission's success,"
The Elite refused to further explain his reasons for striking his compatriot.
"Fine Jarred…where are we?"
"Observe your surroundings, Sergeant." The Elite replied, Jarred had been an abbreviation for the Elite's true name, 'Jerridee.
"My rank doesn't have any meaning anymore….I know we're in the Pelican but where are we headed?"
"Two of my kin and several of yours are awaiting us in orbit above the planet…on one of your defense platforms I believe."
"Are you mad? Those platforms are swarming with UNSC troops! We'll be killed."
"It is to my knowledge that the platform is badly damaged, and your people have secured a safe zone for us to land." The Sangheili stated.
Ryan grunted disapprovingly and growled a stream of curses directed towards the large bump that now resided on the back of his head.
The time between their destination passed quickly, and the two soldiers began to ready their weapons for the likely occurrence of resistance. Ryan slipped a fresh magazine into his M3 rifle and buckled his pistol around his waist.
'Jerridee declined the offer of a weapon and settled with two plasma pistols and several grenades.
"You ready?" Kendal asked.
"I am prepared for what is ahead." The Sangheili replied calmly, placing one pistol on each of his hips, that stuck there by a device that Ryan could not detect.
The MAC platform appeared shortly after, a beaten hulk drifting calmly, though set alit with hundreds of small fires within its interior.
The Pelican soared unnoticed towards a small opening concealed by the overhanging gun ports of the stations. Ryan could depict small figures of Marines and Covenant locked in combat before dropping into the launch bay.
The Pelican came to rest in the deceptively large bay, where a group of rag tag soldiers were awaiting them.
Kendal stepped off the ramp in the rear of the Pelican to observe his comrades and his surroundings. The walls were covered in ruptured conduit and fallen catwalks, smeared with blood, the floors were blanketed with cargo containers, depleted weaponry, and countless corpses. The Marines with outfitted with old, torn fatigues and dented, UNSC issue, ballistic armor, the right shoulder plate of each man was marked with red paint, to show legion affiliation. Some wore helmets, others only caps, or none at all.
Two Elites stood near the door behind the Marines, clad in armor just as beaten as the humans'. Jerridee strode anxiously forward to converse with his kin, while one of the rogue humans stepped forward and addressed Kendal.
"It's good to see you again Sarge." The lead Marine stated.
"Even better to see you Hayes, I'm glad you boys found your way out."
Corporal Darren Hayes flashed his perfect white teeth at his appreciation. The soldier's ebony skin glistened with a thin film of sweat that had begun to generate on all of the humans in the room.
"I do not mean to interrupt your reunion with your kin, though I believe it is time for us to leave." One of the Elites stated sternly.
"He's right, the Seattle is waiting for us just outside the Covenant's kill zone," Hayes inserted. The two factions hsatily piled into the dropship and exited the MAC platform without any problems.
The Seattle was a UNSC Cruiser that belonged to the feeble navy of the Resistance. The port and starboard sides of the ship were dotted with deck guns, which had proved most effective is close combat with larger ships.
Though UNSC troopers under Battings' command rarely confronted Resistance forces, and let them slip by, the Covenant posed a major threat…though unfortunately confrontations with human soldiers occurred frequently enough.
The Pelican full of the diverse squad of combatants soared forward and banked into a small launch bay on the frigate's belly.
The crew chief in the launch bay was exuberant at the sight of another captured Pelican for the fleet, and an Elite sentry showed them to the weapons deck where they were to meet with the Resistance's tactical officers for redeployment.
Kendal's eyes studied each one of the battle-hardened crew members that worked about the weapon's deck. A final blast door slid away with a metallic creak to reveal a line of four massive deck cannons whose barrels pointed out into the vacuum through a liquid shield that allowed the gun to aim freely, but held atmosphere in.
The magazine of each gun curved up away from the cannon and towards the ceiling, much like a slide in appearance and design. The massive rounds would fall into place directly after its predecessor had fired, cutting down the precious time it would take to manually load.
A ragged group of Marines manned the cannons, their shoulder plates splashed with green paint, as was the designation for a gun crew. Most wore ODST helmets, which would allow them oxygen if an enemy shell punched through the shallow armor in this section.
Two Lieutenants stood conversing several meters behind the third deck cannon, "Those are who you wish to speak with…is that all?" The Sangheili that had guided them asked.
"Yes, thank you." Ryan replied. Jarred and Hayes with their squads had separated to interact with their own kind leaving Kendal to the official business. He sighed deeply and strode forward.
Both Lieutenants wore ragged grey cloaks draped from one shoulder to their waist on the opposite side over their armor. This and the golden stripe down the center of their shoulder plate signified command. Officers within the Resistance had to be carefully chosen, balancing each rank with both Human and Sangheili counterparts.
"Sirs," Ryan addressed both the human and the Elite, "Ryan Kendal reporting for a position of duty."
The Elite ran his fingers over his lower mandibles in the human fashion and hummed quietly. "Yes we have had reports of you Kendal; it seems you had best report directly to Tactical Command within the Bridge."
The human Lieutenant nodded as well and directed him towards a pair of burly looking Marines that would show him the rest of the way. "I'm Lieutenant John Dominic by the way, I can't tell you much, only that I'll be seeing you around, good luck."
The bridge wasn't far from the weapon decks, though the corridors were full of people.
With how many blasted people are on this ship, it's a wonder how we can't already have enough strength to overthrow Battings' now.
The Bridge was heavily guarded by four black armored Elites standing shoulder to shoulder in the first entry way. They let him pass after a moment of careful scrutiny and then allowed him to walked only three paces before being confronted by a pair of fully armored ODSTs with a stripe orange adorning their right shoulder. Both held a powerful M3 rifle in their tense arms.
"Ryan Kendal?" One asked, his American accent slightly altered by the electronic voice piece inside the helmet.
"Yes, sent here by Field Lieutenant Tyr Deramee."
"Alright, the top dog is waiting for you inside," The other said, his voice altered as well.
The soldiers stepped aside and Kendal proceeded.
The Bridge was twice the size of the other ships Kendal had served on; this one had two stations for every category, along with a small desk where its officer sat.
Kendal observed the various stations, awed by the shear size of the bridge; it took up the better part of this deck. Ryan's eyes rested on medium sized white lettering that read: TAC .
The Tactical Center was submerged into the 'pit' as the crew knew it. It was laden with four stations, two on each wall, while the sides were open to the rest of the floor. A fully armored officer strode back and forth in the center of the pit, wearing a command cloak over his iridescent green armor, though the golden stripe on his shoulder had been worn off.
The Spartan swiveled around when Ryan caught in his peripheral vision. "Sergeant Kendal, it's good to see you again," Ryan stuck out his hand and the Spartan shook it. The squeeze pressed his knuckles together painfully, though Ryan's face betrayed nothing.
"It's good to see you as well Chief Petty Officer."
Fred 104 grinned slightly and turned to the list of readouts on his PDA. "Master Chief Spartan 117 went planet-side three days ago with two platoons, pushing back Covenant forces marching on Rome. He's wrapping things up there, but I need you to take a squad down and neutralize a cluster of gun emplacements that protect Victoria."
This caught Kendal off guard seeing that Victoria was a tactical command point of the UNSC and one of William Battings' personal retreats.
"You mean to strike at Battings now? When he is at full strength?" Ryan asked incredulously.
Fred dropped his gaze and bit his lower lip. "That campaign will hopefully not fall on your men's shoulders…we need a small team to soften the defenses as a distraction for a covert squad to go in and capture or kill Battings."
"Right, I'll need a team, who can I take?" Kendal asked.
Fred allowed himself a small smile and handed the Marine the PDA.
Mission Roster:
1ST SQUAD
Field Lieutenant: TYR DERAMEE
CPL. Hayes, Darren
CPL. Kane, Daniel
PFC. Mahler, Richard
SGT. Kimmel, Michael
2ND SQUAD
Field Lieutenant: JONATHON DOMINIC
PFC. Allen, Matthew
CPL. Layton, Jeremy
SSG. Laiho, Alec
SGT. Harris, Anthony
"Alright then, I better get moving…"
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