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They arrived at the Reach system...

Debris and such were still floating around the planet. Havok piloted the ship carefully through the area, being sure not to hit anything. A small "puddle" of blood passed by the window. As the ship turned, their focus turned towards the planet itself. It was black...and a bit thinner than before. The surface looked like molten rock from their view, and they knew that the chance of survivors was just about impossible.

"Havok, how close can we get to the planet?"
Havok analyzed some things. "The actual surface is way beyond boiling hot, but we can relatively close...I'd say about 100 meters, no closer."
Castor thought for a second. "Bring us in as close as possible. As soon as we start taking damage, pull us out."
Havok's hologram nodded. "May I ask why?"
"Come on, Havok, you have to know. Reach's facilities go FAR underneath the surface. There might be survivors down there."
Havok smiled. "Of course. I just wanted to see if you knew what you were doing...or if you were just guessing."

Castor gave out a short laugh. The ship came closer to the surface. At about 50 meters the ship put out an alarm, and Havok pulled up until they were out of danger...about 80 meters, and the ship's shields were still taking a beating. Each Shadow went in scanning stations (built on the bottom of the ship: small telescopes with different views to allow searching of wreckage and such). They switched to thermal mode, hoping to find a cool spot on the surface where there might be a possible entry point to the lower facilities. All of their sensors were very right because of all of the heat. They scanned for several minutes...nothing.

The ship pulled out and they all came back to the cockpit.
"What now?" Archer said as he sighed.
Castor thought. "I'm not sure. We just wasted our time coming here...where's the nearest planet?"
Havok analyzed. "Believe it or not, it is actually Porrodso. The one we were going to. Turns out its only about five days away if you went in a normal fighter at its top speeds."
"OK then. Head there. How fast can we make it?"
Havok analyzed again. "Using a bit of slip stream technique and such, I can get us there in an hour."

An hour later, they arrived and moved towards the planet. There were five full sized Covenant battleships scattered around the planet, and transports could be seen moving to and from the planet.
Havok was the first to speak. "Looks like there's quite a battle going on down there. Most of the survivors from Reach seem to have come here. And that adds on to the population already stationed here."
Castor thought for a second. "What time is it on this side of the planet?"
Havok replied. "It is about the equivalent to 1:00 AM on Earth."
Castor paused. "Bring us down in an area where we won't be seen. We need to help them and get people out of here."
"You got it."

__________________________________
It was a desert planet. The towns had been bombed a lot, and there was debris and wreckage everywhere. Marines were bunkered up in buildings and such, trying to be in a defensive stance for the night. These Marines had held out for about three weeks now, resisting the Covenant's constant effort to overrun them. They had wondered why they hadn't just glassed the planet and gotten it over with. Either way, they were holding out. Luckily for these Marines, the colony Porrodso was a major base for the Army as Reach was a major base for the Navy and Marines. The Army was also fighting nonstop, trying to reach the Marines stranded in the large abandoned city. All of the Marine escape ships had landed right in the middle of it, and the Covenant have been attacking that area as their main attack.

A team of Army Green Berets made their way through the shadows of the night, heading in the direction of the stranded Marines. Major Estes was leading this team of 20, with the objective of bringing this unit of Marines out. The streets in the area were dark and quiet. His team came to a corner and knelt down. He spoke through his headset. "This is Estes to Bellani. You read me?"
The Marine sergeant's voice came back. "This is Bellani. What's up?"
"We are on your position. We are at the Southwest corner. Which corner are you positioned on?"
The sergeant recalled where they were at. "Estes, we are on the opposite corner. The Northeast corner."
Estes sighed in frustration. It would be hard to cross the street in this situation, especially since he didn't even see any Covenant anywhere. "Bellani, we're coming to you. Hold your fire in our direction."
"Roger that, Estes."

The Green Berets moved as a team across the intersection, each kneeling behind debris and such to cover their team. As they were about half way across the intersection, plasma fire started to rain down on them from the roof tops. They all took cover behind any wreckage or debris they can find, returning fire when in position.
Estes dove and got behind a large piece of a wall that had been blown off a building and stuck in the ground. He got up on his knee and started to shoot in the different directions the plasma was coming from. He noticed the Marines inside the building letting out fire at the roof tops also. Estes continued firing at any shadow on top he could see. He heard a scream near him, and looked behind him to see one of his soldiers with a large plasma burn in his leg. Estes ran over to him and dragged him behind cover. He sat him up against the wall, gave him a gun, and ordered him to continue fighting from that position. He peeked out of his cover to start shooting again, and pulled back to barely dodge and plasma burst. He looked around...this ambush could end the night on a bad note.

_______________________

They silently climbed atop the roof, keeping low. They moved in the shadows towards the corner of the building where stationary guns were placed and Elites were positioned. They pulled out bits of wire, and they put silencers on their pistols. The cocky Elites had their shields turned down, relaxing a bit. Unexpectedly, each of them put a silenced bullet into the back of the Elite's head and dragged the bodies away. They quickly shot down the gunners in the stationary guns. They all got in the stationary guns and started firing at the other rooftops, eliminating most of their forces there. They noticed that more Covenant had already started to attack from all four directions on the street, crashing on the intersection. The Shadows finished cleaning up on the rest of the roof top threats, and headed back down for more.

They snuck around to the main attack from the East. The six Shadows and Lucky moved down the street behind the Covenant, about to make an unexpected attack from behind. Castor, Cameron, and Justin were on the right side and Archer, Eddie, Danny, and Lucky were on the left. They slowly and silently crept forward, staying on the sides of the street in the shadows. A Wraith tank was in the back of the attack, firing on the Green Berets in the intersection. Archer and Castor climbed up on it from both sides, opened the hatch, and putting a bullet into the driver. They threw the dead body to the ground, and Cameron ran forward and jumped in. He aimed at the large group of Covenant down the street on the other side of the intersection and fired. The blast came down and blew away most of the Covenant troops on that side.

A gold Elite looked back at them from their side and started yelling, but then he saw Castor and Archer on the sides of the Wraith. He gasped, and he started to yell...but he only got one word out as him and all the forces on that part of the intersection were blown away by the tank. Cameron jumped out and dropped a grenade inside. The two squads they made scattered from the tank, and it went up in flames. Castor, Cameron, and Justin ran forward to join the battle on the ground. The other four split into pairs and got to the roofs of two different buildings to provide additional help from above.

Castor ran into the intersection and found the man who seemed to be in charge.
"You in charge here soldier?"
Estes looked up from a wounded man. "Yes sir! Major Joshua Estes, sir!"
Castor saw and heard a plasma round miss him, and he ducked behind Estes's cover. "I'm Castor, nice to meet you."
Estes looked confused. "What's your rank?"
Castor thought for a moment. "I don't have one, but I'm more important than you. Listen, get a few of your men and get those Marines out of that corner. Start moving them down this street to the East."
Estes looked at his fatigues in search of some type of identification, then he looked up. "Yes sir! You two, come with me!"

Estes took off to the northeast corner to get the Marines, and Castor decided he was just going to help these guys get back to their HQ, then they would leave to do their own thing. He pulled out of cover and shot down a few Grunts and Jackals, then he went back behind cover to reload. He looked around and noticed that it didn't seem that dark anymore. All the shooting lit up the intersection and he could see around it as if it were day. He stood up and looked at all the directions...there was no one coming from the East, normal attacks from the North and South, and a minimal attack from the West. He got two Green Berets and headed towards the North to combat that attack. They ran over the wrecked streets in that direction, and a few Elites jumped over some debris and charged them. He shot at one Elite and brought it down, but the other two Elites shot the Marines. They came close enough, and they both punched Castor in the face. He fell to the ground and saw the Elite pull a plasma sword and raise it. Castor held his breath, until he saw a man with stab both Elites with daggers. The man then kicks both of them to the ground. Castor stands up and looks at him.

Castor almost gasped. "No way."
The man looked at Castor. "What the hell are you doing here?"
It was Josh.
Josh smiled at him. "I should ask you the same thing...but I told you I'd see you later."
Castor also smiled, but he was still confused. "How the hell did you..." He was interrupted as several plasma rounds zoomed by them and hit the ground around them.
"We'll catch up later!"
The two dove behind a pile of debris. Josh stood up and shot some rounds at a charging group of Grunts and ducked back behind the cover.
Castor looked at him. "So where's Willie?"
Josh reloaded his clip. "Willie is still in the Army Hospital at their base."
Castor thought for a moment. "Were you here stranded with these Marines? Or did you come with the Green Berets?"
Josh shot at a Jackal that ran by. "I dropped off Willie at the Army Hospital, grabbed as much ammo as I could, and came out into the city to see what I can do. I've been going back and forth over the past few weeks...checking up on Willie and helping out in the city. I just heard gunfire in this direction and saw the flashes. I actually just got here. Looks like you took care of a lot with that tank."
Castor shot at a few Grunts on the other side of the intersection with his pistol. "Lucky guess. But like you said, let's finish this convo later."
Josh smiled. "Right on."

They stood up and moved more to the North to help keep back that attack. The were bunkered down behind small trenches made of debris and ditches, and Estes ran over to him. He dove behind their cover and looked up at Castor.
"Sir, the Marines are ready to go. We just need a way to get the wounded out of here."
Castor looked around and thought for a moment. He told Josh to cover them, and he and Estes ran across the intersection to the Southeast corner. There was a classic Hum-V on its side, and with the help of Estes he pushed it back to the upright position. He ran to the driver's seat and took a look inside. He hotwired it, and the engine roared to life.
Castor motioned at Estes. "Get this Hum-V on the East side of this intersection where we are heading out. Load all the wounded you can into the backseats and the back storage area. It has plenty of gas so you won't have to worry about it."
Estes jumped in the driver's seat. "Sir, yes sir!"

The Hum-V moved through the intersection, snaking its way through the obstacles and such. Castor and the other three Shadows on the ground moved with it, giving Estes cover to take it across. After a few minutes the Hum-V rolled to a stop on the East side of the intersection. Estes got out and started to help the Marines move the wounded into the back.

The four Shadows regrouped in the center of the intersection: Cameron, Justin, Josh, and Castor.
Justin spoke first. "Castor, there were a few more Hum-Vs and Warthogs along the East and South directions on these streets. If we can get some over on the East, we can all drive out of here."
Castor nodded. "I know, Justin. You read my mind. Cameron, you and Justin get some of the Green Berets and work on that. Have them give you cover while you two drive them to the East of the intersection. When they are all over there, let us know and we'll regroup everybody back over there. Meanwhile Josh, you and I need to start moving any wounded in the intersection to the Northeast corner where the Marines are the strongest. They have most of the wounded there, but we need to find the rest and bring them there."
All three of them nodded, and they set out on their tasks. Cameron almost immediately jumped into the nearest Warthog while Justin got Green Beret back-up. Josh and Castor stayed low, searching for hurt men that may be partly buried under debris or dirt.

Half an hour later

Cameron parked and jumped out of the Hum-V. They had five Hum-Vs and four Warthogs on the East. Cameron put his headset on. "Castor, our getaway is set. How are you guys coming?"
Castor dragged a Green Beret through the intersection, heading towards Castor's position. "I'm coming your way with the last one. We should be out of here within a few minutes."
The Marines were loading the wounded and covering the loaders, while the Shadows and Green Berets were covering the Marines and Vehicles. Castor activated his headset again. "Archer, you guys might want to come down now. We are getting ready to head out, and we'd hate to leave you behind."
Archer took a shot with his sniper rifle from the roof above, dropping a Hunter to the ground. He reloaded his gun. "Roger that, Castor. We're on our way."
Archer and Lucky grabbed a rope the Covenant left on the roof. They tied it to a large pole and threw it over the edge. They slid down the rope and hit the ground about 10 meters away from the location of the vehicles. They ran over, as Eddie and Danny came from the other building also.
Castor ran to the front of the vehicles. "Are you boys ready to go?"
Bellani looked away from talking with Estes. "Yes, we're ready."
Castor nodded. "Tell your drivers to go. We'll jump on as you're leaving." He turned and started to walk back to the rear of the vehicles, back towards the intersection. "Green Berets! Shadows! We're moving out! Jump onto the vehicles as they pass!"

The Green Berets started to move East along the street, getting ahead of the "convoy" of vehicles for easy access. The Shadows stayed back near the intersection, setting C12 along that part. They planned to blow it to blockade the Covenant from following them for a period of time. After setting the charges for 30 seconds, the Shadows ran to catch up to the convoy. The vehicles had already caught speed, and they were on their way. The Shadows stopped running after them, knowing they couldn't catch up unless they'd give away their enhancements and most likely cause suspicion to arouse about who they are.

They took cover to the sides of the street as the C12 went off a few blocks away. They had a minute to rest before the Covenant jumped all over them.
Josh looked at Lucky. "Who's this guy?"
Castor smiled. "Thats Major Neo Geo of the Marine Corps. But call him Lucky."
Josh laughed. "A Marine heh? Hey Lucky, I'm Josh."
Lucky nodded. "So I'm told."
Castor interrupted the convo. "Anyway, any ideas on getting out of here?"
Cameron looked around. "Only the obvious: We run out on foot. Back to our ship."
Josh looked at Cameron. "What about Willie?"
"We can fly back to the hospital and wait until he's better. While we wait, we fight here."
Castor nodded. "I agree. Let's head out before these Covenant decide to..." Again, he was interrupted by plasma rounds erupting from the Shadows behind them. They took cover and started running through the streets, stopping to cover each other as they went. They never stopped moving towards their objective, and after a few miles of running they began to get worn down. They scattered around a corner of a street, taking the time to rest and fight at the same time behind cover. As if he could read their minds, their ship flew in from above, piloted by Havok. All the guns on it were shooting down all of the Covenant on the street. A rope ladder was dropped from the ship, and one by one the Shadows ran over and climbed it. When the last one got in, the hatch closed and the ship took off.

Apparently, Josh got a lucky break on Reach. When he was scrambling away with Willie, a plasma grenade was thrown at them. The Grunt was shot as he threw it, and it landed on another Grunt. The Grunt charged them with the attached grenade, but was shot before he could get close enough. Either way, the grenade was close enough to send both Josh and Willie sailing through the nearest door...and in the process they screamed, which explained the explosion and screaming Castor heard.

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