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John propped up the rocketpod near center of the vicinity. It was deep behind borders in a safe location. He took cover behind the heavy weapon only after covering the installment with brush. He would have had the pelican all ready out of the area by now, but he didn't want to risk a covenant scout group finding their postion. John would just have to be patient and begin the gathering once the threat level was low.
One Brute, 2 Jackles and 3 grunts, this was the most likely makeup of a squad minutes away, John predicted.
"Nail the big ones first, then the little guys will follow," he spoke quietly to the other soldiers. It was more of advice than an order, he knew soldiers didn't like people telling them how to kill, nobody did.

((John, a nuke just went off. I think you'd see it. And Lao, Keyes JUST got back to Earth, she couldn't have given you the orders before she arrived in system. The one who gave you the orders would have to be Fleet Admiral Terrance Hood.))

The Spartan stayed with the civilians, as did Captain Price and his men, Gunnery Sergeant Reynolds however stepped forward. He was eager to help however he could. However he also have a few questions, primarily why did they have to ask about entry to the Crow's Nest? They were humans weren't they? And there were civilians no less! However Captain Price spoke up before he could.

"LeDuc, this is a UNSC base on Earth. No one is worried about humans killing each other at the moment. The Covenant are far too close to exterminating our kind forever. IF they have guards, at the least they'll be upset to see that we have so many civilians. At least we have a Spartan for the moment. I know some of us are tired, but it makes little sense to stay in these damn tunnels any longer than we absolutely have to. The sooner we get into Crow's Nest, the sooner we can get these people to Voi and to medical facilities."

--Above--

Sergeant Major Avery Junior Johnson, arguably the toughest Marine in the Corps stood in the command center of Crow's Nest. Things were still being set up, monitors placed on the walls, power cables being connected, etc. It was an old facility, but usable. The only thing he didn't like was that there were so few ways out. If something happened and they lost air transit, the only way out would be through the tunnels beneath the mountain. A number of service routes linked the mountain base to the surrounding roadways, the closest however was the Tsavo Highway, which led to Voi. He reached into one of his web gear pockets and produced a Sweet Williams Cigar, he set the stogie in his mouth and chewed on the end. He wasn't going to light it just yet. He and Stacker were the only two to survive the first Halo incident aside from the Master Chief, now they had also survived the second Halo incident. He just hoped there wouldn't be a third.

Stacker was in the lower levels touring the barracks. He was unsure of what exactly had happened between the time the In Amber Clad left with Regret's Carrier and the time they came back, but Earth had taken one hell of a beating. New Mombasa was almost gone, and the Covenant had thousands of ground forces landed already, even with the nuke. The Chief was still out there somewhere, and for all he knew, the Spartan had died on Delta Halo. After the assassination of Regret, the man simply disappeared. Either the Covenant had killed him or something else had. There were other Spartans on the planet of course, but the Master Chief was the only one who really knew what was out there.

--Below--

Spartan 103 paused, something was nagging the back of his mind, but he couldn't tell what it was. He shrugged it off and followed the two officers.

Shellshock suddenly rung throughout the small incampment. John forcefuly leaned over in shock. He tilted his head upward to find the source. He hadn't noticed but a large yellow beam had been growing exponentialy in brightness. It was clear that this wasn't just a yellow beam of light. Everyone knew what a nuke looked like, and this was it. This is the time when people really appreciated John and his work. Without air support many men would have died in that explosion.
John rose to his feet, the flash also served as a great distraction. He was to use this time to find more materials.

"Kane didn't want to chance a remote detonation."
He said no more, after all, what was there left to say? Kane was gone and their mission had been accomplished. It was an acceptable trade off. Besides, Kane was simply an artificial intelligence designed to aid the Spartan in his most recent tasks. A few of the civilians would not understand who Kane was, but they would understand that he had something to do with the nuke. He turned and gazed down the tunnel. With his helmet amplifying what little light there was, he could see clearly. While he agreed with LeDuc about a scouting mission, Price had a point. Some of these civilians were only walking because the amount of biofoam inside of them kept them upright. They didn't have time to wait. He opened a private COM to LeDuc and voiced his opinion.

"Sir, I haven't seen anything indicating a trap. If the UNSC had placed any explosives in the tunnel, we would have already encountered them. They wouldn't risk collapsing the tunnel so close to where ever these tunnels lead. At least not at the moment."

---Above--

One of the technicians looked up from his computer and hailed Commander Keyes.
"Ma'am, we have activity in one of the lower access tunnels; It looks like route seven B. Bio-signs look human."
They had rigged sensor equipment in all of the tunnels that they hadn't collapsed, they had also removed the exterior door controls, they simply didn't have the manpower and supplies needed to guard every exit. And this had all been done before she arrived. She nodded to the Techie and turned to Johnson.
"Sergeant Major, take a squad down with medical supplies, let them in."

"Ma'am." Johnson nodded and jogged up the stairs, then down another flight of stairs, and into the bowels of the mountain. He paused at the barracks and gathered a few of the Medics who were not treating anyone and worked his way down to tunnel 7B. This part of the base was in the natural caverns. There were scaffolds and catwalks placed at various points above the ground, all of them led somewhere. From what he had been able to gather about the base's history, the mountain had once been a prehistoric volcano, which had since become extinct as its hot spot moved on and created others. The mountain was smaller then, but movement in the crust and all sorts of things made it the grand old fortress it was now. The tube of the mountain had been widened by centuries of erosion. Now there was a very large lake at the bottom, and he didn't know how far down it stretched, but the base was an engineering miracle. It was strong, and had room for multiple vehicles. Pelicans fit right in.

He stood at the door with the other men and opened it, flooding the access tunnel with light.

--Back in the Tunnel--

Spartan 103 winced as his vision lit up like a flare, but he didn't let it show. In response he returned his helmet's vision mode to normal and turned to face those who had opened the door.

Captain Price stepped forward, and shielded his eyes as they adjusted to the new light.

Johnson stood in the doorway, full of his typical bravado. He turned to the Medics and Navy Corpsmen, and nodded. They hurried down the tunnel with stretchers for those who needed them and medical supplies for everyone.

Jaimi nodded and started to fall in line, just as the doors opened, the tunnel flooding with light. She turned to look, squinting slightly at the figures that had come through. They looked to be human, and there seemed to be quite a few medics. Which was great news for the wounded. The young woman straightened up to her full height, keeping her weapon lowered and her finger off the trigger.

She looked slightly over towards Captain LeDuc. "Looks like the Cavalry's here, sir." Inside, a spring of hope spouted up inside the woman. It seemed like there might be a chance to win things after all.

As the Monet left EUCOM in a hurry, Harrison could see out one of the view ports, the destruction below. It was clear the Covenant were conducting a full scale assualt and were also attacking the major cities. London could only hold out for so long. He thought back to the contents of his brief case and his mind snapped back.
Crossing over water, Atchison could see the smouldering remains ships and cargo transports, slowly sinking under the waves. He was relieved to see the stealth equipment on-board was working, as they easily slipped by any banshees and dropships that they passed. He quickly checked his monitors and was glad to see that LeDuc's group had established contact with the force at CROWS NEST and that the civilians had made it. He was anxious to meet the Captain, but was also curious to see who the Spartan was, and who was also with CAPT LeDuc.
As Africa came into view, Harrison held his breath, for he knew that the airspace would be under covenant control. He could only hope that they would make it to the LZ without any delay. Thankfully, no Covenant ships seemed to notice the Monet, and Atchison breathed easy as their destination was minutes away.
The pilot contacted CROWS NEST and Atchison typed in the authorization codes. His screen flashed the customary acknowledge greeting, and the MAJ prepared the Longsword to land. Touching down on the deck, the LTJG quickly gathered his things and saluted both the MAJ and the corpsman. They both had no idea how vital it was to get him here, or what they had accomplished.
Jogging down the ramp, he was met by a few marines who were astonished at how the Naval Officer looked. Atchison quickly explained that he needed to get to the control room, ASAP, and was escorted the rest of the way.
As the they approached the control room's doors, the LT could see in one of the rooms, the group from New Mombasa. He told the marines to stand by, and he entered the room, quickly looking left to right. The majority were civies, batterd but still alive. Good. Along with the civilians, he made out marine survivors, who looked to be in worst shape. He noticed a female in a green tee-shirt, tending to a child, but the remainder of the group seemed a little shaken, but happy to be alive. As he turned to leave, SGTMAJ Johnson caught his eye. He was a legend in the Corp, and Atchison could see why. The Sergeant Major just looked the part.
As he approached Johnson, he finally saw who the SGT was talking to. Remembering from the profile's picture, Atchison knew he found his man. He stepped up and gave the best salute he could muster. The CAPT saluted back and Atchison quickly replied:
"Good to see you made it sir. I am LTJG Atchison. We need to talk in private, sir. Sergeant Major, you can come too."

Tyler nodded, a scout party had made it's way forward, and it was inevitable that they would find them. Simply because a pelican wasn't the easiest thing to hide. He held his fire, waiting for the perfect moment to fire a burst at the head of the brute. Suddenly, there was an explosion. A nuke, well, it was to be expected. Whatever the case, the spartan started dishing out orders again. His only response was that of a subtle nod. He couldn't compromise his position against the covenant scout patrol. The spartan took off, and tyler could only guess that it was for the pilot. The rocket lay at his side, and he took a careful look at it. If he wanted, he could take out the brute plus a few with one shot, however, what if a covenant wraith were to show up? He would not have enough shots to take it out, so he let that option go. The covenant patrol was temporarily mesmerized by the bright flash from the nuke. Tyler took this as an opening.

He clicked on his comm. to everyone that was there. "Engaging." he fired his battle rifle, aiming for the brute's head. It was caught off guard, but's helmet caught the rounds, and went flying off. Buying it enough time to move to cover. The grunts armed a few plasma grenades while the jackals formed up, using their shields for cover. Tyler shifted, and fired at the closest grunt. It fell to a couple of bursts, and along with it, the armed plasma grenade. The jackals were quick enough, but the grunts were not. The explosion caught them off guard as the grunts went flying. The grenades they had flying in all directions. One of them landing right beside Tyler. "s**t!" Tyler got up, and dived to his right. Rolling to gain extra distance. The grenade exploded, and he felt the heat and static wash over his armor. It could be worse, he couldv'e been stuck.

The brute came out of his cover from behind a tree, and fired his spiker at Tyler. Tyler fell to the groud, and returned fire. The brute went back behind cover, but the jackals continued to pour fire in the form of plasma at his now open position. He couldn't move, but he couldn't stay either. He was pinned, and he was not that good of a shot to nail the little specks of openings that the jackals left open. He continued to fire, but round after round pinged off their shields. "A little help would be nice!"

LeDuc steeled himself for a second. ONI had sent someone from HQ to see him personally. The fact that Johnson was also involved meant that it most probably had to do with humanity's situation in this fight:
Losing.

Nevertheless, LeDuc nodded and took off his helmet so that he could communicate in a more civilized fashion with the LTJG. Briefly annoyed by the feeling of stubble scraping against the bottom of his helmet chin, he made a mental note to shave it as soon as he got some time to himself. As he opened his mouth to give an answer, however, he spotted the small speckles of blood marring the LTJG's uniform. This man had seen action, in London. Thus LeDuc's fears for the UNSC's situation were confirmed... He tried to inflect as much gratitude and comprehension into his voice as possible.
"Good to see you too, Lieutenant. I'm sure we can make arrangements for some immediate privacy. After all, that warning out there is probably the reason for which some of us are still here."
LeDuc then waved at Jaimi, motioning her forwards.
"Sergeant, I'd like to have your report in two hours. In the meantime, make sure to help out with the wounded as much as possible. Tell the others to do the same. I'll be back after speaking with the Lieutenant and a debriefing with whoever is in charge right now."
He then turned in the direction of the stairwells leading up to the nest.
"Now, let's find ourselves a meeting room."