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((My posting will be severely cut back for the next few weeks. Lame-a** Internet and lack of time are responsible. I never know when I'll be able to connect. I'll post as much as I can though.))

Johnson saluted the LTJG but shook his head at the offer of being in the meeting. He turned toward Captain LeDuc and fumbled with a cigar before speaking.

"Sir, Commander Keyes is waiting for us in the Ops center."

He rubbed his chin and chewed on the cigar before turning to the LTJG and speaking once again.

"She'll want to see you too sir."

He turned back toward the men and began to help administer medical aid where ever he could. Spartan 103 pulled him aside and gazed intently into his face. Johnson was unfazed, which was impressive considering the fact that a reflective golden visor was the only thing staring back at him. Johnson had worked with Spartans before, hell, he was probably the only human who could call Spartan 117 a friend and mean it. Johnson knew the Chief quite well, and in turn recognized most of the behaviors associated with Spartans.

"Where is 117? Is he alive?"

The Spartan's voice was like they all were. Calculated and precise. Everything they said was meaningful, well, most of the time.

Johnson looked at the armor-clad super soldier and shrugged.

"I'd bet six months pay he is. If he isn't. We don't stand much of a chance."

Taylor knew that Johnson wasn't putting the other Spartan-IIs down; Spartan 117 had been through things on the Halo ring that made him Earth's best hope. 103 nodded and turned toward the stairwell. There stood the last thing he ever expected to see. The Arbiter. Judging from the relaxed way in which SgtMaj. Johnson behaved, the Elite warrior was not a threat. Although many civilians gasped when they saw him. Even Taylor had to admit, Elites were imposing creatures. The Elite stood about eight feet tall and was all muscle, his armor was ornate and battle scarred, but the most inspiring thing about him was the way he carried himself. Had Taylor known of the Arbiter's full story, he would have been even more amazed how proudly the Elite stood. It was then that he noticed that the alien was holding a fusion coil rigged with grenades. He was no doubt here to close the tunnel for good.

"Sergeant, your presence is requested in the Operations Center. I would advise you to move all the civilians to the medical ward."

103 and Johnson nodded and parted. Johnson headed toward the two officers and 103 helped with the civilians.

LeDuc was slightly annoyed. The reason he had never risen past his rank, though he probably had the skill for it, was particularly due to his dislike for intra-organizational politics. Being yanked from one place to the other by higher-ranking officers was one necessary evil that he had gotten used to over the years, but nevertheless irked him whenever it popped up. After all, the LTJG had probably just saved all their lives, though Commander Keyes had done nothing less admirable by sending help. Giving Atchison a thumbs up, he mouthed the words "Two minutes." and began the walk to the command center. He kept on looking straight, ignoring the Arbiter's strange and almost definitely unwanted presence he walked past the Elite and farther into Crow's Nest.
Without turning around, he cleared his throat and let out a breath he didn't know he had been keeping, and whispered.
"Let's see what the Commander has in store for now, shall we?"

Following Johnson and LeDuc, Atchison quietly noted his surroundings and traced his steps from the hangar bay in his head. After the attack in London, he wasn't going to take any other chances of getting lost in an attack. Walking through a low overhang, Harrison noticed scratched in the bulkhead "RAT NEST - Home Sweet Home". He smiled to himself; he was glad to see that these marines could adapt to any situation and still find ways to keep morale. He found himself at times considering the idea of all hope lost. Seeing this helped him believe that they had a chance.
He had hoped to talk to LeDuc in private. He had the intel ONI wanted him to pass down, and a meeting with CDR Keyes would help. However, he also had something that Harrison felt the CAPT should know, and only the CAPT. Oh well, nothing he could do about it now. He would simly have to standby and wait, as was the Navy's oldest custom. Not here, not now, but later.
As the three approached the Ops Center, Atchison checked his briefcase and took a quick look inside, to insure the contents were still intact, they had been through alot. Satisfied, he tried the best he could to discretly fix his uniform. After fixing his eye patch, he was satisfied and the group entered the room. He couldn't help put be impressed with the modest setup; alot had been done in the short amount of time that they had.
Saluting the CDR, he followed the Seargent Major to the back corner, where a table and chairs were set up. Taking one in the middle, Atchison placed the case on the table and waited patiently for the others take their seats. He was curious to see what intel they had collected from CROWS NEST and how it would compare with the imagery ONI had provided him. But he was more anxious to inform the CDR, and especially the CAPT, the information about Sierra 117, and the proposed SAR mission.

Miranda nodded to the three newcomers and realised that the LTJG was an ONI spook. She would speak with him later. Of course, she probably knew everything he was going to tell her, after all, Lord Hood had told her damn near everything, and ONI wouldn't tell her something HE wasn't authorized to know. Things just didn't work that way. She glanced at Johnson who was searching for his lighter. It was almost comical, the man must have a cigar case the size of a tank hidden somewhere, based on the sheer number of cigars he had. She kept her amusement to herself though, now was neither the place nor the time. Instead she turned to the Captain and the LTJG. She looked directly at the Navy man and smiled.
"Sierra 117 is in orbit. You," she motioned to the spook, "probably know this already. Lord Hood wants me to assemble a Search-and-Rescue team for when he touches down. Unfortunately, we don't know how or when he'll be doing that, so for the time being all we can do is try to establish contact."

The display mounted on the wall flickered to life and showed a series of time-stamps attached to transmission logs. They were a day old.

"The last radio contact made by Sierra 117 happened yesterday when he contacted Lord Hood on the UNSC Cairo orbital platform. That was the last we heard of him, our job is to wait and help the Marine garrison in Voi, it's all we can do. The Civilians will be evacuated via the Tsavo highway or by air, hopefully they'll be able to get somewhere safe. Until then, our primary concern is what the Covenant want with New Mombasa. The last reports indicated that a large number of Scarab walkers touched down before the nuclear device was detonated. All contact from the city has been subsequently lost, but the few units beyond the blast radius, and the most damaging fallout are falling back as quickly as they can. My guess is that the nuke didn't do much against the Covenant air power, and they have enough ships to simply replace everything they lost twice over. Captain, once you're rested and ready, I want you and and your men to establish observation posts that overlook the covenant positions. Lieutenant, I am placing you with the Captain and his men. You are now ONI recon group 111. Establish a direct laser communications link with Crow's Nest. Keep regular communications devices on hand as well, if the Nest gets hit, you'll need them to communicate with us."

She smiled and leaned onto the table.

"Any questions?"

LeDuc's face stayed quizzically passive as the subject of 117's re-entry was brought up. He continued to listen intently as the Commander brought up and confirmed his various suspicions on the status of New Mombasa and the UNSC fleets above. And as she spoke of establishing monitoring posts for 117's LZ, the sheer impossibility of his task dawned on him.
His group was going to have to watch the sky, for an unspecified duration, for an unidentified object to enter the atmosphere while staying hidden from the hundreds of thousands of Covenant troops constantly raining down into the outskirts of New Mombasa. All of this would have to be done after nothing but a quick pause from the grueling day of running and gunning. As he began considering unit deployment, the number of people he would have to work with seemed awfully equipped for what lied ahead. Taking one step forward, helmet still under his arm, he tried his hardest to ignore the stubble growing on his chin and spoke up.
"Commander, are there any mongoose ATV's available for the mission? Or are we completely without vehicle support on this one?
I would also like to know what we will be looking for. Whether he's coming down in a drop pod, escape pod, or doing a high altitude drop?
Any and all information available on the target would be appreciated."

As the Commander spoke, Harrison sat back down in his chair and simply stared off into space. He had heard everything she had said, but after being told he was being transfered to RG-111, he didn't know how to react. At first, he was confused. He was so sure that getting to CROWS NEST was the hard part, and now as long as the Covenant didn't find them, he could somewhat sit back and help from the sidelines. Thats what he was good at, that was what any intel guys are good at. He had not expected the Commander's words and a bad taste settled in his mouth.
But as she continued to explain what was going on, his attitude slightly changed. If it weren't for his damn eye, he wouldn't be here, he would have been a pilot. Missing an eye was a setback in Atchison's mind, ever since the explosion. True, it was the best thing for his career, as he sucked as a pilot in comparrison to his problem solving and analytical skills. He was prized in the Naval Intelligence sector. He was proud to serve his duty in the manner his cards were delt, so to speak. But he always wished to feel more active in the fight.
When Keyes finished, the others in the room responded with a curt "Aye aye, ma'am." The LTJG was relieved it was over, as his confusion and excitment made him feel stuffy in the room. But what he was more anxious was to have a private chat with LeDuc. Now that they would be working together, it was vital to the mission to speak with him. As they all rose from the table and left the room, Harrison thought he caught a glimpse of the Commander smiling at him as he left. He quickly brushed aside his curiosity as he tapped the Captain's shoulder.
"Captain, sir. we need to talk."
As he whispered to LeDuc, Harrison noticed out the corner of his eye, Commander Keyes heading towards him. She had a quisitive look in her eyes, but Atchison was not in the mood to answer any questions she might have. As they turned a corner outside the Comand Center, he quickly looked down the hallway, apologized to the Captain, and dragged him into the nearest lounge. Locking the door behind them, he listened for Keyes' footsteps to pass by. Satisfied, he turned and gave the Captain a serious look.
"Alright sir, seeing how we're working together I feel that I need to tell you something. Something that not even Lord Hood, the Commander... Hell even the Seargent Major doesn't know. I'm lucky I even have it. Something like this is extrely classified, and I don't even have the authorization or the clearance to know about it."
He paused and waited as the Captain resgistered what he just told him. After LeDuc nodded, Harrison took a deep breath as pace himself from not talking to fast or jumbling his words.
"I don't know how much the Commander truely knows, but I'm pretty sure there are things she's not telling us. I read her report and comms transfers from Delta Halo. Reading them, I felt like there was more she wasn't telling us and whenever I dug too deep, I was
met with authorization warnings, or locked out from my terminal. Pain in the a**, I tell you. Anyway, as far as were concerned, its safe to believe that she wasn't lieing to us out there. Yes, Master Chief is in orbit, and yes, we don't know when he'll be here. But thats beside the point. Its about our mission and why we got stuck with RG-111."
As he spoke, the LT sat down on a table and took off his officer's blouse, and threw it to the side.
"Were not just there to babysit the Covenant and make sure they don't find us. Were looking for something. Take a look at these."
Opening his brief case, he layed out before the Captain several sheets of imagery, recently taken.
"Now this first one shows the first Covenant presence before Master Chief left and the hole Delta Halo incident. Now watch as the invasion continues. It looks as if they're throwing everything they got at us, just another attack from the Covenant. But wait, look at these guys."
He pointed out at the Captain in the next two slides, a good sized group of Covie activity that was occuring on the outskirts of Voi.
"I looked at this and tried to figure out what the hell it was, so I took the liberty to zoom in the best I could to see what the hell was up. Now I know what you're probably thinking, we all thought the same at first. We simply assessed it was purely a staging area for a HQ to reinforce the attack in New Mombasa,but it still didn't answer what they were doing here. This whole attack isn't right, it's not normal. Usually at this time, we would have been glassed by now. Why go to the effort to conquer us? Now here's when it starts making sense, but at the same time, gets confusing as hell."
As he went through the next few slides, he could see the Captain's face widen.
"Now either the Covenant like the look of a huge crater from space, or they're looking for something. Something buried. I think its safe to say that this is excavation equiptment."

((And cue the beginnings of the events leading to our version of Halo 3! Good job everyone! Lao, I think if you leave a space between paragraphs it will make your posts easier to read.))

In orbit over Earth

The large "Dreadnought" dwarfed all ships around it. Even the massive Covenant assault carriers seemed like small fighters when compared to the ancient vessel. The Brute ships around it kept a tight defensive formation, entire flights of Seraph fighters darted between the multiple ships. Everything had a pattern, everything had an absolute order. Within the metal confines of the Forerunner ship sat a Prophet. Or more correctly, THE Prophet. Truth. The creature prided himself as the voice of the Covenant, the herald of the Great Journey, HE would light their path, and he would become a god. It was all thanks to him and he alone had achieved the path to glorious salvation. Regret had been killed by the Demon, Mercy had been claimed by the Parasite, and yet he had survived, he had endured. Was that not strength enough to do what the Forerunner had already done? He WOULD become a god.

Tartarus had died on Halo, he was sure of that. The ring had not fired, and the Elites had stopped him there. An unfortunate turn of events, but nothing that could derail his plans. His hover-throne bobbed slightly as he turned his elongated neck to glance at the vessel's assigned captain. The Prophet's bulbous eyes focused on the Brute's barbaric face and Truth allowed himself a small grin. It was ironic that the humans and Brutes were both primates. If only the Elites had believed as he did, as the Brutes did. Rhadamanthus, the new Chieftain of the unified Brute clans stood below the raised platform, upon which the High Prophet of Truth floated. He was not wearing the battle armor of the less powerful Brute Chieftains, or even the power armor of the Brute warriors, he instead wore the ceremonial robes of a high commander. They were a mix of brilliant golds, blacks, and crimsons.

"Begin the preparations, we have much work to do." Truth's voice was cold, determined, and loud. He turned to a Covenant recording device and spoke clearly. They were preparing to send another recording to the fleet and the forces on the planet below. It would bolster the morale of the troops and demoralize the humans. It was a win-win situation.

"My brothers! Fear not, for I have delivered us safely to this world infested by the humans. They run from our might and cower in fear from our divine glory! Nothing can stop our advancement to victory. True, we were halted in our attempt on Halo. The heretic and his parasitic allies kept us from achieving godhood there, but the Heretic is dead! He and the Parasite are no longer a threat. The road to our ascension will be paved with the skulls of humans and heretics. The Great Journey is within our grasp. Our path is clear. Do not falter, do not fail, you will be rewarded in heaven!"

Unknown to Truth and the Covenant aboard the Dreadnought, a second signal was sent simultaneously as Truth's broadcast. A message from Sierra 117.

UNSC Frigate FFG-201 Forward Unto Dawn

The message from Sierra 117 splashed across the COM screen. It was coded and disjointed, but it was there all the same. Ensign Washburn looked at the display and let out a shout unconsciously. Lord Hood quickly stood over the Ensign's shoulder and examined the display. A smile spread across his face and his spoke softly.

"Relay that information to the tracking unit in Pakistan. We need to know where he'll be as soon as he touches down."

The ensign nodded and followed his orders. Five minutes later Charlie Company of the 1st Marine Battalion was dispatched to establish an observation post. They would be ready for Sierra 117's re-entry. A small Brute Task Force was also dispatched from the CCS-class cruiser Divine Might. The ship located the human unit during its routine sweep of the area. The Covenant were killing or subduing as many humans as they could. Earth's population had already been reduced to millions.

Three hours later, the elements from the Charlie were gone, two ODSTs were sent in from 2nd Battalion, 3rd unit. Bravo team was composed of BRAVO-21, T. Rymann, and BRAVO-22, S. Hartley. The two men were inserted via Pelican OSCAR-6 which would provide Intel and support.
The Controller in OSCAR-6 could see the action unfolding below via enhanced video feed and infra-red video.
BRAVO team was communicating with OSCAR-6 by using the SQUADCOM which had been established between the three units.
Rymann was in the lead with Hartley behind him. Hartley held a small map display synced to OSCAR-6.
"Fifteen meters ahead turn right." Hartley said over the COM.
OSCAR-6 stated.
"East ten meters, GO GO GO!."

The two ODSTs slid to a stop behind a concrete wall. Rymann took up a defensive position while Hartley rummaged through the rubble and corpses nearby. This had been the last reported position of the team with the package. He grinned and pulled an elongated case from the wreckage.
"BINGO! Got it!" he shouted.
The two came under fire from a squad of Brutes who happened on their position. Rymann held them off while Hartley called for EVAC.
"Package retrieved need immediate evac, over, package retrieved!"

Rymann spoke to himself as he fired.
"Come on Sucker!"
Two Brutes fell and the others took cover behind a low wall. A pair of Banshees strafed Bravo team's location and knocked Rymann to the ground.
He grunted and resumed firing. As the final Brute fell, OSCAR-6 came in low and dropped the M12-LRV it had been carrying. Both ODSTs made a dash for the vehicle, Rymann in the lead with Hartley carrying the package.
"Move it, go go go!" Rymann said aloud.
Rymann climbed into the driver's seat and revved the engine while Hartley secured the package in the rear and climbed into the passenger's seat. Dirt spewed from under the vehicle's tires as it shot forward, quickly reaching 65 mph.
"Bravo Kilos moving west." Rymann after glancing at the Warthog's radar.
The Warthog's lovely female voice spoke up.
>Caution: incoming fighters<
The Banshees had circled for another pass. They fired their fuel rod cannons but failed to inflict any damage on the M12 LRV or its occupants. Rymann was edgy, and couldn't help but shout in anger.
"COME ON!"
A pair of Brutes opened fire on the vehicle and one spike round hit home. Hartley doubled over in pain.
"Aah! I'm hit!"
Rymann glanced over at his squad mate before turning to avoid a wall.
"Suck it up."

Spartan 103 was doing nothing for once, and staring out into the natural caverns of Crow's Nest. It was peaceful here, and he hadn't known peace in a long time. This was worth fighting for. When he heard his name over the InterCOM he stood and obediently headed for office 023, LeDuc would fill him in on what was up.

((And a short post to leave room for Lao and Jiboo to elaborate.))