(Well, Spawn_Master, if you want to jump in, you could just create a Marine and dump him/her/it into the trap with most of the others on the Covie ship. Or take one of the NPC ones who is riding around with Brute and Davaran (that would be either Lance Corporal Janet Elisio, or PFC Victor Rupani, both of whom have leg wounds and so can't run around, but can stand on the trailer the ghost is pulling, with the machine gun mounted on it. They can die when the time comes, if you want, or whatever. Just, if you take one of them, remember that they're not going to drive, Davaran isn't giving up the machine gun unless asked and he says he wants to, Davaran is technically in charge, and above all, PLEASE READ THROUGH THE PAST FOUR PAGES so you at least know what this contraption is we're riding and what we're doing. If you want a brief synopsis, I'll be happy to give you one--Liquid is rather occupied these days, and while I am, too, I'm enough of a slacker that I don't do all that I'm supposed to.
Silent, I heard about your computer difficulties. I'd be surprised if you could read this. But if there's anything I can do. . . And for now, I guess I'll have to carry Raevyyn along in the RP. I'll be careful and won't crash her into anything, don't worry.))
Davaran began to fiddle with the squad radio they had brought along, extending the antenna and moving it around, compressing his lips as he tried to understand the signal. Finally, he took out a knife and cut the sheathing of the antenna wire, and touched it to the Covenant ship. The message jumped out of the static.
"--nd, Lieutenant First Class, UNSC. We are currently trapped in a lifepod near the Covenant ship Divine Blade. We are holed up with some friendly Covenant forces, and are held in place near the hull with a tractor beam. Any UNSC forces in the Diagona system, please respond. I repeat, any UNSC forces in the Diagona system, please respond. Over."
With his hand on the "transmit" button, Davaran paused, then pulled the wire away from the hull. Then he began to speak into the comm. "Lieutenant, this is Major Lance Davaran. I am also aboard the Divine Blade, near a vacant lifepod bay. Do you copy?" Touching the antenna back to the hull, he listened.
". . . UNSC. We are trapped. . ." Apparently something was interefering with radio transmissions, and the Lieutenant had managed to power up the radio's transmitter enough to cut through some. The same wasn't true of the radio on the Rolling Thunder. Adopting a thoughtful pose, he considered his options. If he had a somewhat better antenna, or one closer to the lifepod, perhaps he could cut through. That meant, effectively, the ship's hull. But if the impedence were wrong, or power surged through the hull for more than a few microseconds, it could blow the radio and eliminate any chance of communication. But then again, things were pretty urgent, and they NEEDED to communicate NOW.
The Major took a gamble. Touching the wire to the ship's hull, he waited for the LT's message to end, and then pressed the transmit key. "LT, This is Major Lance Davaran. We are also aboard the Divine Blade. This radio may cut out at any time, so let's be quick. I think I might be inside the ship at the point you launched from. Do you copy? Over."
The relief evident in the LT's voice seeped through the radio. "Thank goodness, Major! We have a friendly Elite here who says he knows how to reverse the tractor beam and dock us with the ship again. Let me put him on. His name is Izual." Soon the Elite was relating the process to Davaran, while Brute took notes. It involved going to the main power core, accessing a number of panels, and entering some codes, among other things. Izual was explaining that the controls copied Forerunner controls, and was explaining the differant buttons so he could give Davaran the codes when the lights in the ship flickered again, and the radio suddenly filled with static and then went silent.
After playing with some controls on the radio, Davaran swore. "Damn! That's exactly what I was afraid of. That must have been a power surge, and our radio is fried. I guess we'll have to see if we can figure out the codes for ourselves. The Covenant don't encrypt their ship systems from the inside very well, and this seemed pretty simple. Brute take us back to the main core--follow the shells again, I guess. I've put a nav point in your HUD to mark it."
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The soldiers jumped down from the WarHawk, landing with surprising easy in the relatively low gravity; relatively low compared to the 7 gees they had reached in space. Yi grimaced and stretched her legs while crouching, and then looked around as the WarHawk sped into the sky. Raevyyn didn't look much the worse for wear, but then again how could anyone tell with all that armor? Atkins seemed alert, but didn't seem to have his "A" game on at the moment. He would never make a good ODST. She hefted the MA2C she had chosen, and checked that the extended ammunition clip was in place, a round was chambered, and that the underslung grenade launcher was loaded with an HE round. The weapons selection had surprised her--she had seen some BR55s and MA5Bs, and didn't expect much more. The more reliable MA2B was a nice surprise, and the 40mm launcher which turned it into an MA2C was even nicer. With a 3x optical sight, to boot. It was a bit heavier than she ordinarily liked, but with the Covenant, all the firepower was needed. Yi had also taken an M6D as a sidearm, and plenty of ammunition for both, plus a dozen rounds for the grenade launcher, including a few WP and smoke rounds. Filling out her belt with a few plasma grenades, she had also appropriated a combat knife, and kept the EVA line bonded to one wrist. The armor was nice; as nice as actual armor could be. It was lighter and somewhat more flexible than standard-issue Marine armor, even a bit better than ODST armor, though without the full helmet. It wouldn't serve in vacuum.
The Spartan seemed to be waiting for something, and Atkins was staring at the ground between his feet. Yi's instincts kicked in. "Atkins, please take rear guard. Stay alert, soldier, we're in enemy territory now. I'll take point. Rae, please keep an eye on things at a distance from us, and look for anything which might be a sign of where Major Ten might be. Proceed with caution, and don't engage unless they engage us first."
Rae looked up and opened her mouth to say something, and then Nuron cut in on the comm. "Getting a bit pushy, are we, CORPORAL Yi?"
Yi looked surprised for a moment, and then her face hardened with resolve. "Tetra Lead, you WANTED me on this mission for a reason. I can only assume that you want me here because you need my skills. So I'm using them. Red TWO, out."
"Very well, Red Two. I assume Rae will be Red Three and Atkins Red Four? If that's all settled, get to work. I have things to do." A faint crash could be heard as Nuron fell silent. Yi hoped it was a crash of him downing a Covenant aircraft; missions where they had to self-extract were an order of magnitude more difficult.
Rae accepted the situation for what it was; Yi now had an aura of command about her, and it seemed natural to follow her. "Red Two, I see some trees over there, and what looks to be a crashed Ghost. Shall we investigate?"
"Good idea. Keep down." ordered Yi, leading the way. A few minutes later, they were examining a crashed Ghost. Traces of Elite blood could be seen on the Ghost and on the ground. Pointing out some disturbed dirt, Yi crouched and examined it. She noted the plasma burns on the Ghost's armor. "This Ghost was attacked by Covenant forces. Elites, by the look of the ground; Grunts and Jackals are too small to make these sort of indentations, and Hunters are far too big. And if I'm not mistaken, this is a boot print, and a big one at that. I'd say they went this way," she finished, pointing out a faint trail. There were no more boot prints, but there was plenty of crushed undergrowth to show the way. The trio moved out along the path.