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2011-02-19, 23:25
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Link #29341 | |
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Shhh.....
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Behind you.
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Quote:
Spoiler for Yay another chapter!:
Great job as usual, thanks to Vivio calling clone!Fate Fate-chan, I can't stop thinking that Vivio is going to pull a Nanoha and befriend little Fate.
Edit: Pageclaim for Officer Cadet Takamachi! |
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2011-02-19, 23:38
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Link #29342 | |
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Labda Prakarsa Nirwikara
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Pekanbaru (UTC+07:00)
Age: 37
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Quote:
Spoiler for Linith:
Wait, I thought Linith was a mountain cat, not lion? She's different from Arf. Arf may be small when she became a familiar, but that's because she's young. She's actually a midchildan wolf, so there's justification for her bigger form
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2011-02-19, 23:51
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Link #29343 | |
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Cute things, sharp teeth.
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Quote:
Spoiler for ::
*cackles maniacally* time for Takamachi junior to do some befriending!! And I'm hoping for some Arf-Linith stand-off/bonding (which practically amounts to the same thing in Nanoha-verse).
As for the writing though, there were one or two spots where I'd lose track of which Fate the narrative was talking about. Sometimes it's not immediately clear whom 'her' refers to and takes a second parse to figure it out. Also hope that Fate jnr and Linith can actually travel dimensional space safely without a jewel seed  Or Mother was being very pointedly firm about 'no dinner tonight unless you get the jewel seed.'
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2011-02-20, 00:35
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Link #29346 | |
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Labda Prakarsa Nirwikara
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Pekanbaru (UTC+07:00)
Age: 37
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Quote:
Spoiler for :
 This looks more like a household cat than a cougar, and it doesn't seem like a newborn kitten as claimed in the movies, either Seriously, when I imagine the above Linith using her fangs to threaten Karel, I can't help but laugh
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2011-02-20, 00:49
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Link #29347 |
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Goat Herder
 Author
Join Date: Jun 2008
Age: 36
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... to be fair, I haven't gotten around to watching the movie yet, so I had no idea what Linith's cat form was supposed to look like. But I do stand by my point that mountain cats are also called mountain lions, at least around where I live.
That said, there's always transformation magic.
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2011-02-20, 01:11
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Link #29348 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Whittier, Southern CA
Age: 34
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...Okay. You know what? I don't care. I don't care if my fic gets completely ignored. I'm putting it here anyway. I don't care if it sits ignored, gathering so much dust that an asthmatic would have an attack if they tried to read it. I'm putting it in anyway. I don't care if it gets flamed so much that I could stick it between two hamburger buns and call it barbeque. I'M PUTTING IT IN ANYWAY.
Teana's influence on the path of canon is minimal in Books 1 and 2, Book 3 is an original, she has considerably more influence in Book 4, and BIG influence in Book 5. Spoiler for Book 1 Chapter 3:
BOOK 1 CHAPTER 3 - WINTER CONTINGENCY
Epsilon Eridani System Reach July 24th 2552 Teana lazed about in the shack (ONI called it a ‘practically-sized temporary headquarters’. She called it a shack), looking around. Emile sat against a wall, polishing and sharpening his kukri. Kat stood off to the side, going over a datapad held in her artificial right hand. Jun was outside, sitting halfway in a parked UH-144 ‘Falcon’, loading rounds into magazines. Jorge sat at the other end of the table from Teana, his helmet off, watching the screen on the laptop that Carter stood at, a picture of Colonel Holland accompanying images of a massive satellite dish array. Outside, a Warthog pulled up. “Contact with Visegrád Relay was lost last night” the Colonel’s voice came over the small computer’s speakers. “I responded with trooper fire-teams, which have since been declared MIA.” “And now you’re sending us” Carter guessed. “The Office of Naval Intelligence believes that the deployment of a Spartan team is a gross misallocation of valuable resources. I disagree.” “Commander” Kat’s voice called out, drawing everyone’s attention to the door. There stood a new figure. He was clad in standard MJOLNIR Mark 5-B armor, red like Teana’s (excluding the gender and size difference) but with blue plates on the shoulders and hips instead of the girl’s orange. A reflective blue visor obscured his face, and on his helmet was printed, in white, S-B312, and atop the helmet was a small black plate of armor. “So that’s our new #6” Jorge said, sizing up the new arrival. Teana took her helmet off, and Six watched as from the helmet came a cascade of mid-back-length red-orange hair that said helmet shouldn’t have been able to hold. Then he remembered the girl’s file and the accompanying data, and decided to just go with it. “Kat,” Emile piped up, “you read his file?” “Only the parts that weren’t covered in black ink.” Kat replied. “Jess-B312” “Jess?” Emile questioned, “Girl’s name?” “Shut up” Jess replied, a smirk clearly evident in his tone. Emile chuckled lightly and said “whatever”. Carter turned back to the console. “Anyone claim responsibility, sir?” “ONI thinks it might be the local insurrection.” Holland replied. “Five months ago, they pulled a similar job on Harmony. Hit a relay to take out our eyes and ears, then stole two freighters from dry-dock. That cannot happen here. Reach is too damn important. I want that relay back online, Noble One.” “Sir,” Carter replied, “consider it done.” “Then I’ll see you on the other side. Holland out.” Jorge, Emile, and Teana donned their helmets and got up, making their way toward the door. Jess approached Carter. “Lieutenant” Carter addressed the newbie. “Commander, sir.” “I’m Carter, Noble Team’s leader. That’s Kat – Noble Two; Emile, Jorge, Teana – Four, Five, and Seven. You’re riding with me, Noble Six.” The group headed for the pair of Falcons, both of which were spinning up their engines. Carter and Jess headed for the one that Jun currently occupied, while the other four climbed aboard the second craft. “I’m not gonna lie to you, Lieutenant” Carter turned to Six, “you’re stepping into some shoes that the rest of the squad would rather leave unfilled. As for me? I’m just happy to have Noble back at full strength.” “I’ve seen your file” he continued as they climbed aboard and took their seats, “even the parts the ONI censors didn’t want me to. I’m glad to have your skill-set. But we’re a team. So that ‘lone-wolf’ stuff stays behind. Am I clear?” “Crystal-clear. Got it, sir” Jess responded. The craft lifted off the ground, quickly catching up to its wing-mate. Jun turned to the newest member of Noble. “Welcome to Reach.” -SCENE BREAK- 35 minutes later The pair of Falcons flew through the grassy mountains near Visegrád, heading for the relay outpost. They flew low over a hill, spooking a mated pair of moas and causing the flightless birds to run for their nest. Onboard the craft, Carter briefed his team over TEAMCOM. “Listen up, Noble. We’re looking at a downed relay outpost 50 klicks from Visegrád. We’re gonna introduce ourselves to whoever took it out, and then Kat’s gonna get it back online.” “Just get me under the hood, sir” Noble-2 replied. “Sir, why would rebels wanna cut off Reach from the rest of the colonies?” asked Noble-5. “If you get a chance, maybe you can ask ‘em, Jorge.” “I got a bad feeling about this” Teana muttered, accidentally broadcasting it over TEAMCOM. “Every mission comes with a bad feeling, Seven” Jun replied. “That’s part of being a Spartan.” Several seconds later, Kat gave up on fiddling with the comm. “Commander,” she said, “we just lost our signal with HQ.” “Back-up channels?” “Searching… nada. Can’t say what’s jamming us.” “You heard her, people. Dead zone confirmed. Command will not be keeping us company on this trip.” “I’m lonely already” Emile snarked. Up ahead, a small building came into view, drawing attention with the thin cloud of smoke rising up from its yard. The massive dishes of the relay were a little ways off. The two Falcons began to circle over it. “Shoot-down attempts are likely,” Carter radioed the pilots, “so keep your distance.” “Yes, sir” the two pilots chorused. “There’s the communications outpost” Jorge said, highlighting the dish array. “Aim for the distress beacon” Kat said. “Could be the missing troopers” Carter replied. “Let’s check it out. Put us down on the bluff.” “Jun,” Carter turned to Noble-3 as the Falcon came in for landing, “I want your eyes in the sky.” “Sir” Carter, Emile, and Jess hopped out of the first Falcon, while Kat disembarked from the second one. NOBLE Team “All right, Noble,” Carter said, “spread out. Watch the approach.” Jess, Kat, & Carter started working their way down the hill, while Emile scaled a nearby boulder and looked down at the building. “Structure point 3-4,” he reported, “looks clear from this angle.” He then hopped down, misjudging the jump. His shields flared upon landing, but he was unharmed. As the quartet reached the yard, they saw that the smoke was coming from the burnt-out wreck of a Warthog. Emile headed for a pile of plywood, and tossed it aside, uncovering a bright red object. “Found the beacon”. He tossed it to Kat. “Make out any ID?” Carter asked her. “Negative,” she replied, “but it’s military.” She casually tossed it over her shoulder. “So where are all the troopers?” Jorge wondered over the radio. “Why are we not seeing any explosive residue?” Kat questioned. “Noble-3,” Carter called, “can you confirm any EX residue in the area?” “Hmm… negative, sir.” “Plasma, maybe” Emile conjectured. “Can’t be,” Jorge said in a worried tone, “not on Reach.” “There’s a lot of blood on the ground” Emile continued. “Bad feelin’s getting’ worse…” Teana chimed in, and Jorge grunted an agreement. “All right, Noble,” Carter said after several seconds, “looks like there’s nothing here. Let’s move on.” “Smoke at the next structure, Boss” Kat pointed out another wispy grey column. “Circle west and check it out” Carter ordered. “Noble Team, you have permission to engage. But be selective; we don’t need to telegraph our presence.” The four Spartans went around the house, passing a pair of panicky moas. Something had spooked them, as they almost ran into the Spartans in their attempt to get away from where the four were headed. “Noble-Six,” Carter gestured to Jess and then toward the next building, “move into the house. Go in quiet. We’re right behind you.” Jess moved through the strangely vacant house. On a stove sat an empty pot, no scraps of food in it. Whatever had happened, the occupants hadn’t even had time to start making dinner before fleeing. “Noble Leader,” Jun said over the radio, “I’m seeing heat sigs in the structure ahead!” The four approached a house. Nearby, Jorge & Teana disembarked from the second Falcon and approached the front door. The door opened, revealing two men and a woman, obviously civilian. “Én nem csináltam semmit!” the man said he hadn’t done anything. “On your knees! Now!” Emile shouted, the trigger-happy soldier pointing his shotgun at the man, who raised his hands while saying “Ne lőjön!”, or “don't shoot!” “They’re not rebels.” Jorge admonished his shorter comrade, grabbing the barrel of the shotgun and pushing it away. “They’re farmers.” “Ask them what they’re doing here” Carter ordered. “Mit kerestek itt?” Jorge asked the man. The man began to explain, and Jorge & Teana turned to their commander. “Hiding, sir” Teana said, having already become rather fluent in Hungarian thanks to Jorge. “Neighbors were attacked last night” Jorge continued. “He heard screams; gunfire. He says that something in the fields… killed his son.” “Something?” Carter asked. “Don’t you mean someone?” “No, sir” Teana replied. “He didn’t say ‘valaki’, ‘someone’. He said ‘vmit’ – something.” Processing this made the girl more nervous, and she shifted Mirage to rifle form. (AN: Above is from Babelfish; I don't know a lick of Hungarian) “Commander, be advised” Jun interrupted over the radio, “I’m reading heat signatures at the structure directly east from your position. Over.” “Copy that” Carter replied, and then turned to Jorge. “Get them back inside.” Jorge nodded and turned to the civilians, hefting his machine gun. “Azt mondtam, befelé! Get in!” The three civvies scrambled into the house and locked the door. They realized that the Spartans were going to go save the day, and didn’t want to risk getting caught in it. The six Spartans sprinted over to the structure, where they found a grisly sight. Human bodies lay about the room, each accompanied by a considerable amount of blood. “Damn…” Carter swore under his breath. “Fill me in, Commander,” Jun asked, “what are you seeing?” “We’ve got casualties,” Carter replied, “two of the missing troopers.” “And five civilians” Teana added. “It looks like they were all interrogated… or maybe just tortured. It’s… messy.” As the group walked through an elongated storage room, clanging could be heard on the sheet-metal roof above them. “What the hell is that?” Emile pointed his shotgun at the ceiling. “Jun, do you see anything?” Kat asked. “Negative. Thermal’s clean.” The six went through a small courtyard, cautiously entering another building. “Boss,” Jun called, “I see movement outside your structure.” “Noble-2, move up to the west” Carter ordered. “We’re about to be flanked.” The gang moved in, and as Jess reached an open window he looked left, and saw something that made a rock form in the pit of his stomach. He took aim with his pistol and fired, blowing the perched Skirmisher’s brains out. Teana saw the toppling alien body and blanched in horror, calling out over the comm. the one word that let Noble Team know that things had just gotten very, very bad. “Covenant!!!” As if on cue, three more Skirmishers raced out from cover, dashing toward the building. Teana took one down with a three-shot burst to the chest. A pack of Grunts then emerged. “Damn it! Not here!” Jorge cried out. The rest of the squad opened fire, taking down half the Grunt pack before the rest got behind cover. Jess leapt through the window, dropping nine feet to the ground below, and raised his assault rifle, opening up on a Grunt Ultra, the pack leader. Seven rounds impacted and shattered the front of the alien’s helmet, splattering the creature’s grey matter inside the white metal helmet that formerly protected it. Meanwhile, Carter and Emile grabbed three frag grenades and threw two of them into the basement, killing the Skirmishers that had holed up in there. The squad formed up in the courtyard, quickly mowing down the rest of the Grunt pack. One Grunt, badly wounded, tried to crawl away, only for Teana to stomp on its neck, crushing the vertebrae and the spine they protected. Up above, the Falcon with Jun in it did battle with a pair of Banshees. One alien flier dropped to the ground, its anti-grav pods shredded by bullets, and the vehicle landed in the river and quickly went over the cliff edge. The other Banshee soon went up in flames, the small explosion ending the Elite pilot’s life before he could hit the ground. The group crossed the river, and just as they reached the other side, a Covenant ‘Spirit’ dropship came low and disgorged its troops – another, larger pack of Grunts lead by a trio of Skirmishers. Teana opened up on full auto on a quartet of Grunts, while Jorge mowed down seven more. Kat and Carter quickly killed two of the Skirmishers, and Jess shot the third one from behind as it tried to flee. Emile used his kukri to take out the last two Grunts. “Stand down, Noble” Carter called, “stand down. Contacts neutralized.” “Contacts?” Jorge snapped, “It’s the damn Covenant! On my homeworld!” “Cheer up, big man” Emile replied, “this whole valley just turned into a free-fire zone.” “Kat,” Carter said, “we’ve got to warn Holland. I need you at that relay outpost now.” The team reached another river, and as they ran across it Jess opened fire on a trio of Grunts with his pistol. No sooner did the group reach the fallen bodies, however, then a trio of white-armored Elite Ultras emerged, opening fire with plasma repeaters. Emile rushed the closest one, shoulder-checking it and then drawing his shotgun. Two point-blank-range shots took down the Elite’s shields and blew its chest out. Teana scooped up a plasma grenade from a Grunt’s corpse, primed and threw it. It landed near the Elite’s feet. The Elite dove to the side, but the blast still hit its shields, causing them to flare a bright blue. She followed with a burst of automatic fire that took down the weakened shields and tore the alien’s neck open. It reached its hands up to its bloody throat, and then collapsed. The third Elite scurried behind a hay bale, its shields being peppered by Jorge’s heavy machinegun. Jess pursued it and opened fire with his MA37 assault rifle, wearing the Elite’s shields down and forcing it to backpedal out into the open. Two rifle shots from Carter punched through the shields and then through the Elite’s skull; the lifeless body toppled to the ground. As the group secured the area, Jess grabbing a plasma repeater, Jun radioed in again. “Boss, I’m seeing more hostile activity to the east.” “Copy that" Carter replied. “Emile, Teana, you’re with Kat. Six, Five, and I will run interference on the ground. We’ll meet you at the outpost.” Kat nodded and signaled the Falcon. “Noble-2, requesting airlift” The three Spartans went down the hill, approaching a flatbed truck. Jess hopped in the driver’s seat, Carter took shotgun, and Jorge hopped on the back, mounting his machinegun. The truck started up and drove down the slope. Rebels Don’t Leave Plasma Burns The truck drove through the valley, gunning down a few Skirmishers and road-killing a quintet of Grunts. Jess briefly stopped a few times to swap out his pistol, picking up a needle rifle and some ammo for it. Eventually, they reached a wide building. They disembarked and ran in, taking out a Grunt pack headed by an Elite Major, who had his shields worn down by Jess’ plasma repeater, and then his brains blown out by a shot from Carter’s DMR. They then headed back to the truck. “Noble Leader,” Jun radioed, “I’m picking up a distress signal”. The radio then broadcasted the sound of a shell-shocked marine. “Mayday! Three-Charlie-Six, does anyone read? We've been attacked by Covenant forces! The Covenant are on Reach! I repeat, the Covenant are on Reach!” “Let’s move, Six” Carter said to the Jess as the red-armored Spartan started up the truck again. “We’ve gotta find the source of that distress call.” “No disrespect,” Jun replied over the comm., “but don’t we have better things to do than round up strays?” “We don’t leave people behind” Carter admonished him, “If you see those troopers, let me know.” As the truck drove up a hill, flattening a pair of Skirmishers at the top, they heard the muted whine of a Spirit’s anti-grav engines, and the pulse of its turret firing. The truck rounded a corner just in time for the Spirit to drop off a pack of Grunts led by a blue-armored Elite and then bug out. Jess floored the accelerator, crushing four of the Grunts, and then leapt out of the vehicle, using his last assault rifle magazine to gun down five more Grunts. Jorge used his machinegun to drain the Elite’s shields, and Jess shot it in the head with his needle rifle. The trio then ran to the building, where they found four tired-looking marines holed up in defensive position. “Noble-3,” Carter radioed, “we’ve located the trooper squad. Request immediate evac; my coordinates.” “Solid copy, Commander” Jun replied. “Recalling Falcon Charlie-2. Hold that position. Be advised; two Covenant dropships inbound.” “Evac transport, keep your distance!” Carter ordered, and then turned to the others. “We need to hold out for a bit.” “Spartans?” the exhausted fireteam leader walked up. “Corporal Travis, 3-Charlie, sir. It’s the Covenant…” “We know, Corporal” Carter replied, trying to get the man to buck up, “let’s get you out of here.” A Spirit dropship flew in, dropping off six Grunts, a Jackal, and a red-armored Elite. Jess dropped the needle rifle in favor of a DMR lying inside the shed, and began picking off Grunts. A marine threw a grenade; the resulting explosion and shrapnel killed the Jackal and two Grunts. Jess fired bursts from his plasma repeater at the Elite, who then ducked behind the stump of a tree. Jorge responded by firing through the tree, the armor-piercing bullets punching through bark, draining the Elite’s weakened shields, and tearing through its torso. It leaned around the tree, raised its plasma rifle to fire, but then collapsed and died from its wounds. Another Spirit flew in, dropping off seven more Grunts and two Elites, a Major and an Ultra. Carter stuck the Elite Major with a plasma grenade, and the blast also killed four Grunts that had gotten too close to their leader. The marines gunned down the other three Grunts, one of them quickly tossing his helmet aside in panic after a plasma bolt grazed it, preventing his scalp from being seared by the now-very-hot metal. The Elite Ultra roared and charged, firing its needle rifle. Jorge dropped his machinegun, gave a battle cry, and charged the Elite, the needle rounds pinging off his shields. The momentum-enhanced punch drained the Elite’s shields and crushed its throat, sending it flying backward. Jorge stepped over the fallen Elite and killed it with a boot to the skull. He then calmly walked back and retrieved his gun. “Transport,” Carter radioed, “LZ is clear. Move in for evac.” As the Falcons descended, Jess handed his plasma repeater – still 56% charged – to a marine who’d exhausted his assault rifle’s ammunition, and then went back and grabbed the needle rifle he'd set down earlier, pilfering three clips of ammo from the dead Elite Ultra, and picking up two frag grenades from next to a destroyed Warthog. He then walked over and climbed aboard the nearest Falcon alongside Jorge and Carter. The small gunship went airborne and started heading along the cliffside road, toward the relay outpost. “Noble-2” Carter radioed, “sit-rep” “We’re at the relay outpost” Kat replied. “Door’s locked; mechanism’s been flash-fused.” “Can you beat it?” “I’ll dial up my torch, cut a way through. Gonna take some time.” “Okay. We’re en route to your location.” After several seconds, the Falcon neared the objective. A pack of Jackals and Grunts were pouring fire into the open facility. “Approaching the comm. outpost” the pilot said, circling the Falcon overhead. “Drop us in the courtyard” Carter ordered. “LZ’s a little hot, sir” the pilot worried. “Put her down, pilot. Six, break’s over.” The trio hopped out of the Falcon, which quickly took off, heading away from the hot zone. Jess approached the edge, spotting a quartet of Jackals. They’d overlapped their shields and were firing toward the open door. He tossed a frag grenade amongst them, and they were shredded by the blast. From cover, Teana fired a 40mm grenade into a formation of Grunts, killing three and stunning two more. Carter gunned the two survivors down. Jorge linked up with Emile, taking position around the door. Just inside, Kat worked diligently at a console, typing away at her datapad. “How we doin’, Kat?” Carter bugged. “Taking a little longer than I’d hoped, Commander” she replied. “I’ve cut about halfway through the door.” “Dropship inbound!” Emile hollered. “Hold them off so Kat can hack the controls!” Carter ordered. A Spirit flew in, disgorging several Grunts, three Jackals, two Skirmishers, and a blue-armored Elite. The Elite went right, entering the neighboring structure in a flanking attempt. Teana ran into the building’s other door, meeting the alien head-on. She bashed him upside the head with Mirage’s rifle form, and then drew the shotgun she’d found inside the building. A single close-up shot, and the Elite was down. Meanwhile, Jess lobbed a plasma grenade at the three Jackals. The two in the back withstood it behind their shields, but the lead one’s shield failed and it was killed by the blast. Jess then opened fire with his DMR, taking down Grunts and a Skirmisher. Jorge gunned the other Skirmisher down, while Carter and Teana used full-auto to take out the rest of the Grunts and the two Jackals. Another Spirit popped over the nearby hill, heading closer to the base. Teana and Emile rushed back to the main building, while Carter and Jorge stood just outside it. “Kat?” Carter asked an unspoken question. “Just about… there! We’re in!” “Everyone inside! Go! Go! Go!” The Spartans fell back inside the building, and the door began to close just as the Spirit dropped its troops. Jess threw his last frag grenade, killing another four Jackals and a Grunt, while Teana, having switched Cross Mirage to dual pistol form, head-shot two Grunt Majors and a Skirmisher. The door finally sealed shut, and soon the sounds of dull thuds could be heard as the Covenant tried and failed to break through. After several seconds, it stopped, and faint cries of frustration could be heard, including a Grunt cursing in English. This particular skirmish was over. Skeleton Crew Carter addressed the team. “We need to find the control room. From there, Kat can get the relay back online. Emile, post here. If we flush any hostiles, they’re yours. All right, let’s do this.” The inner door opened, Jess dropping his empty needle rifle for an assault rifle that was mounted on the door, grabbing six clips for it. As the team made their way through the dark corridors, they rounded a corner and saw a tall console. At the foot of it, face-down in a puddle of blood, lay an old man, quite dead. “Noble-6,” Kat said, “search that body.” Jess walked up to the corpse, and then was briefly distracted by a groan. He looked up, and saw a UNSC Army trooper sitting against the wall, his armor bloody. He was moving. Teana and Carter walked up to him. “Where’s the rest of your unit?” the teen Spartan asked. The trooper shook his head and rasped out an answer. “We got separated. I don’t think they… it sounded bad on the comms.” “All right, Corporal, stay put” Carter ordered gently. “We’ll get you a combat surgeon.” Jess went back to the old man’s body and tried to turn it over. As he lifted the shoulder, a data module tumbled onto the floor from the man’s jacket pocket. “Damn,” Kat cursed nearby, examining the console. “Plasma damage” “Found something” Jess lifted the module. “I’ll take that, Six,” Kat rather harshly snatched it from his hand, “Not your domain.” “I’ve got a live one over here!” Everyone turned to see Jorge, holding on to the forearm of a young adult woman, who was shouting in Hungarian and ineffectually punching at his chest armor. “It’s all right” Jorge tried to reassure the woman, to no avail, “we’re not gonna hurt you!” “Jorge…” “I’ve got her, sir”. Jorge then put down his machinegun, freeing his other hand as he grabbed hold of the woman’s upper arms. “Keep still, and I’ll release you.” The girl stopped thrashing and then looked up at him. “Még... Itt vannak” ‘There’s more…’ Jorge’s quick Spartan mind which recognized and processed these words, combined with his superhuman Spartan reflexes, meant that he responded to the following thump behind him by instantly ducking, allowing the previously-hidden Elite Field Marshall’s plasma sword to pass through the spot that his neck had occupied a second earlier. The Elite roared at the rest of Noble and charged, while two more Elite Zealots jumped down from their hiding spaces. “What’s your status, over?!” Emile radioed, hearing the commotion. “We’ve been engaged!” Teana and Carter simultaneously replied, as Carter pulled Kat & Teana down out of the way of a sword swing, while Jess poured AR fire into the beast’s shields. Just as the shields finally gave, the Elite knocked Jess aside and off his feet, making a break for the exit. “Bad guy comin’ out!” Carter shouted over the radio to Emile. Another Zealot grabbed hold of Jess and pinned him to the wall, activating a glove-mounted plasma dagger. Jess punched it in the face, and then Kat hit it with a haymaker to the side of the head, Teana firing at the thing’s shields, popping them. The Elite scrambled away before she could kill it. Carter kicked Jess’ assault rifle back to him. The Zealot ran over to join its comrade, holding its side from a minor graze, the other Elite holding the wounded Corporal. The young woman began screaming in panic. “That tango blew past me” Emile radioed. “Permission to pursue?” “Negative, Four” Carter replied, as the Corporal screamed as he was executed by the Elite, “stay on the entrance. Two and Seven, handle her (he gestured to the panicking girl). Five and Six, clear the hole.” Jorge and Jess advanced on the door, Jess ejecting the nearly-empty assault rifle magazine and slapping in a fresh one. They went through, Jorge closing the door behind him. Jess grabbed more DMR ammo from a nearby mount, picking up a pair of grenades as well. Jorge tossed a flare in, as Jess activated his VISR system – a relatively new development for the Spartans, set to be introduced to the ODSTs on October 1st. Instantly the area was highlighted in yellow. Jorge glowed green, and multiple reds marked five Grunts, three Jackals, and an Elite Zealot who quickly ran down a hallway to the right. Jorge tossed a frag grenade, and the device killed two Jackals and two Grunts. Jess mowed down the rest with his assault rifle. As the two reached the hallway, Jess quickly tossed another frag, killing the Jackal and three Grunts waiting in it. He then dashed ahead, gunning down four Grunts behind the next corner, using the rifle butt to kill the last one after his magazine ran dry. He reloaded, and picked up a plasma pistol. 89% charged. Perfect. The two reached another large room, and Jorge told Jess to move in and flush the Covvies out. A trio of Grunts wandered out, looking for their quarry, and the night-vision-assisted Jess used three DMR shots to kill them in less than a second. He hopped down and climbed the stairs, reaching the open area. Seconds later, one of the Zealots came charging out, plasma sword blazing… and was shield-stripped by an overcharged shot from Jess’ plasma pistol. A rifle bullet to the skull put the alien warrior down. He advanced to a small room ahead, another overcharged shot ready. But when he entered the room, the gun was knocked from his hand, the bolt melting into the ceiling. The other Zealot then struck with a right cross, draining Jess’ shields by 2/3. Jess countered with a kick to the midsection. The Elite roared, and then grasped Jess by the throat, lifting him off the ground. So Jess kicked it between the legs. Sangheili, like Terran reptiles, have internal genitalia, so it didn’t hurt as much as it would’ve had his target been a human. But it still hurt like hell, especially when backed by Spartan strength. The stunned Elite was then head-butted, causing it to reflexively let go of the human, who then dove for the plasma pistol, charged a shot, and let fly. The Elite’s shields were stripped, and a burst of assault rifle fire brought it down. Jorge wandered into the room, observed Jess’ handiwork, and nodded. He radioed Carter. “Noble-5 reporting. Contacts neutralized.” “Kat needs you to reset a junction” Carter replied, “Do it and get back up here.” Jess walked over to a panel on the nearby generator, and pressed a highlighted button. He and Jorge then made their way back. “How long?” Carter asked his second-in-command, who was currently sifting through cable and wire. “Question of my life…” Kat replied. “If the question is ‘when will this station be back online’? Two weeks, earliest. This is plasma damage; all major uplink components are fried.” “Two minutes is too long.” “Which is why I’m splicing into the main overland bundle to get you a direct link to Colonel Holland. …You’re in my light, Commander.” Carter smirked behind his visor, and stepped back. He turned to Jorge, who was guarding the girl who was now sitting against the wall, curled up. “Find out what she knows.” Jorge tapped the girl’s shoulder, and she shoved his hand off. Emile chuckled and turned to Jess, while Teana quashed an instinct to snap at the girl for being rude to Jorge. “What’s your name?” Jorge asked, taking a gentle tone. “Do you live around here?” He removed his helmet. “A nevem Jorge” “Sára” the girl replied, without lifting her head. “Sára… szép határozott név. Your accent sounds familiar. Sopron?” “…Tengeri.” Jorge looked at the old man’s body, which Teana had earlier turned face-up, closed the eyelids of, and folded the arms over the chest. “Friend of yours?” “…My father” “Sajnálom. I’m sorry.” “Why would you be?” Sára responded coldly. Jorge leaned back as if struck, a sad look on his face. “Big man forgets what he is sometimes” Emile snarked to Jess. “She just lost her father” Jorge responded coldly to Emile as he passed, before turning to Carter. “She needs a full psychiatric workup.” “She’s not the only one.” Jorge turned to snap at Emile, as did Teana. “Lock it down, all of you.” Carter stopped the incoming fight. “Get her on her feet… the body stays here.” “Thank you, sir” Jorge replied. He death-glared at Emile as he passed, and then extended his hand to Sára. She took it, and he pulled her to her feet, and the two walked toward the exit, Teana putting an arm around the girl’s shoulder. “Signal!” Kat shouted triumphantly. “It’s patchy, but it’s there!” “I’ll take it” Carter replied, a bit of relief in his voice. “Best not touch anything” Kat said, “you wouldn’t want to ground this place”. With that, she followed Jess and Emile out, as Carter turned to the radio. “I’m barely getting you” Col. Holland’s voice came over the radio, slightly staticky. “What’s your status, over?” “Colonel,” Carter said, speaking up to be heard over the static, “this is Noble-1. There are no rebels. The Covenant are on Reach. Acknowledge?” “…Come again, Noble-1? Did you say Covenant?” “Affirmative. It’s the Winter Contingency, sir.” “…May God help us all…” |
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2011-02-20, 01:12
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Link #29349 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Whittier, Southern CA
Age: 34
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Spoiler for Book 1 Chapter 4:
BOOK 1 CHAPTER 4 - SWORD BASE:
Reach Sword Base, Babd Catha Ice Shelf, Eposz July 26th, 2552 The glaciers echoed with the rapid throbbing beat of whirling rotor blades, as a pair of Falcons flew between them. In one sat Carter, Emile, Jorge, and Jun; the other carried Kat, Jess, and Teana. “Be advised, Kilo-23 and Kilo-24,” Sword Control called, “your LZ is too hot.” “Roger that,” Carter replied. “Dot, standby to receive and respond.” As the two craft passed a large island, a blue-and-purple craft hung in the sky, slowly advancing toward the base. COVENANT VIGILANCE-CLASS CORVETTE – 315 METERS “Yes, Commander” replied Noble’s linear, or ‘dumb’, AI, Dot. “Coordinates received. Initiating immediate course correction. The Office of Naval Intelligence Sword Base is presently under siege from a Covenant Vigilance-class Corvette. Due to the sensitive nature of this facility, use of orbital rounds has been, for the moment, prohibited. Regrettably, my efforts to obtain relevant data on enemy forces have been unsuccessful. However, current defensive forces are insufficient. ONI has requested Team Noble’s direct intervention to help secure Sword Base.” “Alright, people,” Carter briefed his team, “we’re stuck with that ship for the time being. Let’s focus on the hostile infantry – give those troopers a hand.” The Falcons flew over a courtyard; down below, marines and army troopers traded fire with a force of Covenant soldiers, led by a white-armored Elite Ultra and guided by a pair of red-armored Elite Majors. A blue-armored Elite Minor was in the mix as well. The rest were Grunts and a few Jackals. The second Falcon swooped in for a drop-off. “Kat, Jess, Tia, you’re out here” Carter said. “Jorge, Emile, you’re next; get prepped.” “Let’s move, you two” Kat ordered, as she and her two subordinate Spartans hopped out of the Falcon, which quickly took off. The Best Defense… “Noble Strike, push back the attack on Sword Base” Carter ordered, “find out what we’re dealing with.” “Roger that” Kat replied, “we’re your strike team.” As she spoke, Teana and Jess used rifle shots to kill a quartet of Grunts who’d come to investigate. Two shots each, two kills each. The trio then ran up a nearby ramp, almost running into a red-shielded Jackal. Jess kicked the shield, throwing the Jackal off-balance, and Teana quickly shot it through the now-exposed head. “Let’s knock some heads, guys!” Kat called, drawing the two red-armored Spartans’ attention to the courtyard below. Jess scavenged two clips of DMR ammo from a fallen trooper, and started picking off Jackals – shooting each Jackal in the hand, and then shooting the head when they reflexively reacted to the pain. A marine tossed a frag grenade, and it killed five Grunts. An army trooper took a needler round through the eye; it went off a second later, shredding the inside of his skull and killing him instantly. His comrades returned the favor five-fold, overwhelming the shields of the needler-wielding Elite Minor and filling its belly with hot lead. The saurian keeled over. Teana, meanwhile, had sprinted along the upper walkway, snapping the neck of a Jackal Minor that got in her way, and had found an area overlooking the rear of the courtyard, where the enemy leadership was firing from. She found an SRS99C sniper rifle leaning against the wall, along with two additional clips of ammo, giving her 12 rounds total. She took aim, and fired at the head of the Elite Ultra. The platoon commander alien’s shields protected it, though they were completely drained in the process, and the stunned Elite had its brains blown out by Teana’s second shot before it could gather itself. One of the red-armored Elites made a dive for cover, but by some combination of skill and luck, Teana’s third shot went through its neck, severing its spine and scattering thoracic contents on the pavement beyond. The third Elite was in a position where Teana, her fourth shot failing to punch through the cover, couldn’t get a clean shot… but Jess could, hitting its upper arm with DMR shots. The full-body shield was being worn down, and the Elite tried to shift to different cover, firing as it did. Jess’ shields took the plasma bolts as he continued to fire as fast as his trigger finger could twitch. The Elite’s shields failed, and two final shots pierced its chest, taking out both of the alien’s hearts. Violet blood pooled beneath the fallen alien. While the Elites were being dealt with, Kat and the soldiers had wiped out the rest of the Grunts and Jackals. A quartet of Skirmishers then charged up the nearby slope, only to be torn to shreds by concentrated assault rifle fire. Teana reloaded her sniper rifle and hopped down to join the others. “Noble-2 to Sword Control” Kat radioed, “Courtyard is clear.” “Head to the main gate to the east” Control replied, “I’ll brief you as you go.” The gate opened as the group approached, revealing several ordnance packs. Teana grabbed four more clips of sniper ammo. Jess gathered another DMR clip, grabbed an Armor Lock module, and also snatched up a bizarre-looking device. “Sword Control,” Kat radioed, “we’ve found a target locator. Any artillery support in the area?” “Limited, but we’ll prioritize whatever you need, ma’am.” The gate opened, the joint UNSC platoon spilling through. Get the Hell Off My Lawn! There was a gradual slope going down from their position. In the sky above and to the right, the Corvette opened fire on Sword Base’s main building, firing its (by Covenant standards) low-power plasma torpedo bolts at the structure. A Troop Transport Warthog, flames spewing from its engines, drove into view. “3-Echo-57 heading back to base,” the Hog’s passenger radioed, “but we’ve got enemy tangos on our six. How copy?” Before anyone could respond, a plasma mortar flew in and hit the Warthog dead-on, vaporizing its three occupants and sending bits of melted, flaming metal flying everywhere. A Wraith slid into view from the left, followed shortly thereafter by another Wraith from the right path. Jess pulled up the target locator and looked through its scope, projecting a thin green laser onto the nearest Wraith. The farther Wraith fired a shot, and upon its landing two marines and an army trooper standing near the gate ceased to exist. The artillery barrage hit home. By a stroke of luck, the second Wraith had pulled up behind the first one, close enough that the artillery strike destroyed both of them, the tanks going up in twin gouts of bluish-white flame. Signaled by the Wraiths’ destruction, a Pelican flew in, dropping an M12 Warthog. Jess hopped in the driver’s seat, Teana manned the M41 chaingun, and Kat got in the passenger’s seat, her assault rifle brought to bear. “The old Farragut Station has its own comms array that should bring us back online with command.” Sword Control reported. “And Airview Base has an anti-air battery that should help clear the skies.” “AA gun is to the west,” Kat said, “and comms array to the east. Which way, Six?” Jess pulled out an old bottle cap and flipped it like a coin. It landed face-up. “AA gun it is, then.” He turned right, heading west. The Warthog bounced over a hill, landing on top of a Grunt and squishing it. Kat swept the other three with her assault rifle, while Teana turned the main gun on an approaching Ghost. A .50-caliber shell hit the Grunt driver in the skull, and the alien’s head disappeared in a blue mist, leaving the riderless Ghost to automatically shut down upon detecting the death of its driver. “I’m picking up a power source” Kat said, “We’re close to the AA gun.” The Warthog rounded a corner, and the Airview Base came in site. It was crawling with Covenant. “Hold on” Teana asked Jess to stop the vehicle, and after he did so she pulled out her sniper rifle, took aim, and fired. The Elite Ultra standing on the building’s roof was sent reeling by the first shot, and the second shot punched through the disoriented Elite’s shields and tore through its chest. It collapsed out of sight. Teana slung the rifle back over her shoulder and nodded to Jess, who stepped on the gas. A blue-armored Elite disappeared under the Warthog’s tires, the trio being jostled around by the bumpy ride that was accompanied by a sickly crunch. Kat poured assault rifle fire into the building, downing Grunts, while Teana turned the main gun on a red-armored Elite, the alien’s midsection practically evaporating under the assault. Jess drove around and parked behind the building, under an awning, and hopped out, heading into the building and up to the roof. There, he reached the controls just as a Phantom flew in, dropping more Grunts and a pair of Elite Rangers. He hit the switch, and the AA gun came to life. It swiveled, pointed at the Phantom, and opened fire. The shots hit something vital, and the Phantom drifted out of control, leaking flames as it crashed to the ground with a loud thud some 60 meters away. The gun then turned its attention to a nearby Banshee, blowing the flyer out of the sky. Jess turned around and practically ran into the first Ranger Elite. He reacted faster than the alien, punching it in the gut. A rifle butt to the helmet drained the rest of the alien’s shields, and a point-blank shot splattered violet blood on the inside of the alien’s helmet visor. The creature dropped like a puppet with its strings cut. Jess leapt over the edge, landing 20 feet below next to the Warthog. The other Ranger followed, and was cut down by the Hog’s chaingun. Jess jogged over and got in the driver’s seat. “Nice work, Spartans” Sword Control radioed. “Get to Farragut Station and get that comms array up and running.” As the vehicle passed a small shack, Teana shouted. “Wait! Hold on; I saw something! It'll just take me a few seconds!” Jess obliged, and the smaller Spartan hopped off the gun and ran inside the shack. Her eyes had not deceived her; there were three more clips of sniper ammo. She’d been trained that, in sniping, each bullet was near-invaluably vital; twelve bullets were a must-have. With the three magazines on her person accompanying the four she already had, she jogged back to the Warthog and took her position on the gun. “Carry on” she said, and the Hog took off down the nearby road. As the Warthog raced down a rocky slope, a Ghost came into view up ahead. Teana opened fire with the big gun, followed shortly by Kat and her assault rifle once they got closer. The barrage of 7.62mm and 12.7mm bullets chipped through the Ghost’s front armor and hit a power cell, sparking an explosion that consumed the front half of the vehicle and its green-armored Grunt driver. Ahead, a Spirit dropped off two Elites and five Grunts. Teana gunned down a blue-armored Elite as the Warthog splattered two of the Grunts, and Kat raked assault rifle fire across the other three low-status enemies. The Hog spun around to a stop, facing the red-armored Elite, and before Jess could hit the gas, he saw the alien’s head explode, accompanied by a sharp crack directly above and behind him, his helmet’s systems protecting his hearing. ‘Tia’s on a roll today’ he thought. He spun the Hog 180 degrees again and headed up the rocky slope. The Warthog crested the slope, finding a small ‘pit’ bordering the sea. In it were two buildings, about 100 meters apart, and both were crawling with Covenant. “Let’s hope that comms array has a working generator” Kat said. The Warthog zipped down between the buildings, and the trio caught sight of a Revenant. The Revenant spotted them as well, and lobbed a plasma shell at them. The vehicle quickly and easily dodged the red sphere, and began a wide clockwise circle around the Covenant assault craft. Kat and Teana poured fire into it, and eventually the driver’s shields failed and a bullet from Kat’s assault rifle tore through his neck, bringing the vehicle to a halt. The passenger roared, and a .50-caliber bullet entered through its open mouth, right between the spread mandibles, and blew out the back of the alien’s skull. “Let’s search the area for a generator switch” Kat ordered, and Jess drove up to the upper side of the near building. He splattered a red-armored Elite against a boulder, and Teana quickly wiped out the blue-armored Elite and its Grunt entourage with the .50-cal. Kat used her pistol to take down the two shieldless Jackal Marksmen, and then hopped out of the vehicle and went inside the building. She found a big level on the side of the generator, and yanked it down. The generator hummed with power. “Okay,” she said, walking back over to the Warthog, “generator is up and running. Let’s find that comms array; should be up high.” As she said this, a Spirit flew overhead. Jess quickly drove the Warthog 20 feet forward, avoiding the fired plasma bolt that hit where the Hog had just been, kicking up bits of molten soil. The Spirit stopped next to the far building, dropping off half a dozen green-armored Grunts and four Skirmishers. He floored it, aiming for the avian aliens. One Skirmisher almost managed to dodge, but its legs were crushed underneath the tires, leaving it screaming. Its comrade, seeing the damage, used a plasma pistol to end its pack-mate’s suffering. The third Skirmisher ran inside the building, while the fourth strafed the Warthog, firing needler rounds that bounced harmlessly off the vehicle’s armor. Kat used her pistol to snipe the moving Kig-Yar’s head, and the body’s momentum carried it about seven feet further as it fell to the ground. Jess got out of the Warthog and used his DMR to take down the second Skirmisher, and then walked into the building, almost-casually catching the punch from the fourth and twisting its arm in a way the arm wasn’t meant to be twisted. A loud crack was heard, followed by another as the Spartan grabbed the bird’s neck and twisted. He fought his way past the Grunts, killing two and causing three more to try to leap off the roof to safety, only to land in the Warthog gun’s crosshairs. The last Grunt dropped its gun, raised its arms, and got down on the ground, trying to look as dead as it could. “What me leaders and you leaders not know not hurt me, eh?” it said nervously. Jess shook his head, walked past the demoralized target (taking the alien’s weapon), and hit the switch. A high whirr could be heard as the comms array turned on. Jess leapt down to the ground next to the Warthog, hearing a sigh of relief behind him on the roof as he jumped. Yayap would live to see another day. “Noble Strike, this is Noble Leader” Carter radioed as Jess got back to the Hog, “Get back to Sword Base ASAP.” “On our way, Commander” Kat replied. A Pelican came over the nearby hill, carrying another Warthog. Looking at the not-optimal state of their current ride, the trio disembarked and walked over to wait for the drop. “Good work, Spartans” came Sword Control’s voice. “Return to Sword Base; the rest of your team is inbound” “Noble, be advised” Carter cut in, “Covenant corvette moving into position. Get here quick; we need you inside.” The Pelican dropped its cargo, which turned out to be a Warthog mounted with an M68 Gauss Cannon. Teana ‘ooh’ed appreciatively and hopped behind the cannon, while Jess took the wheel and Kat again grabbed shotgun. The Warthog took off down the hill, riding a narrow road between an icy cliff and the sea. Ahead, a Phantom prepared to drop a Revenant. Teana fired a shot, the 25x130mm shell impacting the dropship’s starboard engine at 13.5 kilometers per second. The Phantom spun and drifted wildly, soon splashing into the cold water 50 feet out, the attached Revenant coming loose and quickly sinking. The Warthog approached another small slope and climbed it. On the far side of the area was the gate they needed to reach; guarding it, trading fire with troopers, were two Revenants and a Ghost. The small purple attack sled spotted the new arrivals first, charging ahead while firing a few plasma shots. A single gauss shot cored the craft, burning bits of violet metal crashing to a halt. The nearest Revenant took notice of the commotion and turned to face them, firing a shot. Jess accelerated, allowing the plasma shell to pass right over them as Teana opened up with the M68. One shot blew a significant chunk off the Revenant’s right frontal armor. A second shot hit the plasma cell, and the resulting explosion consumed the driver. The other Revenant hadn’t noticed them. It fired a shell, and a marine PFC vanished from the knees up. A shot to the vehicle’s aft end from the gauss cannon saved the rest of the soldiers, who concentrated AR rife on a charging blue Elite, taking him down before he could dive for cover. Jess drove the Warthog up to the gate and hopped out, walking over and hitting a switch. Gears could be heard turning. “We’re stalled at the tower atrium, Kat” Jun reported. “Where are you?” “Opening the gate now” Kat replied. “Hang tight; we’re on the way!” The gate opened, and Kat, having shifted to the driver’s seat, eased the Warthog through, stopping it just behind a concrete barricade. An Elite, two Jackals, and three Grunts ran down from the top of the ramp ahead, and were quickly obliterated by gauss cannon fire. The two female Spartans hopped out of the vehicle, joining Jess in jogging up the hill. They approached a set of double doors, open to reveal the sight of bullets zipping through the air from a fireteam of troopers off to the right. The response was a large glowing green blob of death from the left. Two Hunters lumbered into view from the left, their shields raised, shuffling towards the trapped troopers. Teana fired a sniper rifle shot at the exposed back of the farthest Hunter. The supersonic round tore through the little orange creatures that made up a Hunter, scattering orange blood on the ground. Another shot flew, this one ricocheting back and forth inside the Hunter’s armor, shredding Lekgolo and bringing the titan down with a crash. The other Hunter, noticing the interlopers and thoroughly enraged by its bond-brother’s death, turned to face its new foes. It roared, crouched behind its shield, and fired. The trio of Spartans dove to the side, Jess’ shields draining by 15% as the bolt whizzed by him, and then ran in. Kat and Teana fired pistol shots into the creature’s back as the beast turned to face Jess, splattering orange blood and pitting ‘flesh’. The gestalt beast roared and charged at Jess, moving much faster than something that size had any right to. But Jess was quicker. He side-stepped, saying ‘Olé!’ in his head, and stuck a plasma grenade to the Hunter’s back. The explosive went off in a bright flash. The Hunter moaned in pain, now barely holding itself together. A single pistol-mode shot from Teana was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and the beast collapsed in a heap. A trio of Grunts hiding in the next room saw this and panicked, promptly running straight into the gun-sights of the fireteam, who gladly took the opportunity. Teana switched Mirage to Mode PR and poured full-auto plasma fire into the blue-armored Elite guarding the elevator. The ionized bolts quickly brought down the alien’s shields, and continued fire burned through the creature’s torso. The Elite collapsed, and the vents on the sides of Cross Mirage partially opened, quickly venting heat and then snapping shut. Teana switched her right-hand gun to pistol mode, keeping the left one in plasma-shot mode. The trio of Spartans stepped inside the elevator, Noble-6 hitting the ‘Up’ button. The lights flickered as the base shuddered. “Corvette’s hittin’ this base hard” Emile remarked over the comm. “Where’s our orbital support?” Kat wondered aloud. “There’s got to be four platforms that could take it out with a single MAC round.” The elevator came to a stop, and the doors opened to a white hallway. “Welcome to the Office of Naval Intelligence” said a recording over the speakers. “An ONI representative will be with you shortly.” “Somehow, I doubt that” Kat replied dryly. Jess tossed a frag grenade, killing two Grunts taking shelter behind a far wall. Teana switched Cross Mirage to Rifle Mode full-auto, and then charged in and opened fire on a red-armored Elite. After about three seconds of sustained fire, the alien’s shields failed, and several shots tore through its chest. Kat finished off a third Grunt with her own assault rifle. The trio approached a door, which opened upon detecting their approach to reveal Carter, Jorge, and Jun engaging an Elite and six Jackals. Jess tossed a frag grenade amongst the near trio of Jackals, shredding them; Jorge managed to clip a far Jackal’s hand, causing it to rear back in pain. He continued firing, the Jackal’s body being perforated and pushed back into the other two Jackals, which in turn knocked them off-balance and opened them up to Jorge’s machinegun. Carter managed to bring down the Elite’s shields, finishing it with a shot through the eye. “Six,” he turned to Kat’s team, “head upstairs and assist Emile. Jorge, make sure he gets there.” “Depend on it” the Spartan-2 replied. Jess and Teana charged up a nearby ramp, running into a trio of Special Ops Grunts wielding plasma rifles. A few quick bursts of fire took them down, and Teana went over to help a trooper who’d taken a glancing shot to the leg, draping his arm over her shoulder and leading him behind a desk for cover. She pried the burnt armor off his leg, and then began assisting Kat in treating the wound. As Jess passed, Teana tossed him the sniper rifle and two extra clips for it. Jess moved on, meeting Jorge in the next room, and the two Spartans, accompanied by four army troopers, made their way up to the next area. A trio of Grunts rounded a corner to the right, and was cut down by a trooper with a quick burst of AR fire. The group entered the next area, and a female trooper had the tip of an unruly lock of hair singed off by a near-miss plasma bolt. She growled and took the top of the head off the offending Grunt with a well-placed DMR shot. Jess took down the other three Grunts with DMR shots, and then jammed the barrel of the sniper rifle in the shoulder of an Elite Ultra. He fired, and the extreme range meant the bullet punched through shielding and blew out the alien’s shoulder. The Elite roared in pain, and another shot – this time with the barrel touching its helmet – cut the alien’s cry short. The base shuddered again. “Corvette’s gonna rip this place apart!” Sword Control called. “What’s the situation, Noble?” “Can’t do this on my own!” Emile radioed. “Need another Spartan up here!” “Six, get upstairs and assist Emile” Carter ordered. As Jess approached the entrance to the next walkway, he spotted an Elite and two Jackal Marksmen on the other end. He quickly killed the Elite with a sniper shot before it could react, and used the fourth bullet to kill one of the Jackals. A DMR shot took out the other one, and he reloaded the sniper rifle as he advanced. Inside this next area, a ramp led up beneath a transparent floor above. At the top of the ramp were a black-armored Elite and a pair of red-shielded Jackals. Jess tossed a frag grenade, stunning the three. He tossed another, and this one drained the Elite’s shield and killed the Jackals. He killed the Elite with two shots from his DMR. As he reached the top, the base shuddered again. “Commander,” Sword Control radioed, “this base won’t survive another salvo from that corvette. Kill those Banshees!” “Upstairs, Lieutenant!” Carter called to Jess, “We need those Longswords in the air!” Jess ran past the doors and over the last walkway, firing at the two Grunts across from him and taking them down. Four Grunts came out of the left doorway behind him, but by now the troopers and Jorge had caught up, and gunned them down before they could shoot at Noble-6. Jess stopped to grab three more DMR clips and two frag grenades from a wall mount, and made his way through the damaged area. At the end, on the left, an Elite Field Commander wielding a concussion rifle traded fire with a trooper fireteam a level below. Jess snuck up on him, and then leapt atop him, drawing his knife and burying it in the back of the Elite’s neck. The Elite exhaled and died. Jess got back to his feet, turned around, and headed through a door that had been blown open. Two Jackals were dealt with by a frag grenade. “About damn time!” Emile shouted. This room had been devastated by an explosion. The walls and ceiling were gone, exposing it to open sky. A half-dozen Banshees flitted about in the nearby air, a Phantom was fast approaching, and the corvette, closer than ever, hung in the sky. Jess walked into a nearby hallway, finding an M41 rocket launcher and three boxes of ammo. The Phantom was now so close, he didn’t need to lock on. He fired two shots, reloaded, and fired again. The fourth shot did the trick, the dropship trailing smoke and falling for a few seconds before it exploded, leaving burning wreckage to plummet to the ground below. A plasma bolt, seemingly from nowhere, hit Jess in the head, his shields flaring to protect him. He ducked, drawing his DMR, and sighted the shimmering figure of a cloaked Elite. He opened fire, and six shots brought the alien’s shields down. A seventh killed it. By now, Jorge had caught up, and he opened fire on another cloaked Elite. The barrage of machinegun fire quickly whittled down its shields, and the mortally wounded Elite toppled backward over the edge. If it screamed on the way down, no-one heard it. A third cloaked Elite roared, and was promptly blown to bits by a rocket fired by Emile on the level above. Over the next 40 seconds, Jess and Emile used rockets to sent the six Banshees falling to the ground far below in flaming pieces. “That’s the way we get it done, Spartan!” Emile called out happily. “Noble Team,” Sword Control radioed, “Longswords are inbound and ready to push; Orbital defenses standing by to take the shot.” There was a roar as a pair of Longswords flew overhead, pursuing the corvette, which was now fleeing. For reasons yet unknown, Covenant Corvettes did not have energy shields, and the (by Covenant standards) small vessel knew this, recognizing that it wouldn’t fare so well against a swarm of human heavy fighters. It accelerated away from the base, slowly gaining altitude. Then the Longswords pulled away. A few seconds later, a white streak shot down from the sky. Even though it was only fired at 8% power, the Super-MAC shot was still enough to punch clean through the unshielded enemy ship. Secondary explosions ripped through the corvette, and its engines flickered and died. “Beautiful, ain’t it?” Jorge said as he walked up beside Jess. “Someone should take a picture.” The Corvette hit the water with a mighty splash. “Nice work, by the way.” “I aim to please” Jess replied. “Five, Six…” Carter radioed, “Get down to the science wing. Doctor Halsey wants a debrief, and Command’s saying we’re all hers.” “Repeat?” Jorge replied. “Sounded like you said ‘Halsey’.” “I did.” “Copy that; we’re on our way.” He turned to Jess. “Don’t need Command to tell me. Been all hers half me life.” The two walked away, leaving the sinking corvette to its watery grave. Five minutes later, Jorge and Jess entered the science wing, and stumbled into a rather coldly professional discussion between Noble-1 and Dr. Halsey. “I requested your assistance, Commander,” the older woman said, “and do not need a report on events that occur on my doorstep. What I do require is a detailed account of your previous engagement-” she stopped as she spotted the tall, green-armored figure entering the room. “Jorge… it’s been too long.” “Ma’am” he nodded respectfully as he took his helmet off. “What have you done with my armor?” she said with a hint of mirth. “Just some… additions I’ve made” Jorge replied. “Indeed” Halsey replied, before turning back to Carter. “Visegrád Relay. Its data center was home to one of my xenoarchaeologists: Professor Laszlo Sorvad. Perhaps you could shed some light on his death.” “If he was a civilian male in his mid-60s,” Carter replied, “he died from a Covenant plasma sword through his torso.” “Elites, then?” “They engaged us as well” Jorge said. “It was just, uh… just after we found your scientist’s daughter Sára, ma’am. She was hiding in the-” “Irrelevant at the moment. The Elites… tell me more about them.” “Three” he responded, “Zealot class. One got by us; the leader, from the looks of him.” “Zealots…” Halsey replied, sounding a little interested. “You’re certain?” “Armor configuration matched.” “Shield strength, too” Jess replied. “Took an entire MA37 clip to bring down one’s shields.” “I gave the order not to pursue” Carter elaborated. “Our primary objective was to get the station’s relay back online.” “Your ‘primary objective’?” Halsey replied with a hint of scorn. “Commander, are you a puppet, or a Spartan?” “Ma’am?” Carter was a little shocked at the rude question. The doctor continued. “There are those at ONI, myself included, who believe the Covenant dispatch Elite advance teams to hunt down artifacts of value to their religion. Survivor accounts suggest such teams are small, nimble, and almost always Zealot-class. No doubt they came to the station for the abundance of ONI excavation data stored there. And you let them get away.” “Data retrieval was not a command directive” Carter countered, “and even had we known, we had other, more important matters to attend to.” “Like warning the planet” Kat cut in. Halsey paused, and then seemed to accept this. “Professor Sorvad’s final entry in his field notes made reference to a ‘latchkey discovery’. Latchkey... Not a word he would use lightly. So let’s hope that the data module your Lieutenant Commander stole contains it.” Carter turned to his second-in-command in surprise. “Kat?” “Before you ask,” Halsey continued, “I was alerted the moment you attempted to access its contents, as I am with any unauthorized tap.” Kat walked over and placed the data module in a container, which Halsey pulled over to herself on the other side of the shield door. “That data is classified Tier One. I could send you to the brig for interfering with my work.” Teana was shocked. She’d never seen the doctor be this harsh towards anyone. What the hell was wrong with her all the sudden? “Maybe you’d like to join her” Carter snapped. “Excuse me?” Halsey looked at him, arching an eyebrow. “We’re currently under emergency planetary directive: Winter Contingency. I’m sure you’re familiar with the punishment for civilian interference with a Spartan deployment.” “…Are you threatening me, Commander?” “Just making a reading suggestion, ma’am.” He turned to leave, Kat, Jess, Emile, & Jun following him. “Mum?” Jorge questioned, Teana at his side. “That… will be all, Jorge.” |
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2011-02-20, 01:14
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Link #29350 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Canada, Sault Ste. Marie
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Spoiler:
So it's just retreading the first season years later, and not anything involving alternate realities? I feel a bit disappointed.
Vivio meeting Precia might be interesting, and her potentially befriending her mom. |
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2011-02-20, 02:29
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Link #29351 | |
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GregOS Offline
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Philippines
Age: 36
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Reasons: 1. She wants be the best in terms of Shooting arts, which is a range magic type. 2. She also wants to become an enforcer, who's job has a high probability of duels against the target. Meaning being a shooter in an enclosed area is not a good place to be where melee combat is the deciding factor with the exception of rooms or area large enough to fit a 3-5 story houses in a 3x3 or more block. 3. Teana's a rookie, A ROOKIE, learning from some of the well known instructors in TSAB. That means Nanoha and the rest of the senior officers of Riot 6 have already gone thru what she's experiencing and was about to do something to make her understand her mistake when she blew up on them(well you can understand her but going to the point of taking revenge is not a good way to go). And why there's little to no response to yer tale: 1. In her adventures, Teana gained an army, her personal group and a status of being a hero. This will have a certain degree of impact to her new friends if she decided to go thru with her revenge that might destroy her entire being... 2. And the reason that this one is not pretty much gain any attention is that Teana is now a spartan, an blasted Uchiha(sorry... I don't like Uchiha and their game-breaking eyes.), a semi-leader of an army and the leader of her own group, got a huge arsenal of jutsu from the ninja world, a fast (IMO) paced fanfic with most of the tale focusing on the battle and Teana's and her group growth in combat capabilities from the worlds they end up with almost every skills, abilities and arsenal from them. I know that Archangel's Amazing Adventure by CSS.Stravag, a Gundam Seed multi-crossover (Magic Knight Rayearth, Mechwarriors, Final Fantasy 6[Yes... He did crossover them there], an AU GS where the residential Mad Char clone Rau succeed in making ZAFT and EAF blow each other up with their nukes and currently at Gundam Wing, before the fall of Sanc Kingdom), also follows the same path as yours but he does his homework well and tries to get it done as smoothly as possible without losing too much details or making the Archangel team a game breaker too much. In fact the Archangel have lost Dearka Elsman and a bondman  , kick out Flay Alster  and Natarle Badgiruel left behind to lead Figaro with Edgar Roni Figaro, lost the Strike and Blitz at hostile bondmen(ouch) and the Archangel nearly got scraped too many times. They also kick out at least 10 men(minus the KIA'ed) for a coup de ta during the MKR arc, got problems with ammunition and supplies, and not to mention the chickens they're breeding at the hanger when the said area was blown open by the bondmen while they're in space and got crushed after the ship got warped under the sea at the FF6 realm. oh well... I said my peace. I don't know if this one is classified as a flame or not but that's what i think about this fic, although i read them by skimming thru it, seeing if it got better or not.  As for me, Can't figure how to continue mine without making my OC side, Ragna-breakers, a game breaker too much. (Reia as a 2 time war vet and a reincarnation of Fenris Fenrir, who's also powerful sorceress like herself, Odin as a 1 time war vet, a reincarnation of Vergil and a Dark knight/dark slayer/paladin, Trigger as a 150+ yr old war vet, a purifier, a class S marverick hunter and adventurer who's lost in time and place, Mariemeia as a deadly blood knight assassin and sniper, Elene as a gun-craze, small girl-big gun gunslinger, Sarah as a Mystic Swordwoman and the reincarnation of Sarah Irene, Iris as a powerful Cleric and also the reincarnation of Iris Irene and Ami as the residential hot head martial artist/monk) tell me how I can't have a hard time balancing them up Ami and Iris with ZAFT, Reia is aligned with ATX team, Trigger with the Alpha Numbers, Odin with Orb(offically) while Sarah, Maria and Elene being free agents who tends to fight the oppressive side. 
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Darwin's nominee are best for laughs.
MGLN "Befriending" shows love thru superior firepower (Zenryokou Zenkai!) Gundams are your worst nightmare in the battlefield. SRW beats all foes. JAM Project pwns all!!! And I can't still make fanfic without restarting from the start when new ideas comes in... |
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2011-02-20, 02:42
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Link #29352 | |||||||
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Queen of Tragedy
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Place of rocks and trees, and trees and rocks...and water.
Age: 33
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Spoiler for reply to Moczo:
Ah, whether or not Precia has learned her lesson or not....isn't that an interesting thought?
 Evil Linith who loves Clone!Fate is scary . Yes, Vivio's going to have quite the adventure...
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I know, but it was really cool to see how it was a series of guesses from people that led to the realization . That's so great to see!Spoiler for spoiler to Laith:
That's exactly the story I wanted to write about: "What if Precia had told Fate about Alicia? How could this different motivation have changed Fate's choices?"
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Spoiler for spoiler to SilentOutlaw:
We shall see
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Spoiler for spoiler to yuiseppe:
*cackles as well* Yes, Vivio learnt her lessons of life from her Nanoha-mama!
Ah, okay, thanks for letting me know. I left some of that in deliberately, since I didn't want to have either Original!Fate or Clone!Fate to think of themselves as "original" or "clone", because since they've never met until now, both of them thought that they were the only one! (It was a huge pain to write them actually talking to each other !) I'll look it over and see if there might be some tags I can slip in the first paragraphs to make it clearer who's who ^^.Oh...I forgot to mention that Clone!Fate had Jewel Seeds already, from previous missions @_@. Er, assume that she and Linith 2.0 can travel between dimensions safely! *mental note to edit that later* But I kind of like what you were implying there.....
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Spoiler for spoiler to Tiresias:
...........*headdesk* I didn't know that Linith was........more "cat" than "mountain cat/lion"
. I'm imagining like......huge gray puma with larger fangs than Arf............
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. And as mentioned to Tiresias...... *blush* I had no clue what Linith's familiar form looked like, since I hadn't watched the movie yet either, and I read that Linith was a mountain cat so the first image that came into my head was this: And yes....transformation magic .Quote:
Spoiler for spoiler to Justin Brett:
The story is supposed to take place during ViVid--after Vivio receives Sacred Heart but before she meets Einhart. No, no alternate realities......I've got enough of those as unfinished fics!
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2011-02-20, 03:19
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Link #29353 | |
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Labda Prakarsa Nirwikara
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Pekanbaru (UTC+07:00)
Age: 37
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Quote:
Spoiler for I...uh...:
...Transformation magic. Yeah, that's the one (you might wanna mention it somewhere though, else there would be another movie-watcher with similar conclusion) Quote:
Spoiler for Vivid?:
I...really doubt she's already in the service, especially since she attends a Saint Church school, not the Midchildan equivalent of JROTC
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2011-02-20, 03:57
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Link #29354 | |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
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Quote:
Spoiler:
Like Tiresias said, she's not in the Bureau at the time she receives Sacred Heart. And it's mere days between getting Cris and meeting Einhart, so there's no space to squeeze in this story between them.
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2011-02-20, 11:31
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Link #29355 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Whittier, Southern CA
Age: 34
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Okay, I've calmed down. But I'ma keep postin'.
Spoiler for Book 4 and 9:
And on the topic of her 'revenge': the incident with Pain/Nagato at the end of Book 4 shows Teana, just as it does Naruto, the downside of typical revenge, so she decides to dial back her vengeance to "only" challenging Nanoha to a one-on-one fight in the middle of the wilds of Midchilda (no civvies in the way), to beat her but NOT kill her, and then just be really cold and angry to Nanoha and Vita from then out. Of course, the fact that the TSAB high-ups learn about the REAL circumstances behind Tiida's death (going up against Pain... and actually holding his own before being killed) and thus change their tune, publicly apologizing for demeaning him and instead posthumously praising him for holding out as long as he did against a SS-rank shinobi, really helps in calming Teana down and leaving her to still kinda dislike the TSAB, but not wish harm upon them anymore.
Yeah, I have a detailed outline for the entire fic series typed up already. Oh, and the army isn't at Teana's command. It's at Colonel Holland's and Zhal Arum's command. And so is Teana and her team. |
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2011-02-20, 11:48
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Link #29357 |
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A Drifter...
Author
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Brampton
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Spoiler for Another MD interlude scene:
“It’s been a while since we walked home from school together, Einhart-san,” chirped Vivio Takamachi as they went about their usual route through the city after school.
“I apologize. I’ve been rather busy as of late,” said the other girl softly. “But we’ve only just started the trimester! Did you already join a club? I haven’t figured out if I wanted to join the Strike Arts club or the literary club or if I wanted to branch into something totally new like Lio-san and Corona-san did.” “They already joined a club?” That would explain why they’re not here. “Mm-hmm! Corona-san’s gotten into the magical artifact research club while Lio-san just joined a club which studies different magic systems!” The eleven year old paused. “So what about you?” “I have been occupied with preparing for high school entrance exams.” Vivio frowned upon hearing her friend’s response. “That’s still months away. You’re not graduating until March, right?” Einhart brushed a loose strand of her silver green hair away from her face. “If I’m going to be accepted into my first choice of high school, then I need to be on top of my studies.” “Isn’t that a bit lonely? Studying all by yourself? Unless you got Tio with you.” Upon hearing his name, a small device in the shape of a snow leopard poked his head out of Einhart’s school bag. “Rowr?” “Actually, I have a study partner to keep me focused and motivated. He’s planning to go to the same high school as I am so we are helping each other.” The Hegemon’s descendent held out her hand for her device. He ended up scampering up her extended arm to take a resting place on her shoulder. That got Vivio’s attention. “A friend? What’s he like? Is he nice?” She paused for a moment. “Does he even go to our school? Maybe I’ve met him before.” “He doesn’t attend St. Hilde. He’s been taking an accelerated academic program in order to catch up on the school that he missed,” replied Einhart. “It was only recently that he entered a local middle school to enjoy a normal student life.” “Was he sick when he was younger?” She shook her head. “I do not fully understand the details but from what I was able to hear, he had experienced a highly traumatic event several years ago on his home world. But despite that, he has endured and is making a new life for himself. If it hadn’t been for the news about those dangerous mages coming to this world, he probably would be out travelling, exploring and searching for ways to close the door on his past so he could move on towards his future. He truly is an admirable person.” “Hm, that sounds familiar…” Vivio vaguely recalled hearing something like that before when she visited Einhart just shortly after she moved in with the Nakajima family. “In any case, you must really like him if you think he’s admirable.” That innocent comment got Einhart’s cheeks to flush lightly. “Well, I…” “Ahhh… it’ll be a sad day when you leave us behind and go pursue your passion for that other friend of yours!” She began shaking her head wildly as the blush intensified. “Nonononono! I still care about you a lot and-” Vivio giggled. “Nyahahaha! I’m just joking, you know. I’m glad to hear that you’re making other friends too.” Since when did she get so playful and teasing? Unless… ‘Olivie…’ Einhart didn’t feel too surprised. Lingering emotions and memories from Claus have influenced her own thoughts and feelings at times. The same case should apply to her friend. In this situation, it would seem that Vivio had inherited that playful side of the last Sankt Kaiser. The sudden movements of her friend searching her school bag brought the Hegemon’s descendent back to reality. “Is something wrong?” “Odd… I thought I had an unfinished water bottle in here. I guess I’ll have to get home for a drink.” “There’s a vending machine up ahead at that department store. I’ll buy you something.” Just as the two reached the machine, they saw a young boy, dressed in a sharp black school uniform, picking up some iced coffee for himself. It didn’t take long for Einhart to recognize the figure. “Touma-kun?” “Oh, hey! Fancy seeing you around this neck of the woods!” “So that’s the friend you were talking about?” Vivio leaned a bit closer to examine the boy’s features better. “W-wait a minute! I do remember seeing you a few months back at the Inter-Middle City Tournament! You were Einhart-san’s towel boy!” Touma gave a nervous laugh. “Well, my sisters were called out to a work related emergency so I had to take over helping out Einhart with cool down, rehydration and stuff like that. To be honest, I really wasn’t sure if I was doing it right since I’m not much into these things.” “You did well enough. If it had not been for your efforts, I most likely would have been eliminated from the tournament earlier,” replied Einhart before seeing Vivio close in on Touma and cup his face with her hands. “Vivio-san, what are you…?” “Despite all that has happened to you, your eyes reflect warmth and strength.” The eleven year old smiled. “I can see why Einhart-san is fond of you.” ‘She commented on his eyes, just like how I did with her…’ A growing feeling of horror rose up in the thirteen year old girl’s chest. ‘It can’t be…’ “Rowr?” Asteon couldn’t tell what was distressing his master so but it didn’t seem to be life threatening so he let it be. ‘Dammit, not another one!’ It was bad enough that she had to wrestle for the boy’s attention from the Nakajima sisters and now it looked like a new challenger has appeared. “Um… can you…?” He really wasn’t sure what to do here with his face being held so tenderly by the little girl’s hands. “Sorry… but can I just stay like this a little bit longer?” And all the while, Einhart silently fumed. ‘Stupid Touma! Stupid, sexy Touma!’
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 Thanks to 00-Raiser for hooking me up with the sig! |
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2011-02-20, 12:58
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Link #29359 |
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Left for TFF
Author
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Frozen Hell of the North
Age: 41
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Ugh, I HATE Saturdays!
SOOO much! 11 hours straight at work does NOT do wonders for writing energy. Shine 1-40 Shine 41 Shine 42 Shine 43 and 44 Spoiler for Blood That Flows - Shine 45:
Later...
"Nanoha?" Fate blinked as she looked at the other girl. "You look down, what's up?" Beside her, Yuuno was looking at Nanoha in concern. It was hard not to worry, as she only had a small amount of food on her plate and she was barely touching it. "Remember Zest, Megane and Quint?" Nanoha asked softly, getting a nod from the two of them. "Yeah, Megane was an awesome summoner and she was really skilled and..." "She's dead." Nanoha said, getting a gasp from the two of them. "And Zest and Quint got badly hurt on a mission after they trained with us. I found out that Quint might not be able to walk again and Zest is still in the hospital." "What?" Fate gasped softly. "But, he's so strong, what happened?" Nanoha shook her head. "I don't know, I only found out that the mission went bad." Fate looked at her food, suddenly not very hungry. "...Do you know where they are? Maybe we can go visit them?" Nanoha blinked and tilted her head. "No... I don't know where they are, but we can go find out." She looked at Yuuno and her eyes widened. "Wait a minute, maybe..." "Excuse me." A female voice spoke up, interrupting them. Nanoha turned to see a brown haired woman in a green dress holding something in her hands. "Yes?" She looked at Fate, then at the thing she was holding. "Excuse me, but, is your name Fate Testarossa?" "Inverse." Fate said, her face showing some annoyance. "My name is Fate Inverse, I'm no longer Fate Testarossa." "Ah, my apologies then." She nodded to the girl, who seemed mollified. "I need to talk to you about Precia..." Fate got up and turned around as Nanoha and Yuuno both stood, glaring at her. "Wait, please! Just listen to what I have to say. That's all I ask." When Fate didn't move, she sighed in relief. "Precia, she... She's dying." "What?" Yuuno blinked at her. "What do you mean, she's dying?" He had healed her, he knew he did, so why would she be dying now? "It's what I said. She's not eating much, nor is she taking care of herself unless I do. Her body's just slowly shutting down." The woman gave Nanoha the object she was holding. "Every night, she goes to sleep, looking at this picture." "Alicia..." Fate said softly. "That's probably Alicia..." "Fate-chan..." Nanoha said softly and passed the picture onto Yuuno. "I... I don't think that's Alicia." Fate balled her hands into tight fists. "It has to be. She never saw me as her daughter, she only cared about Alicia, no matter what I tried, it wasn't good enough for her and..." She trailed off, her eyes widening as Yuuno put the picture in front of her. On the picture was a small blonde girl, a little redheaded wolf girl and an older, busty catgirl, all three smiling happily under a tree in a field of flowers. "...This was... A picture Linith took of us... Before she..." Fate brought her hands up to her face and gasped, before turning to the woman. "...Precia... Looks at this?" The woman nodded slowly. "Yes... I don't know how much longer she'll live, but... I think it would do her a lot of good if you went to see her, even just once." Seeing Fate look undecided, she tried a different approach. "I don't know what happened between the two of you, but I'm not asking you to forgive her, just visit her." Fate took a deep breath and nodded. "Very well... I need to get permission first though." "Of course." She nodded to the girl, smiling softly. (---) Later... "Where is that..." She groaned and slumped down to the floor. She felt so weak and tired lately. "Where is that picture..?" Panting, she forced herself to her feet. "I know that it was here when I went to sleep, where..." She blinked as she heard the door open and close. "Yes..?" "Ah, Precia, I'm back." Her nursemaid said, causing Precia to shake her head and get back onto the bed. "I... What happened?" She gasped as she saw the state of disarray that Precia's room was in. "I lost that picture, where is it?" Precia's eyes widened as she saw what the woman had. "Um, sorry." She took the picture over to Precia. "The frame was dirty, so I was washing it." Precia snatched the picture from her nursemaid's hands, glaring at her as she put it back on the dresser carefully. "But, there's someone here to see you." Anything Precia would have said died on her lips as her face paled when she saw the person that her nursemaid allowed into the room. "You... No..." "Hello." Fate said softly as she looked at Precia. She expected to feel anger, rage, or even pity. As she saw Precia, looking so tired, her eyes were slightly blood-shot,Precia's hair looked matted against her body and it looked like Precia had lost a lot of weight that she didn't need to. Fate really just felt numb and unable to feel anything. She didn't understand why, but she couldn't feel anything for Precia at that moment. "Why'd you come here?" Precia asked the small blonde. "...You're looking well." She caught a glimpse of Nanoha and Yuuno behind Fate. "I take it that you're happy in your life." "I can't complain." Fate bit her lip softly, wondering why it was hard to form words. Her mind was swirling and chaotic and she couldn't figure out what she wanted to say at that moment. "Why did you come back?" Precia asked her after several moments of silence. "I let you go, free to do what you will, why come back to me?" "...I don't know..." Fate finally answered her. "I... I was so angry at you after what happened with Alicia... All I ever wanted was to make you happy.. But, I know that I wasn't good enough for you, wasn't I? I tried so hard, and yet, to you, I kept screwing up. You never saw me as your daughter, you just saw me as a replacement. And then, I ended up killing her, Alicia, because I really am what you called me... A monster and..." "Stop." Fate blinked as Precia shook her head. "You never were at fault, Fate... I was." Seeing the shocked look on Fate's face encouraged her to continue. "I never should have done what I did." "But you did." Fate said, looking at the floor, her body shaking softly. "I never saw you as a person, Fate..." Fate looked up, anger in her red eyes as tears started to fall out of her face. "Why? Because I'm a clone? Because I wasn't left handed? Because I wasn't born from you like Alicia was?! Because I couldn't be perfect like Alicia was? Because I'm different?" Fate's lips trembled as tears ran down her cheeks. "You were always my mother! But, I know... I'm not your daughter, am I? I'm just a clone, someone who will turn into a monster and hurt everyone. You hurt me... Alicia hurt me... How long until I turn into someone that hurts everyone?" Precia just watched as Fate hiccuped there, trying to stop herself from crying and failing. "I never saw you as a person, because I couldn't be the mother you deserved." Fate blinked and looked at her in surprise. "It's why I let you go completely, I could never be the mother you deserve. You were someone special, and I never could see it." Precia shifted on her bed so that she could lay down again. "Precia, I..." "Just leave, I'm feeling tired." The nursemaid sighed softly and led Fate out of the room. "I'm sorry." She whispered softly as she led them out of the house. As soon as they were outside, Yuuno found himself being squeezed tightly by Fate as she finally gave up and started crying into his shoulder. Not that he or Nanoha blamed her, it had taken a lot of willpower from the two of them, plus a threat from Fate to smack them both with Bardiche if they did anything, to not go in there and yell at Precia. |
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2011-02-20, 13:43
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Link #29360 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Whittier, Southern CA
Age: 34
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Yes, Tia isn't in the first of these two chapters except for a radio contact at the end, but this chap is necessary for story flow.
Spoiler for Nightfall:
BOOK 1 - NIGHTFALL
Reach August 11th, 2552 – 26:30 hours As the spotlight-carrying Phantom moved on, Jess emerged from the shadow he’d been hiding in, moving up to catch up with Jun, who had started moving from his own hiding spot nine yards ahead. The two Spartans stepped gingerly along the narrow edge of the cliff, mindful of the hundreds-of-meters drop directly to their left. “Recon Bravo Team reporting” Jun radioed back to base, “Three and Six in position. It’s starting to get crowded up here, Kat.” “Then we’re closing in” Kat replied over the comm., as Jun & Jess rounded a corner and found surer footing, overlooking solid ground. “Report any Covenant structures or devices. Direct action may be necessary.” “Copy that” Jun said as the comm. channel closed, and then chuckled as he turned to Jess. “When Kat runs an op, direct action is always necessary.” He grabbed one of the two satchels hanging from his back and handed it to Jess. “Here; you may need these”. Jess looked inside; it was a bag of sniper rifle clips. Jess inserted one into his rifle. “High-velocity armor piercing” Jun explained, “They’ll take the head off an Elite at 2,000 yards. And they ain’t cheap.” The two headed further along the ledge, Jun then scaling a boulder. “I’ll be in touch” he said. Jess skidded down the nearby rock slope, jumping the last six feet to the ground. …Too Quiet “Recon Bravo,” Kat radioed, as Jess began cautiously moving forward, “the sector ahead is dark to electronic surveillance.” “The Covenant can block our instruments?” Jun asked with muted surprise. “So it would seem,” Noble-2 replied, “and Command wants to know what they’re hiding.” Jess creeped around another ledge, spotting a red-armored Elite facing away from him, staring into the night. Jess snuck up on him, and then pounced, grabbing the alien’s neck and twisting. Other than the semi-muffled crack, it was a silent takedown, as Jess quietly lowered the body to the ground. “Not bad” remarked Jun, watching from higher up. Jess used his knife to quietly kill a pair of sleeping Grunts, and moved on. Below, three more Grunts slept; he let them be. Soon, Jess reached a rock platform overlooking a complex hosting a number of Covenant. He took cover behind a large boulder, minding the dead body of the UNSC army trooper leaning against it, assault rifle still in its lap. Jun walked up behind him, peering around the other side of the boulder. “Recon Bravo to Noble-2” Jun radioed, “stand by for contact report.” “Standing by for copy, over” came the reply. “We have eyes on multiple hostiles patrolling a settlement. This what we’re looking for, Kat?” “Negative; too small, and you’re not in the dark zone yet. Engage at your own discretion, but keep moving.” Jess nodded and sighted a red-armored Elite on the roof of the garage at the far end, and fired. The round tore the alien’s head off. He quickly shifted and took out the startled blue-armored Elite that was slightly closer, as Jun killed an Elite Ranger who was standing on the right-most building’s roof. Jess than drew his M6 pistol and started capping Grunts down below, as Jun fired a sniper shot to kill their blue-armored Elite overseer. After several Grunts fell, a Phantom flew in. The dropship fired its chin-gun, and Jess & Jun ducked behind the boulder. After several seconds, the Phantom flew off, having dropped off seven Jackals, six Grunts, and two Elites. The blue-armored Elite and four of the Jackals took up position in the center of the courtyard. Jess fired at the fuel tank in the courtyard center, and after a few seconds it went off with a bang, killing the Elite and three of the Jackals. A pistol shot took out the surviving Jackal. Meanwhile, Jun sighted and killed the red-armored Elite, and then drew his own pistol and opened fire on the Grunts. Together they killed three before the rest took cover. After about a minute, both leapt down to deal with the survivors up close. Jess killed two more Grunts and then used his hand-then-head method on two of the Jackals, and Jun threw a frag grenade to take out the other two avian aliens. The sniper then picked up a plasma pistol and used it to kill the remaining Grunts, tossing the gun aside when he was done with it. The area clear, the two Spartans moved on through a garage, splitting up; Jess went up some stairs to the right, while Jun went left and climbed a ladder up to a catwalk connected to the large tower in the middle of the next area. When Jess reached the top of the stairs, he immediately pulled up his sniper rifle and looked through the scope. The red-armored Elite standing on the circular catwalk around the tower only had time to briefly register seeing the Spartan before a sniper round blew its brains out. Jun reached the platform circling the tower at this point, taking position and opening fire, killing the Grunt manning a plasma turret on the nearby building’s second-floor patio. Jess followed the curve behind the wall, finding the side entrance to the building, from which three Grunts ran out. He used his pistol to bring them down, attracting the attention of an Elite Major. He shouldered the sniper rifle and clipped the alien’s shoulder, then snapped up his pistol and fired three shots. The first two finished taking down the Elite’s shields; the third pierced its neck, and it fell to the ground. Nearby, another Elite roared and fell as one of Jun’s shots punched through its chest. Over the next 20 seconds, the two Spartans quickly dealt with the remaining Grunts, and Jess entered the building, taking the stairs up and reaching the mounted plasma turret just as a Grunt and a Jackal came from the path to the right. He opened fire and gunned them down, and then ripped the plasma turret from its mount, jumping down with it and carrying it down the path, Jun close behind him. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie The two Spartans rounded a corner, and were surprised by the sounds of roars and growls, accompanied by screaming Grunts. Jess hopped onto a nearby boulder, and then clambered up onto a bigger one to get a vantage point. Jun followed him up. “Holy crap” the sniper breathed. “Look at that.” Two huge creatures were attacking the Covenant forces. They were both easily 20 feet tall, probably more, and their claws looked almost as big as a Spartan-III. They carved through the terrified Grunts, their thick hides shrugging off plasma bolts and bouncing away needler rounds as they used their tusks and claws to gore and slice their way through the diminutive aliens, who looked even smaller than usual next to these titans. And then, its alien targets dead, the closest one sniffed the air and turned to face the Spartans. It roared, and charged. Jess opened fire with the plasma turret, aiming for the head, as Jun fired his sniper rifle at the creature’s chest. Finally, just as it reached the base of the boulder, Jess’ plasma fire did its job, and the beast collapsed dead. Unfortunately, this attracted the attention of the other one. The two Spartans leapt down to the ground, opening fire on the second beast. A sniper round from Jun tore through its head, and as it fell its claw speared the turret Jess was carrying, rendering it useless. The two Spartans breathed a sigh of relief, examining the two fallen beasts. “Kat,” Jun said into the radio, “you pick any of that up?” “Affirmative, Recon Bravo” came the reply. “It’s an indigenous apex predator, called a güta.” “Damn things tore through a Covenant patrol like nothing. I think I see a dead Elite against one of the rocks; looks like he was pretty much torn in half.” “Reports say most of the gütas have fled the area already. Those were probably the last ones.” Gathering themselves, the two Spartans moved on. Passing through a small canyon, they hopped down a pile of rubble that made a convenient staircase, reaching a small grassy area with an eight-strong flock of moas. The docile ostrich-like birds moved to the side as the two augmented humans passed. As they approached a bend, repeated popping cracks could be heard up ahead. “Gunfire” Jun identified. “Magnums. Security sidearms. Standard issue.” The two reached an opening, which overlooked a pumping station. In it, five men were exchanging fire with Covenant forces. “Noble-2,” Jun radioed, “we’re at some sort of pump station. Got eyes on civilians; I’m thinking local militia. They’ve engaged hostiles.” “Move to assist” Kat ordered. “They may have intel we need.” “You heard her, Six” Jun said to his comrade. “Keep those civilians alive.” Jess nodded and pulled out his sniper rifle. He sighted a red-armored Elite and fired, taking the top half of its skull off. He fired again, downing another Elite Major, as Jun ran forward, firing his pistol at the Grunts. “Give us a hand!” the militia leader said. “Bastards just keep comin’!” A Spirit dropped off another clutch of Covenant, including a pair of Skirmishers that leapt onto the roof, and an Elite that quickly lost its life at Jess’ marksmanship. Jess than stowed his sniper rifle and drew his pistol, charging in and tossing a frag grenade. The device went off, shredding a pair of Jackals and a Grunt. A Skirmisher up on the roof was caught by a militiaman’s assault rifle, falling to the ground in a bloody heap. The militia leader, wielding a sniper rifle, took down the other Skirmisher, as the others and the two Spartans mopped up the Grunts. Afterwards, the group gathered near a pair of long briefcases. “Little more action than we’re used to” remarked the militia leader. “You Spartans are good in a fight.” “What are you doing here?” Jun responded. “This whole area’s supposed to be evacuated.” “We didn’t like leaving it to someone else to protect our homes. So we came back… for this.” He gestured to the briefcases, which opened to reveal two DMRs and clips in one, and a sniper rifle and rocket launcher in the other. “We have them hidden all over the territory.” “You know,” Jun said, “this stuff is stolen…” “What?” the leader replied, “you gonna arrest me?” “No… I’m gonna steal it back.” Jess dropped his pistol and grabbed a DMR and five clips of ammo for it. A tall and muscular militiaman grabbed the launcher and two extra rockets, while the sniper militiaman grabbed two more clips of ammo for his rifle. A Phantom flew overhead, stopping over the far edge of the little island the pump station was built on. Jess ran onto the top of the nearby building, the rocket man following him. The dropship dropped off two Elites and four Jackals. The militiaman fired a rocket at the tightly clustered Jackals, killing all four of them. Jun and the sniper man took down the two Elites. Another Phantom flew over, heading to the road across the bridge. It dropped off several Grunts and an Elite Ultra. Jess ran onto the bridge and tossed a frag grenade, killing four Grunts, and then turned to meet the Elite. The alien roared and fired its concussion rifle, and Jess ducked behind a crate to dodge. He poked out, rifle shouldered, and fired. The first shot smacked the Elite in the chest, draining the shields and denting the armor, causing the alien to stumble backward. The second shot entered the bottom of the helmet, where a human’s lower jaw would be, and exited the top rear of the Elite’s head. The lifeless body toppled backward. The militiamen had finished off the Grunts with help from Jun, and a third Phantom soared overhead, taking position above the artificial stream to the left of the bridge. Five Grunts, three Jackals, and a blue-armored Elite jumped down, and the craft took off and flew away into the night. A grenade flew through the air, landing amongst them and killing a Jackal and two Grunts. Sniper fire from Jess, Jun, and the sniper militiaman took down the Elite, the other two Jackals, and two more Grunts. A pistol shot from the militia leader killed the last Grunt. The area clear, the group moved on to the bridge, the militia leader picking up the fallen Elite’s concussion rifle and two cartridges of ammo for it. “Nothing here but that lake” Jun said, looking to the leader. “The road leads to a hydroelectric plant, but the gate doesn’t work.” “Alternate route?” “We use the riverbed to smuggle rations, weapons…” “Basically, anything the UNSC considers contraband.” “…Basically.” “Show us.” The seven soldiers walked down a nearby trail, entering a dried-up riverbed and following it, passing rocks, trees, and a sleeping moa. “Where does this riverbed lead?” Jun asked their guide. “Straight to the hydro plant” the man replied. “We dammed this river up 45 years ago. The plant powers every settlement in the territory. Shame if it all gets wasted…” “We’re doing what we can” Jess replied. A throbbing whirr could be heard, and everyone took cover in shadows as a Phantom passed overhead. Several seconds later, they continued moving. I'll Just Leave This Here… The group reached the end of the riverbed, finding a large power plant covered in Covenant troopers. A large pylon, clearly of Covenant build, stood a bit to the left. “Kat,” Jun reported, “are you seeing this? Covenant structure; kind of a big pylon. Heavily guarded.” “That’s the source of our dark zone” Kat stated. “Okay,” the sniper Spartan replied, “consider it gone.” “Negative” she ordered. “Stick a remote det-charge on it. Command’s planning something big; they say that pylon dies at dawn.” “We gonna blow it?” a militiaman asked. “We’re gonna clear the area”, Jun explained, “and I’m gonna plant a remote det-charge. If you want to provide some cover, go right ahead.” The man nodded and turned to his fellows, who also nodded. Jess quickly sniped the two Elites standing on a walkway up high, and then killed a Jackal to the far right, as the other six ran to the left heading for the bridge. Jess followed after a few seconds. By the time he caught up, the others had already cleared the bridge, and the seven then crossed, engaging a few Grunts. A militiaman armed with an assault rifle hurried up the stairs, and then collapsed to the ground as a thin green bolt went through his skull. Jess hopped over him and sighted the Elite Major holding a Covenant carbine, shrugged off a shot that bounced off his shields, and shot the alien through the neck. Jun stepped up behind Jess and took out the Skirmisher standing next to the dead Elite, as the militia leader fired two concussion rifle shots at the Grunts below, the resulting methane tank cook-off killing three and wounding two more. With the area clear, the six men gathered at the base of the pylon. “This is gonna take a minute, Six” Jun said, ripping free a metal plate and getting to work. Just then, a Phantom flew in, dropping a pair of Hunters and bugging out. The launcher-wielding militiaman fired a rocket, and it hit the old forklift that was directly behind the Hunters. The explosions of the warhead and of the vehicle’s fuel tank badly wounded the Hunters, who both roared and returned fire. The soldiers ducked behind the pylon’s legs, and twin bolts of green death impacting the structure and leaving it glowing hot. Jess tossed a plasma grenade, and it stuck to the left Hunter’s head. It went off, and the now-headless beast toppled. The other Hunter roared and charged, but by this time the burly militiaman had reloaded the launcher. He peeked out from cover and fired a rocket. The Hunter raised its shield, but even though the metal plate absorbed most of the damage, the rocket still did harm to the already-wounded beast. The Hunter reared back, dazed, and a sniper shot from Jess tore through its ‘neck’ and ended its life. “Recon Bravo to Noble-2” Jun radioed as he jammed the purple metal plate back into place. “Charge placed” “Somewhere inconspicuous, I hope?” Kat asked. “Stuck it inside the pylon’s power supply.” “Alright. Keep pushing into the dark zone. Command wants to know what the Covenant are hiding.” “There’s a gate to the southeast. It’s locked.” “Copy. Uploading security codes to you now.” The group got to the gate, and Jun began punching in a number code that scrolled across his HUD. The gate’s innards groaned, and it slid open to reveal a Phantom dropping four Grunts and a Jackal. A militiaman tossed a grenade, and it killed two of the Grunts and wounded the Jackal. Three concussion rifle shots from the militia leader finished them off, and he reloaded the weapon as the group moved forward. A Shade turret up ahead spotted them and opened fire. The rocket-wielding man fired his last warhead, falling to the ground a half-second later as a pair of heavy plasma bolts burned through his chest. The rocket did its job, scrapping the turret and fragmenting its Grunt operator. The assault rifle-wielding militiaman killed a trio of surprised Grunts to the right, as Jun & Jess went around the left of the massive boulder that the Shade had been sitting on. They ran into a pair of Elites. Near-point-blank sniper fire quickly dispatched the aliens, and a frag grenade killed a pair of red-shielded Jackals nearby. Jess used his DMR and the hand-then-head method to kill a farther Jackal, and then used it to head-shot the Grunt manning a second Shade. “Lotta air traffic around here, Six” Jun pointed to the quintet of Banshees up high, “I think we’re getting warm.” The five soldiers clambered up the second boulder, taking position next to the empty Shade. Jess peeked his head around the corner, and then rolled out and took aim, sniping the Elite manning a third Shade 60 meters away. The Grunts near the turret panicked, and Jess picked them off with his DMR. “Noble-2, we have eyes on at least one Covenant ship” Jun radioed, noticing the nose of a Covenant corvette. “Solid copy” came Kat’s slightly staticky voice. “Don’t stop now.” Another Elite fell to Jun’s marksmanship, and the five men moved down and in, killing a trio of Grunts and two Jackals. Eventually, the two Spartans came across an overlook. They went prone and combat-crawled up to the edge, spotting a massive Covenant landing zone. A corvette hovered overhead, and another one was in the distance. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Covenant mulled about below, and an AA gun was under construction. “Jackpot” Jun said. “Transmitting visual” Jess said, “You seeing this, Two?” “Confirmed” came Kat's voice. “Receiving Noble-3 and Noble-6’s live visual of a Covenant strike force.” “That’s no strike force” Jun replied. “It’s an invading army.” “Noble-7 to Command” Teana’s voice came over the radio. “Recon Charlie has located another Covenant landing zone 215 kilometers southeast of Team Bravo’s.” “Recon-111 to Command” came the voice of an ONI Recon squad. “Recon Alpha has found another one, 430 kilometers northwest of Team Bravo’s.” “If we’re gonna smother this thing,” Jun said, “we need to go in hard and fast.” “Agreed” replied Kat. “All recon teams, disengage and fall back. The Sun will be up in a few hours… and it’s going to be a very busy day.” Spoiler for Tip of the Spear:
BOOK 1 - TIP OF THE SPEAR
Reach Szurdok Ridge, Ütközet August 12th, 2552 A massive dust cloud, visible from low orbit, slowly crept across the plains, kicked up by a huge convoy of UNSC vehicles. Warthogs and Mongooses raced across the dusty rock, Scorpion tanks bringing up the rear. Overhead, an aerial escort of Pelicans, Falcons, and Hornets filled the sky. “It appears that Noble Team’s discovery last night was not an anomaly” Dot reported. “Large Covenant deployments have occurred undetected, and we are now under attack across the Viery territory, including orbital defenses. As per the Winter Contingency, we are countering on every front. Noble’s reconnaissance has also identified sophisticated Covenant army-hiding canopies, and has pinpointed what’s believed to be a landing zone for additional Covenant forces, the origin of which is yet to be determined.” The pack of military hardware rolled on, a chorus of revving engines heralding their coming. In one Warthog, near the front of the group, Kat sat at the driver’s seat. Jess rode shotgun, while Teana manned the M41 chaingun. Over them, Carter and Jorge rode in the lead Falcon, overlooking the rolling spectacle beneath them. “That landing zone has been tagged by UNSC Command as a priority one target” Noble-1 said over the TEAMCOM. “Time to bake that cake we made last night!” came the voice of Jun, who was currently riding shotgun on a Mongoose. “Copy that” Kat replied. “Acquiring signal lock on the pylon” She pulled up a detonator, looking to her right. In the distance, the Covenant pylon could be seen on a cliff-edge, panels on its side strobing a dull blue light. “Detonating in three, two, one!” She pressed the button, and a half-second later an explosion tore through one of the pylon’s legs. The device toppled to the ground. Suddenly, chaos broke out, as a flight of Banshees came in from up ahead, firing plasma bolts at the approaching human forces. One hit the driver of a Mongoose, which then tumbled out of control. Plasma mortars could be seen falling in, launched by distant Wraiths. One hit a Warthog dead-on, sending the flaming wreckage flying as momentum carried it forward. All the other vehicles took immediate evasive action, dodging the remaining plasma mortars. Warthog turrets turned to track and fire at the passing enemy fliers. Teana tracked a straggler Banshee, hitting its rear engine as it passed and sending it gliding powerless into the ground. Upon its landing, a Scorpion tank blew it to bits. The Hog moved on, followed two others to a bridge. “Incoming!” Jess pointed to a plasma mortar shell, which hit the bridge, blowing it apart and destroying the Warthog that had been crossing it. “Might want to hang on to something!” Kat shouted as their vehicle hit the ‘ramp’ of a broken bridge part and sailed over the gap. Teana let go of the gun and dropped to hug the floor of the Warthog, using Spartan strength to dig her own handholds into the metal. Jess grabbed onto the roll-bar, and Kat braced herself on the steering wheel. The vehicle tumbled and hit nose-first into the ground. It bounced, did a forward flip, and came back down. After several seconds of soundless white, the world faded back into view for Jess. He picked his head up and looked behind him just in time to see another Warthog, carrying three marines, fail to make the jump. They screamed as the vehicle plummeted. “Six!” Kat shouted to him as she helped a dazed but otherwise unharmed Teana out of the wrecked Warthog. “Six, can you hear me? Six, you alright? We could use some help!” Jess stumbled to his feet, grabbing the M318 grenade launcher that had been flung clear of the crash, and replied “I’m on my way!” He ran up to the other two. Teana switched Mirage to rifle form 3-round burst mode, and a barrage of plasma bolts from a pair of passing Banshees set the damaged Warthog alight. Jess fired a grenade in EMP mode, and the burst fried the systems of one of the Banshees. It went sailing over his head and dropped over the cliff behind him. Tempest Perimeter “Kat, Tia, Jess,” Carter radioed, “what’s your status?” “Pylons are down” Kat replied. “We’re pushing up the hill.” Jess fired another grenade, this one in standard mode, and the explosion killed two Jackals. Teana fired one from Mirage’s under-slung 40mm launcher, and three Grunts went down. Kat opened fire on more Grunts, killing two, and then ducked behind a boulder as fire from a Fuel Rod Gun Shade tore up the ground around her. Jess fired an EMP burst, and an Elite Major’s shields failed; a three-shot burst from Teana tore through its neck. Jess and Teana picked off the rest of the Grunts and Jackals, and then split. Jess went around a boulder to the right, and quickly dashed out and fired a grenade at the nearest FRG Shade. The burst wounded the Grunt Heavy manning the gun, and a DMR shot killed it. Teana ran toward the other, dodging shots as she switched Mirage to sword form. Once she got close, she swung, slicing off the barrels of the gun. The Grunt panicked and tried to escape, but she stabbed it through the chest, steam whistling out as blood flash-boiled. The alien slumped dead in the seat. Seeing that the air was clear, a Pelican flew in, dropping a Warthog mounted with an M79 MLRS. The trio made their way toward it, as Carter contacted them. “Kat, be advised. ONI has identified two hostile anti-aircraft guns southwest of your location.” “Copy, Commander” Kat replied, as she manned the rocket system, Jess taking the driver’s seat and Teana riding shotgun, her Device again in rifle mode. “New target, Six. Shut down those AA guns.” He nodded, and hit the gas. The Rocket Hog followed a path bordering the cliff edge, taking a 30-foot drop into a small canyon and hanging a left. Ahead, a Covenant “Tyrant” Anti-Air Cannon could be seen sitting atop a humongous flat-topped boulder that was more than big enough to support it and the two-dozen Covenant guarding it. The gun fired a three-shot volley into the distance; Jess couldn’t see if it hit anything. “Two-Lima-Four to Noble-1” reported a Longsword pilot, “those guns are pounding us with high-velocity plasma shells.” “Which would mean that a strike from the frigate Grafton is also out of the question” Dot continued. “Noble-6,” Carter radioed, “all our birds are stuck out of range unless you can do something about those guns.” “We have one in sight now, Commander” Jess replied. “Just gotta clean out the guards first.” As they approached a cliff edge just past the gun, splattering a pair of inattentive Skirmishers, they looked out and saw a massive battle. A force of Covenant Wraiths and Banshees, topped off by a trio of Scarabs, traded fire with Warthogs, Falcons, Hornets, and Scorpions. One Scarab was forced to lower to the ground as its left front leg took too much damage. The sight-seeing was interrupted as Kat fired the launcher at a Ghost coming to investigate. Four rockets slammed into the Grunt-piloted vehicle, which exploded from the hits. A Revenant came over the nearby hill, and two more rockets were fired as Jess moved the Warthog out of the way of a falling plasma shell. The two rockets did marginal damage, and Kat waited impatiently for the launcher’s auto-reload to finish. Once it did, four more rockets took the Revenant down. Jess drove the Hog up to a natural ‘ramp’, and Kat, having reloaded the launch system, took down an Elite General with four shots, turning the last two on some Jackals. Teana opened fire on the Grunts, firing repeated short bursts in full auto to take them down. She then hopped out of the vehicle and ran inside. She took down the energy shield protecting the core with two punches, and then stuck a plasma grenade to it. She then legged it out of the gun, the explosion going off behind her. A low alarm began to sound as the gun began to shudder and spark. Just as Teana got back in the Warthog and Jess then reversed away from the structure, the AA gun exploded, the top part of it almost coming off. “2-Lima-4” came the Longsword flight leader’s voice, “permission to commence bombing run. Heading 224.6, over.” “Good work, guys” Carter said. “UNSC air support: skies are clear.” “Copy” came control. “2-Lima-4, bombing run, heading 224.6, permission granted. Out” A trio of Longswords roared overhead, hitting the three Scarabs. Two went up in twin blasts almost immediately. The third collapsed to the ground, exploding three seconds later. Overhead, two gunmetal-grey ships flew in, opening fire on the Covenant forces below. UNSC BROADSWORD-CLASS FRIGATE – 478 METERS As the Grafton and the Saratoga provided heavy fire support for the UNSC ground forces, Jess took the Warthog to the right, passing under a destroyed bridge. A rocket barrage destroyed a Ghost, and fire from the passenger killed a pair of Skirmishers. The Hog drove around the hill, soon reaching a point where the slope was a low enough angle to climb safely. At the top of the hill, a Wraith lobbed plasma mortars at a Pelican, while a Phantom fired its chin-gun at the human vehicle (the rapid rate of fire from the Phantom’s chin-gun revealed it to be a T-52-B, compared to the T-52-C which fired shots more akin to an oversized concussion rifle, and the T-52-A that carried three rapid-fire turrets). A quintet of rockets hit the unsuspecting Wraith in the aft end, and the hover-tank went up in a burst of blue flame. One reload later, and another three rockets hit the side of the Phantom. The Covenant dropship’s pilot, deciding that this just wasn’t worth it, bugged out, freeing the slightly singed Pelican to deposit a deployable bridge over the gap. Jess took the Rocket Hog over the bridge, driving through a short canyon, where Kat killed a quartet of Skirmishers. Hand Over Fist The trio reached a spot overlooking a large structure, and saw a squad of army troopers exchanging fire with a squad of Covenant clustered around a Shade. “Noble,” Carter radioed, “there’s a mining facility near your location. The Covenant are using it as a command outpost. Clear it out.” The Warthog drove up to the bridge, pulling in next to the squad, and Kat opened fire with the MLRS. Four rockets reduced the Shade to twisted metal, and the trio of Spartans then disembarked and engaged the remaining hostiles. A Jackal was backhanded over the bridge railing by Jess, and two Grunts were knifed by a particularly angry soldier. Soon, the front area was clear, and the three Spartans and nine troopers climbed a nearby short set of stairs onto a walkway that wrapped around the building. “New intelligence” Dot’s voice came in. “Friendly forces near the Covenant outpost have sighted a high-value target: an Elite Zealot.” “A Zealot?” Kat questioned. “We’re on to something big here, Commander.” “Eyes on the prize, Noble” Carter replied. “Take out that Zealot if you get the chance, but keep moving towards the spires.” Jess jogged ahead and melee-killed a pair of high-ranking Skirmishers, discarding his nearly-empty DMR for a needle rifle and four extra clips of ammo for it from the first one. Teana grabbed the other Skirmisher’s needle rifle and three clips. The group moved on, the two red-armored Spartans leading, and a frag grenade from Kat killed a pair of Jackals who rounded a circular tower. Jess spotted a group of Grunts standing next to a fuel tank. He fired a grenade, and the fuel tank went off, roasting the three aliens. The group moved on, rounding the tower and walking up the stairs. Teana fired three needle shots into a Grunt Ultra, and the trio of needles resonated and ‘super-combined’, the explosion tearing the alien’s chest open. Jess took down two lesser Grunts with a headshot each. The two then grabbed more ammo clips from a nearby Covenant ammunition crate. Kat and three troopers moved past them and up the stairs, encountering a red-armored Elite and a blue-shielded Jackal. Kat and two of the troopers focused assault rifle on the Elite, bringing it down, while the third trooper rushed in and shot the Jackal’s exposed hand with a shotgun, blowing it off. A second shot exploded the alien’s head. The trooper was promptly cut down by a short barrage of plasma bolts from the plasma turret 100 feet to the left. Jess & Teana focused fire on the Elite manning the turret, and quickly wore through its shields. A needle shot from Jess killed it, and Jess ran up and melee-killed a Jackal, before turning to the turret and ripping it free. The group moved on, rounding a corner and reaching a small courtyard beneath a large overlook. On the overlook, a pair of Jackals accompanied the Elite Zealot, who stood proud in red and gold armor. He spotted the humans and pointed, the two Jackals nodding and opening fire. Jess, Teana, and Kat hopped down and started across the courtyard, while the army troopers kept the Jackals’ attention. They climbed a short flight of stairs, Teana tossing a grenade to kill a trio of Special-Ops Grunts. Jess used the turret to mow down two more black-armored Grunts on the next set of stairs, and then walked up it. The Zealot was focused on the army troopers, firing concussion rifle shots and generally forcing them to keep their heads down. Jess opened fire with the plasma turret, catching the Elite leader by surprise. He didn’t give the alien a chance to run for cover or gather itself, and when Kat chipped in with assault rifle fire, the high-strength shields failed, and the Zealot fell. The two Jackals, stunned by the death of the commander of the Covenant forces in the area, were easy prey for Teana, who leapt in, using her rifle’s energy bayonet to cut them down. “High-value target has been neutralized” Kat commented. “Impressive, Six.” Jess walked up to a hole in the floor, firing the turret down at the two Spec-Ops Grunts he saw, and then leaping down to kill the third. The two female Spartans followed him in, Kat hurrying down the stairs and hosing the three Grunt Minors with assault rifle fire. Jess rounded a corner, catching two Grunts by surprise and taking them down with the turret. Kat grabbed a plasma launcher, and the three then headed for the Covenant vehicles they’d found. Jess hopped in the pilot’s seat of the Revenant, Kat joining him in the passenger’s seat. Teana mounted a Ghost. The two-vehicle convoy hovered down the canyon, encountering a blue-armored Elite and four Grunts. A plasma shell from the Revenant took out the Grunts, while fire from the Ghost’s guns downed the Elite quickly. “Could you two perhaps save some for me?” Kat remarked. “Sorry, ma’am” Teana replied. “We’ll try.” As they moved on, Carter contacted them again. “Update, guys: scans show another Covenant AA gun ahead of your location. I want you to neutralize that gun by any means necessary.” The two vehicles soon reached another wide-open rocky area; on a tall rock outcropping sat the AA gun. They drove off a gap created by a broken bridge, landing to the right of a passing trio of Jackals. Teana used the Ghost to kill two of them, the third being obliterated by a Revenant shell. They then went left, spotting a red-armored Elite and four Grunts. Kat fired her pistol at the top of the rock wall above and to the right, killing two Skirmishers. Jess hit the boost, smashing into the Elite and crushing its torso. He hit the brakes, and the momentum launched the dying alien into a Grunt, knocking it over and freaking it out. A plasma shell killed two of the Grunts, and Kat fired a plasma launcher grenade at the first Grunt, also blowing apart the still-barely-alive Elite. The two vehicles then took evasive action to dodge the plasma mortar shell, turning to face an approaching Wraith. Teana drove up and peppered the front armor with plasma bolts. The Wraith responded by trying to boost into her. She slid the nimble craft out of the way, and then began pouring fire into the more vulnerable rear section. Before she could finish it off, it turned back around to face her… and was hit in the rear by a shot from Jess’ Revenant. The engine overloaded and burst into flame, the 47-ton hovercraft hitting the ground with a thud. The three Spartans then went up a nearby rock ramp, and two Hunters emerged from the gun’s interior. Jess began firing the Revenant’s main gun as fast as the mechanism would respond without overheating the weapon. Teana started blasting them with Ghost fire, and Kat launched several plasma launcher grenades. The sheer volume of plasma fire superheated the beasts’ armor, roasting the Lekgolo within. The Hunters keeled over, their innards smoking. Jess drove up, firing several plasma shells into the gun’s interior, eventually overloading the core. The gun’s alarm began to sound, signaling the two vehicles to hurry down the slope. Several seconds later, the AA gun exploded, multiple gouts of flame tearing their way out across the weapons’ structure. A Pelican then flew in, launching a barrage of missiles at a Wraith on the far side of the gun. The alien tank quickly went up in a blue explosion under the assault, as the human dropship turned its attention to a pack of Jackals and Grunts, raking chin-gun fire across them and reducing them to bloody chunks. The ground clear, the dropship then descended and released its cargo: a marine squad, accompanied by two ODSTs. “Well done, Noble” Carter’s voice came in. “ONI needs close-up recon on those spires; we’re gonna fly you the rest of the way.” “Jorge has a Falcon inbound to our position” Kat stated to Jess & Teana, before contacting Carter. “Commander, I’m going to set up a forward observation post here.” “Copy that” came the reply. “I’m waiting on new intel. Carter out.” The trio disembarked their stolen vehicles as a Falcon descended. Jorge was already aboard. “Need a lift, Spartans?” Jess took the port-side grenade turret, Teana the starboard one. “We spotted some nasty business in the canyon on the way down” the older Spartan said. “I’ll call out targets as we go” the pilot radioed, as the Falcon lifted off. The Spire “Top of the canyon, dead ahead” the pilot called out. Jess fired a few grenades at a pack of Jackals coming out of a tunnel on the left, while the Elite on the right edge of the bridge got blown away by Teana’s turret. On the left side of the open area, Scorpions and Wraiths exchanged fire in the distance, the two UNSC frigates pitching in to further tip the odds in the humans’ favor. Both Spartans opened fire, Jess slagging a heavy Shade turret while Teana blew up a trio of Elites. As the Falcon advanced, Jess claimed two more turrets and a Wraith, while Teana destroyed a turret and a pack of Grunts. Soon, the craft approached a massive translucent blue dome, which repelled all fire from the frigates’ ventral guns. In the center of the dome stood a massive blue and purple spire. “There’s our target” Jorge said. “Latest intel suggests these spires may be projecting electromagnetic cloaking shields” Dot said over the comm. “Priority one, pilot” Jorge ordered. “We’ve gotta know what’s in there.” “Affirmative, sir” the pilot nervously replied, gathering his courage and inching closer to the blue field. “Here we go.” As soon as the Falcon passed through the field, things went wrong. “We just lost all power! We’re goin’ down!” The Falcon began to spin and fall, its rotors shutting down. "Lock your armor, Spartans!” “Brace for crash-landing!” There was a crunch, and the world seemed to spin and jump. After several seconds of tumbling, Teana got to her feet, stumbling slightly as she walked over and grabbed hold of Jess’ hand, pulling him to his feet. Jorge tossed some equipment out of the wrecked craft. “Crew’s dead” he said, gesturing to blood splattered on the inside of the cockpit canopy. “We shouldn’t stay here." He bent over and picked up his machinegun. Jess’ grenade launcher was gone, but his needle rifle was still intact and with him, along with four clips of ammo, plus two more Teana gave him, considering her own needle rifle was gone. He grabbed a jetpack and snapped it on, as Teana readied Mirage Rifle. “I’m picking up hostiles all over the place” Jorge said. “We’ve gotta move.” The trio worked their way across the river, Jess using his needle rifle to kill a beam-rifle-wielding Skirmisher atop a boulder. Two more Skirmishers, one with a needle rifle and the other with a carbine, also went down. “Commander,” Jorge radioed, “we’ve got eyes on the spire. Looks like a staging area.” “Copy, we have your visual. Dot’s working the problem; stand by.” The group moved on, Jorge mowing down a group of Grunts to the left while Jess & Teana ventilated the skulls of another Grunt pack coming down from the right. Teana scampered up the boulders, grabbing the dropped particle beam rifle. 100% charged. She tossed Jess another clip of needle rifle ammo. She then fired a shot at an Elite Major manning a plasma turret up ahead; the particle beam drilled its way through the Elite’s skull, and it slumped over the gun. As the trio reached a rock outcropping and the spire came into full view, a Phantom appeared out of nowhere in the Spire’s midsection, and flew off. “What the…?” Teana's head tilted in confusion. “Noble-5,” Dot contacted, “ONI believes those spires to be teleportation terminals.” “Teleporters?” Jorge questioned. “Linked to what?” “Frigate Grafton is on station ready to kill that spire,” Carter radioed, “but first we need to power down its shields.” “Understood.” The tall Spartan turned to the red-armored pair. “I’ll hold these bastards off; you two find a way to the top of that spire.” Teana used her beam rifle to kill an Elite manning an FRG Shade at the base of the spire; in response, a pair of Banshees flew in. One flew low enough for Jess to jet up and grab on. He wrenched the cockpit open and kicked the Elite pilot out, and then flew back down so Teana could grab onto the wing. Once satisfied that she was holding on tight, he flew the craft up, quickly reaching the top of the tower. “Spartans,” Carter radioed, “I’m en route with a Falcon. I’ll pick you up as soon as you knock out power to that shield.” “Hurry, you two” Jorge called as they reached the top, Teana hopping down as Jess set the Banshee down and climbed out. “We’ve got a frigate inbound to blow that spire to kingdom come.” Teana switched her Device to dual pistol mode and opened fire on a trio of Spec-Ops Grunts, while Jess used his needle rifle to take down a fuel-rod-gun-wielding Grunt Heavy further in. As they entered the structure, they heard a roar, and an Elite Ultra charged them, wielding a plasma sword. Teana stored one of her pistols and switched the other to Longsword Mode, blocking the alien’s downward strike. She parried another strike, and thrusted forward. The blade slid off the alien’s shields, draining them almost completely. A kick to the midsection took the shields down, and after five more seconds of swordplay Teana saw an opening and took it, spearing the Elite in the chest, right through the alien’s right heart. She sliced left, bisecting the other heart and cutting out beneath the left armpit. The Elite collapsed. Jess walked up, killing another FRG-wielding Grunt, and hit the button on the console. He and Teana then sprinted out of the building, just as a Falcon hovered up. They jumped, and Carter caught Teana while Jorge grabbed hold of Jess, the two Spartans pulling their comrades in. “Get us out of here” Carter radioed the pilot, who was happy to oblige. As the Falcon moved away, Carter radioed the main base. “Control, Spire One is green, and you’re free to engage. Have a nice day.” “Copy that, Noble-1” came air control’s reply. “Be advised, all ground units: Frigate 318-Heavy is inbound, and MAC rounds have been authorized.” “MAC rounds?” Jorge said incredulously, “In atmosphere?” “One way to get their attention” Carter replied. “Hang onto your teeth, people.” The quartet looked to the side as the Grafton passed them, flying toward the tower. After a few seconds, the ship's MAC fired at 5% charge. The hypersonic 600-ton shell tore through the spire, which began to fall in on itself. A purple glow in the sky heralded a thin white beam of death, lancing down from on high. It gutted the frigate, hitting the bridge. A massive explosion ripped through the ship’s aft end, and secondary explosions chained along its length as it began to fall. The Spartans watched in horror. “New contact” Auntie Dot stated. “High tonnage.” “No…” Jorge muttered as he spotted the culprit. “Somebody tell me this ain’t happening…” “UNSC frigate Grafton, do you copy?” air control tried to reestablish contact. “Grafton is scrap!” Carter called out over the radio. “We need to get the hell out of here now!” High above, the largest starship Teana had ever seen, easily dwarfing the TSAB’s largest battlecruisers, filled the sky. COVENANT DIVINITY-CLASS SUPERCARRIER – 10,692 METERS |
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authorshipping, befriending, fanfiction, interactive fanfiction, nanoha  |
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