Jeep Wrangler

~ Halo: Oman ~

I'll be making my reply tomorrow, folks! :D

@Delta44

Oooooh, exciting news.

Attack on Titan: Somnium

[centre]

Grant Hyral

_{Wall Rose - Trost District
@wolverbells@Solace}


Grant waited, at least at first. Jade swung into action, flying around with both Jay and presumably Reese to deal with the threat nearby. But for Grant, he stood there, watching at first. Though you could claim that it was because it was his role to hang back until the opportunity arose, but it was really to speculate where he was. He was stood there, facing off a human threat with people he either knew barely or knew quite well. This was the test that everyone had built him and his comrades up for. The first threat, the first assignment. This was how it was going to play out. With the blood, anguish and fire, the tyranny and the pitiful slaughter, this was the way that the world was going to play out. But for this moment, whatever the world had destined, Grant had his hopes on breaking his fate of death and pushing his boundaries to ending a Titan, once and for all.

The plan Jade had set up was quite well made, allowing them to work as a team and in harmony. However, Grant didn't feel up for the task of delivering the finishing blow. Originally, he would have wanted the chance to support and allow someone to take the glory they deserved, but Jade had other plans. She wasn't wrong in saying that out of the group, Grant did score the best in the use of the ODM gear. Maybe that skill was what was required, not the brute strength that would be required to tear it down. Whilst you could cut deep with strength, speed and angle favoured the same benefits. He could only guess that this was his chance to prove Jade right in her wise words that filled him with a somewhat warm determination. If he were to make it out alive, she'd need to be thanked for at least coming up with a plan stable enough to get him through this day to the next, or the hour to the next.

He readied himself, taking the stance to proper etiquette and form in order to gain the best possible lift he could. The two had already begun their swiped at the legs, hoping to at least demonstrate a clear boundary that the titan wasn't going to surpass this squad. But something felt off, very off.

Grant began to run across the roof-tops that encircled the now-raging fight between the Titan and Jade's squad. He needed to build up the momentum to quickly strike the behemoth, but the time it took for both Jade and Reese to strike was starting to wade into a shallow size. Jade's first strike was enough to damage and stagger the Titan, but the rest was up to Reese. Their timing was according to plan, but the Titan was quicker than anticipated. An outstretching arm only meant one thing...The Titan was getting ready to finally fight back against the group of defending cadets. Eyes widening, pulse raising, the instincts of Grant kicked in early as he began to launch his first hook onto the surrounding buildings. His mind raced as he dodged the plan slightly that meant he needed to wait for the legs to be fully incapacitated. The sight of the moving arms made him nervous, for Reese and especially Jade.

With his first momentum, Grant was already moving quicker than he needed at minimum, as he prepared his final approach. Firing the left hook to a distant, yet thick, chimney, he slingshoted himself around the target area and latched his grapples once again onto an opposing building. The only thing between his hooked destination and his current and rapid position was the targeted hostile's back. The alignment was perfect, and the angle too good to be true. His blades were already far prepared for the engagement. Yet, in his control and focus on his target, he couldn't help but loudly exclaim a chant of determination.

"This is for all that you've done!" The words left quickly, sharpening themselves to a fine degree. Upon his final word, the blade began to slice, cut and saw it's way into the nape of the titan, striking blood and a downpour of unnatural rain upon him and the town. The splatters of blood were light on his head, but moderate on his jacket, as he stumbled upon his landing. This stumble led to him falling, rolling to his shoulder and staggering to get back up. The flickers of blood staining his cheek stayed put, as he looked up at his target, seeing it fall slowly to the ground by both the attacks from Reese and Jade and from the killing blow he just delivered.

However, even only haven standing up, he dropped to his knees upon the rooftop and stared blankly at his prized achievement. Words barely left his lips as he muttered what he could, looking at the squad around him upon what they had achieved as a team. He smiled slightly, waiting for the rest to rejoin him as he tried getting back onto his legs.

"Holy fuck...we did it...we actually fucking did it..." Yet before he could fully get into the reality of his imagination, Grant snapped back into his real military persona. "S-shit. Fucking great job, guys...But I'm not sure about you lot, but I'm low on gas. I used most of it getting here in the first place, and I am desperate for more." His finger pointed in the direction of other returning Stationary Guardsmen and Cadets. "And we aren't the only ones who need it either..."

~ Halo: Oman ~

---

@Amaranth@Joker892@OrizaSaucer@Starlance@Delta44

---

A smile of relief struck the face of Lucas as a small flow of relief was released from his inner systems. There were still other soldiers alive, more importantly ones close by. However, the chaos through some of the radio transmissions seemed to make his head hurt only a little bit. It was like Harvest again, in the sense of a slaughter. However this time, it wasn't just the UNSC who got badly hit, the Covenant too must have been hit quite similarly. Though their fleet was superior in size, one vessel was taken out at the beginning of the atmospheric engagement. The Sergeant let his helmet's visor clear up, allowing him to properly look at the surroundings he was dumped within at the failed drop. The view was somewhat aesthetic, pleasing him with the sense it looked like dense forests found on most human colonies. The nerve within him was still there though, even as an ODST. He was in an unfamiliar environment, one that was never part of his preference. Anyone, or anything, could be lurking amongst the foliage.

As he analysed the transmissions that came through, he clambered back into his pod to grab a similar device. A small tac-pad, hard-cased to survive as much pressure as the user did, was his goal, and surely enough he found it with ease. Lucas' fingers trembled slightly with the shock of the unbalanced impact his pod must have suffered from. The tac-pad itself wasn't great in size, but it had as much technical analysing systems as a man nicknamed Spark could ever dream of. These T.A.S's were very useful to him, helping him gain an insight into the newer weaponry of the Covenant, as well as the hopeful discovery of unseen Forerunner technology as well. Anyway, he clipped it onto his wrist slot in the armour and began to wait for it to link up to his own system. Though it felt like forever, only ten seconds passed before it was fully calibrated and ready to continue its work. A slightly slow-paced (in a few minutes) amount of time passed whilst he began to link the radio transmissions up towards his Heads-Up Display map. Two, however, were relatively close. That was the cherry on top of the pudding. Another smirk ripped its way onto his face as he smiled with glee. He had to recompose his tone and voice to not sound too shocked by the tragedy that was this battle...

"O-Outpost Charlie, once I rendezvous with the nearest of the friendlies, I'll link up an assistance, if not distraction, force towards your location ASAP. Try to hold out, but if shit gets too hard, I will take direct orders of any lower-ranking Marines and order them to retreat to Outpost Sierra, if it is still intact." Once the response from whoever was on the radio telecoms of Outpost Charlie now was returned back to him, he switched his frequency to a closer and more high-end reading to contact the individuals who had contacted him in the first place.

There were a seemingly rag-tag amount of survivors still left around the area. Several marines, army engineers and corpsmen somehow managed to find themselves still alive, but who was he to question. Everyone had a way to survive the chaos that was now an unguided war. This battle, the Battle for Oman, was to now be fought on unconventional grounds, at least until a reformed military can find its way on the planet. Although, he began to talk to Harper first...

Mako 6-2-8, this is Chariot 9-4-3. Pinging my location is the least of my worries. Making sure those nearby can find and reunite with me is my priority. As for you, I want you to round up the nearest man, woman or group as you can and head to Outpost Sierra. We need to make sure that there are still signs of life there, so any firsthand information would be bloody useful. Make sure you tell whoever their Commanding Officer is that hopefully more Marines and Army personnel will be headed to their location. I'll see that to your doing. Acknowledge?"

Having finished with talking to Harper, one of the two ODSTs that had radioed in to him, at least by what the tac-pad stated, he continued his conversations to the other groups around him, though not too close. Seeing as the tac-pad stated those who relayed the messages to him weren't of a higher status, it seemed fair that he would at least give them an objective in what seemed to be an empty army fighting without knowing their purpose.

"Fireteam 2, Bravo 9, I want you to make your way towards my location fast. Double time, little exceptions. Out of the three closest to me, you are the furthest, but don't bring a horde of Covenant forces with you. Token 6-4-8, I want you to get here too. Kensington, it is vital that you also regroup with us, seeing as you are the closest. Approximately over 1 minute from my location, to be exact. I don't know your weaponry and armament, but I'd prefer it if you had some way to defend yourself. The Hospital Corps weren't always my most fluently known branch of the UNSC. As for any other listeners, I want you all to head to Outpost Charlie if you are close enough. Those who aren't are to regroup at Outpost Sierra. Do I ma-"

A rounded fist slammed into the side of his head, smacking him and his helmet to aside. Being knocked out of his transmission, he tried to recover as quickly as he could. The surprising blow caught him off guard, yet before his head to see what had hit him the grasp of fingers wrapped around his collared armour, lifting him from his fallen position. The slow lifting gave him time to bare witness to the Sanghelli holding him in his strong grasp. It was definitely surprising, as Lucas began to breathe faster and faster, struggling with only a single arm left free. The 'Elite' seemed to be alone, but that allowed it to be as dangerous as ever. From it's wrist, the small energy-dagger that was constantly hinged onto itself sparked into action, signalising that this was just the leftover cleanup crew of the sector. Quick and clean...That's how the least honourable of Sanghelli liked it.

Upon seeing the blade, and the vicious roar the mandibles of the creature gave, Lucas struggled more, using his only free arm to reach for the only weapon still within his reach...The knife. It only took him a short amount of time to draw his own blade and plunge it into the under-exposure to the mandibles, where the Sanghelli's reaction sprung as well. Flinching in pain, a large streak from the energy-dagger carved a deep pattern onto his chest-plate. Whilst it didn't puncture the armour nor his skin, the reaction of the blade and Elite flinching threw Lucas, again, to the side form the sheer pressure that was applied. This move left him on the ground once more, but nearer to his own armament.

Using a finger-less gloved hand, worn out and charred by the sparks of the Sanghelli's bladed weaponry, Sergeant Hickery reached out, seeing his designated Battle Rifle within his grasp. As soon as his fingers wrapped around the weapon's holding positions, he twisted his current prone stance and aimed at the Elite, pulling the trigger several times and sending an echo throughout the forest, audible to those close by.

Attack on Titan: Somnium

@LetMeDoStuff

Flares have just been sent up ordering a retreat towards HQ but that's very recent.

The left flank is gone and the Titans are penetrating the city now.

@Jinxer

So after I've shat on that Titan, I should head back. Boy I smell an Uncle on his way

Attack on Titan: Somnium

I'm really sorry for holding a few people up on my post. Life took another extremely bad turn, which I can explain in Discord.

Also, question, apart from that one Titan we have, what else do I need to know before I post?

~ Halo: Oman ~

Got a post in the making for tonight! Hope that means something

~ Halo: Oman ~

I will have my next post up soon! As for the two closest to Lucas, you'll likely make it in time to watch him slap a Grunt or something.

The rest, you might want to meet up with one another. After the two nearest to Lucas get there, he's going to make an order to assist in the UNSC outpost under fire.

~ Halo: Oman ~

---

---

A echo of bustling boots and hunkered attires made its way in and out of the deployment hall. The Stranger of Darkness rumbled with the muffled sounds of explosions from what seemed to be outside of the ship's hull. There was no doubt that atmospheric Banshees and Seraphs were assaulting the ship's hull with as much prejudice as possible. Yet the vessel was still intact, so that was enough to make the occupants feel safe for a while. Those on the ground already engaging in their fights must be suffering heavily, though there were many areas on the surface of Oman where victories were being made by the UNSC. The surprise attack had worked mostly, and the assistance from the early reconnaissance teams prior to the invasion saved many lives from ambushes. However, there was still the threat of the Covenant, even if their presence was known. That was what the UNSC were here for. That's why they wanted to find out what why they lurked on this Shield-world.

"Spark, on your feet. We're dropping in 1 minute." A slap around the head snapped Lucas out of his trance, where he was met with Lucinda Graham, his Gunnery Sergeant, staring at him blankly. She was in her own combat-zone, where her mind would only focus on the objectives and nothing else. No social time. No interactions. That was her downside sometimes, loosening her connections with the others in Squad Chariot 9-4. She once again nodded at him, handing Lucas his specialised helmet. Lucas reached out his gloved hand, taking what he was given and reattaching the H.M.S.S onto the mount.

Little time passed before he was back on his feet, pushing past a few ODSTs still in their briefing to reach his designated pod. The drop was always considered a fun or tense moment in the lives of and Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, but for once this tensions was getting to Lucas Hickery. He didn't feel nervous his own life, by no means. It was the lives of everyone here. This mission, it seemed to be more of a scrambled objective than a real operation. Either way, he had his orders, and he had his moment to shine. When he eventually reached the infamous box that threw soldiers from the sky, his hand firmly grasped the edge of the entrance before pulling himself inside. The seat was always quite comfortable, and it had to to ensure their arse's wouldn't be torn to shreds after a drop. It only took a few button-pressing for the doors to close themselves, his weapons already clung to the sides of the drop pod. A crackle across the comms-channel echoed within his ears as the voice of his IC, First Sergeant Griggs, began to take over the noise of the muffled explosions. His pod began to shake a little as it started.

"Chariot 9-4-1 to all callsigns, listen in. Today we're being dropped directly into the heat of this Operation. Our goal specifically is to land relatively close towards one of the high-profile Operations outposts of the Covenant Expeditionary forces. This is their major staging outpost. This is where they are landing their troops. This is where the UNSC Marines are preparing to assault and we're going to be their supporting infiltration force." A chuckled voice suddenly took over from where the IC had paused, from which added the ODST banter that usually occurred during these incursions.

"Good thing the grunts are getting us! We're the arse-kickers of this planet!" The interruption was only met with a few chuckles. It was one of Private Osuma's specialities, apart from marksmanship and all, to rise up and add some humour to the drops. However, it wasn't long before a voice cut over the smart-arse comment. This was the voice of Lucas Hickery.

"Save the jokes until after the briefing, Osuma. You're awfully loud in this drop for a sniper."

"The only thing louder than him at this rate is the shit running down Graham's leg. Anyway, we've got to ensure we land at our designated DZ with minimalist distance to ensure that the surrounding teams at other objectives do not get scrambled. This is a precise landing, so be prepared to take the controls ahead and alter your angle. DZ will by hot, Osuma will be landing elsewhere to provide support, but we'll all be going in likely with guns pointing at our backs, fronts, sides and likely above. This ain't no cake-walk. Get this ready, and we'll make it back in time for Austran's birthday."

As soon as his words were over, the pods began to move in synchronisation. The supports holding the racks began to adjust them into the positions of the drop-holes. These were where the pods were almost fired out straight into the atmosphere right towards their target zones. This was where the magic of the ODSTs started. Yet, this magic was far from coming true today...

A crackle and creak echoed throughout the briefing room, as the Squads finishing up their briefings around holographic tables were almost completely cut off by this worrying sound. Even those inside their pods, Hickery included, as they felt threatened by what seemed to disturb the beast they were safe within. The sound seemed to cease for a moment, before a blaring alarm shunted itself into the ears and helmets of everyone within the room. A jolt within the hall threw a few of those unprepared onto their sides, sending them slipping into certain banisters or into other fellow comrades. The jolt seemed to happen quickly, too quickly for anyone to react at first, before a tear seemed to rip itself through the flooring of the ODST bay. Parts and poles of the ceiling began to topple downwards, wires and elecritical sparks burst out from multiple angles as those unprepared once again lost their balance and composure. This deadly blow jolted the pod of Lucas greatly, throwing his head about in his seat continuously as he frantically tried to regain his awareness of the situation. Suddenly, all he could witness was the loss of hope that suddenly flooded those in the room. The floor to his left began to rip open, a spew of fire and debris shooting up into the room and flooding those who were unfortunate enough to be above that impact.

The floor shuddered more, as several crewmen not dressed in ODST gear found themselves being set alight, and several ODSTs and other working naval officers were thrown into the abyss now created within the launch bay. It was as if the room was tearing itself apart bit by bit, piece by piece. Nothing could be done, especially by Lucas. Being strapped to what seemed to be a chair, the comms began to light up with the frantic tones of those in their pods.

"W-What the hell? Drop the pods...Drop the fucking pods!" The shouts of the lower ranks began to fill his headset as the helmet scrambled to make any sense of the situation. The man within that helmet was just as confused as everyone else. In response to the call for panic, Lucas tried to initiate the emergency release mechanism directly linked to the pod, but the electric damage being caused in the room made it impossible to manually release.

"I'm fucking hooked into the latch! I can't loosen it..." He tried to shake and press the mechanism release over and over, frantically staring at the damage through the ceiling reaching where his pod was. The ceiling seemed to be collapsing in on itself, as those talking over the headsets from other squads seemed to be cut off mid-sentence by their own screams and calls for assistance. Many in the room were attempting to open one of the doors, or make it to their own pods, desperately trying to get themselves and their squad-mates out of the room that was caving in on itself. "Come on your piece of shit! Detach!"

As if the gods of this Shield-world were listening, a large strut in the frame of the drop-pod mechanism suddenly loosened and swung about the room. Heavily, it collided with several pod release mechanisms, causing them to simply drop without being given any orders. Only a few made it down, and the large strut continued to swing as it too collided with Lucas' mechanism. He was tossed around within his pod as the confined space seemed to warn him of unexpected damage. The clamp holding his pod down dropped only half-a-way, dropping himself down at an angle above the drop-hole. This shaft was meant to fire him down in. This was not the correct procedure at all. The calls for help came increasingly louder.

"Someone get me out of this...damn pod...I am still trappe-" A quick blare of the comms-channel was cut off by the sight of a large strut breaking through the front door of the pod Corporal Nickelson spoke from, only revealing a splatter of blood against the non-shattered windows without any word to be left.

Before Lucas even the time to react to what he had just witnessed, the pod hatch released, and suddenly he was found tumbling within his pod down towards the unnatural earth the forerunners had left for life to discover. All that he could see was the sight of an exploding vessel, far larger than the pod he was sat within. The sight of a blazing ball of fire tumbling downwards was enough to make him realise what was going on. The brandishing of the UNSC Stranger of Darkness was being burnt up; the crew were being charred up likely as well, as all he could remember after was the sight of another drop pod slamming into his own...

---

With his vision only just reaching a blurry state, Lucas gasped awake with great energy as he felt like he was suffocating in space. Everything around him continued to be blurry and out of focus, but the sights weren't going to remain hidden for long. With every second that passed, Lucas could make out piece by piece of what was left of his saving pod. A spark the first, a few lights coming into focus the next. A few more passed and he could begin to identify the sight of smashed reinforced glass covering the release capsule.

This sight caught him off guard, as he continued to breathe heavily from where he was. There was no sound, as far as he was concerned, and there was only the noise of the failed electronics within the pod he was still sat in. It was eerie. It was a deafening silence. He didn't like it one bit.

Trying to sit up in his position, he found out that by his slumber, the pod was tilted to an angle upon impact, probably causing a bit of damage to the environment. Lucas' first instinct here was to scramble for the emergency capsule release mechanisms, but before he could do that a few numbers caught his eye. A clock. It signified the time, still a little blurry, but he could make out the readings. In comparison to what he'd been told at the briefing, he was thirteen hours after his initial drop. Those were not the numbers he'd expected to see. Eventually, he gathered his confusion and pressed the emergency release mechanisms, causing the door to shoot straight off through its pressurised release. A free exit was now in place. Lucas didn't exit the pod straight away. He wanted to hear if there were any reactions from nearby hostiles or friendlies, just to see if he was in the clear or not. With no returning noises, he loosely removed the service rifle from his pod's sides, grabbed all the ammunition he had, all the secondary equipment he could try, and pulled himself loose from his chair.

The sights were just as he expected upon arrival to the shield-world in the first place. He was in some sort of dense forest, where trees had been split or parted. It was easy to tell that the damage had been caused by his pod's landing, but there was no indication as to if any of them were from previous battles or not. And the thought of battles reminded him almost instantly, if it was that amount of time ahead of his drop, had the battle actually finished. From his position, there was no echoing vocal of gunfire nor aircraft, but that could only be a temporary silence. Raising a hand towards his rifle and staggeringly trying to form a defensive stance, he grunting in pain as a sharp ache filled his left hip.

"Any available callsigns...t-this is Chariot 9-4-3...Respond over? I'm going to ping my location for a very short duration..."

~ Halo: Oman ~

I am very close to finishing my post, so I might as well come out and tell everyone where they will be starting and who is relatively close to them at the very start of the RP (At least from the point they choose to start at. If you choose to write an extract about the disaster happening, then flashing forward to the present moment, then go ahead).

Nearby to Lucas' crashed drop-pod, we have @OrizaSaucer and @Delta44. You can decide if you wish to be united together already.

@Starlance and @HumanMusic may be relatively close to one another, if not already met up.

And @Amaranth and @Joker892 are likely going to be together already. All of the groups may be within the same area of operations, but not close enough to immediately find another group straight away. Just an update so you know where to start and who to discuss your opening post with! Time to finish my post. Sorry if it feels rushed, this is a late post for me.

~ Halo: Oman ~

I will try to make my Intro post tonight if I can, at least make most of it done. I just came back from my cadet MoI Course so I'm knackered