Squad 1: Rex & Odessa

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Strike Team 1

The year is 2527. It has been years since the first Spartan warriors were born, trained, and sent into battle against an enemy that brought humanity to the brink of extinction. With superior technology and numbers they tore through regular human infantry and ships with no problem. Humanity knew they needed something stronger than just a normal human. So they resorted to genetically engineering beings solely for the purpose of fighting against this enemy.
They were called Spartans.
Split into teams they proved themselves to be a very effective weapon against the Covenant. However they soon hit a block.

It was decided that although teams were usually made up of 8 to 12 Spartans, a smaller team was needed for rapid deployment. The final decision was that teams of two would be formed after a number of tests. Two Spartans who could work together like clockwork and premeditate the moves of each other before they make it. Two Spartans working together as one to accomplish whatever mission is required of them.
The matches were initially made by rank, experience, personality traits, and specialization. Often more experienced members were matched with less experienced ranks within moderation. So long as the two appeared as though they would match in all other categories.

Of course with every new idea there needed to be a pair of guinea pigs. The first pair were a Male and Female Spartan Team. It was unknown whether the experiment would be a success or a complete failure but it all came down to how well the two could work together. Their first meeting was scheduled to take place on a ship headed for the planet where they would begin their training.

Start: The two Spartans are due to be briefed together for the first time. The ship they are on is coursed for a human controlled planet, where they are due to train together as a team, however another ship is headed straight for them. Details will unfold within.

Squad Members:
- Odessa (Dream)
- Rex (Brandon)

Rex felt the pelican make a reving noise as the engine heated up. A sigh passed through his body as he tried to calm myself of the thoughts of fighting these covenant. Re-versing the Spartan code in his head as he attempted to become more serious in the situation. Odessa passed him and headed to the cockpit, so he went ahead and closed the back door. He watched as the ground became farther away as they lifted off and passed through the hanger doors into open space. The feeling of weightlessness catching hom off guard before the artificial gravity kicked in. His boots making a clanking as they reconnected with the floor of the repurposed cargo bay.

He checkec his guns again as they flew. Something he usually did if the code wasn't calming enough. This, however, was doing the trick. The thoughts of heading into combat again was a rush, it had been months since he has experianced anything real since he had been put on that dreadful ship. Rex began thinking of his new partnership again. He was having mixed feelings now, he still didn't fully respect her because of her past desicions and she hasn't shown anything that would make her seem reliable in combat. But, she did seem like she might be able to be good friend.

The ship rumbled from the blasts surrounding and he could hear the steady firing from the turrets mounted on the sides and on top. Everything was working suprisingly well. For now at least. Hopefully this mission would remain that way. "Too easy." Rex mumbled to himself. Not in distaste or want for something to go wrong. He was just suprised. Nothing was normally this easy.

Odessa braced herself against the seat of the main pilot as the ship lifted off and the journey into battle began. She could almost sense the fear in the air coming from the pilots and crew members on board. As reassuring as it was to have two Spartans on board, there was no promising that they weren't going to be shot right out of the sky the moment they got within range of the Covenant ship's smaller defense guns. Not to mention the shield that had proved to be impenetrable up to this point. Nothing they threw at the enemy ship so much as scratched the actual hull.

The Colonel glanced over her shoulder briefly to look at her partner. She wondered briefly whether the gap between their understanding of one another was going to be a hindrance when in the heat of battle. She hoped not. A minute or so passed before she turned her gaze back towards the enemy ship they were slowly approaching. Flashes of heated Plasma rushed past them heading straight for the ship they had just left.
The turrets opened fire and caused the ship to rock just a little bit with each round that was fired. Again they were easily repelled by the shield but it was the thought that counted at this point.

"Pilot, bank into a turn as we near the shield. And tell the others to get their oxygen masks on, this ship is going to depressurize when we get off." She spoke firmly before she drew herself back into the main cargo hold of the Pelican where Rex was waiting.
"Follow my lead, okay? This is going to be one for the text books." Odessa said with a bit of a smile before she brought her helmet up and slipped it over her head. She tested the Comms system by trying to set up a channel with her partner.
"Those EMP grenades, do you want to throw it or should I?" She asked into her microphone.

Rex's confidence began flowing back as he settled again. The thought of combat oddly calmed him. He stood as the pelican came up next to the colossal ship, sliding on his helmet and activating the seal. The hissing sound broke the internal silence of the cargo bay. However, sounds soon rushed in as the bay door opened, filling the space around him with bright, flashing lights and explosions. The sound of battle was glorious. Blood rushed through Rex's body and his pupils dilated as he took in the scene before him.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his new partner coming across the comm channel. His balance was lost for a short moment as explosions went off around the ship. His metal boots clanking against the floor. Rex braced himself against the wall with one hand as he turned to reply to the Colonel. "Why wouldn't I do it?! Do you think I'm too afraid to through a grenade? You've read my profile Miss. I'd hope you would know better than to ask me something like that!" His accent became more obvious when he was in combat, considering he was in a more relaxed environment. He looked back to the opening in the ship that the pelican had now stopped by before speaking again. "And while in battle....I would suggest following me." A smirk and a short chuckle were made before he ripped the grenade off his chest without warning. Activating it in his hand, he then launched it at the ship with full force. The grenade bounced off before detonating right above the shiny surface. It worked like a charm. As was expected. Obviously.

Rex wrenched his battle rifle from his back and pulled the bolt back. Glancing at the Colonel shortly was the only indicator he gave before pushing off and leaping from the open bay. Time seemed to stand still as he floated through space in almost slow motion. Speed, though, finally caught up and hit him all at once as he passed into the now unshielded landing pad. Gravity changed as he crossed through the exterior wall and he came crashing down to the floor. Reacting quickly enough, Rex compensated and rolled back onto his feet. His BR now up and scanning the area, sadly there was nothing to shoot yet. "Everything's clear for now. Let's move quickly." He spoke through his comm to his partner, while moving to take cover on a nearby corner.

Her question was harmless but her partner seemed to take it like some kind of personal insult. His voice was excited and eager as he spoke to her just as disrespectfully as before. It was beginning to become annoying. Had the Colonel not needed him at that very moment, she would have had him court-martialed and stripped of his rank. She was not such a person though. No, he would come to his senses eventually.
So instead of saying anything at all she simply secured the seal of her helmet and pulled her rifle around from its slot in the back of her armor.

Odessa began to ask herself how she had been put into a team with a Spartan as reckless as the one standing in front of her. Yes, perhaps he was a good fighter, but there was much more to combat than just blind action. That was the kind of thing that got Spartans killed in battle. Those who had died had allowed their strength and superior capabilities to project an image of invulnerability. A few plasma rounds to the chest quickly brought them back to reality though as their bodies drained of life on the ground.
Rex was one such person. He did not know death the way the Colonel did. He had probably never seen a fellow Spartan fall from the same attitude he had. Or if he had, he didn't make it clear through his actions.

With a sigh Odessa waited for Rex to move before she took a running jump out of the side of the Pelican. Flying through space would have been a strange experience had she not already felt the sensation numerous times. As well as the effects of entering gravity in a split second once they had gotten through the hole they had made in the shield. She came down and rolled forward into a crouched position with her sights scanning the bay. There was no movement.
All of the Covenant ships were deployed leaving the large room empty. She acknowledged Rex's words with a nod before she motioned towards the large doorway that was the entrance to the hangar.
"There." She stated as she began to move towards it. Clearly the enemy had not expected to be boarded.

Coming off of the corner as the Colonel ran past him to the hangar door, he held his rifle up and ready. The door hissed open to bring a hallway that had many branch hallways sprouting from it. Rex moved to a pillar and took cover, soon spotting a group of three elites up ahead. Two jackals set up at sentry and a few grunts; some sleeping, some jibbering to each other as they half-assed guarding the area. Rex glanced at the Colonel shortly before rolling off of cover and advancing to a small box shaped object closer to the jibbering grunts.

It seemed no one actually noticed the door opening, but it closing caused a reaction. The elites snapped their heads in the direction of it and grunted shortly. The golden one yelled something and pointed before running off with one more of the three. The third stayed behind and gripped his plasma rifle tightly as he attempted to scan the room from where he was standing. The jackals now actually aiming, the laser sights built in to their helmets glowed and began sweeping the area. Some of the sleeping grunts jumped up and slowly and groggily began waddling around the room, an orange one passed right by Rex without even noticing him. He took this to his advantage and snatched the small gremlin, his hand covering the grunts entire face. Pulling it into his own body, Rex ripped his hand to the side, effectively snapping its neck. A small smirk came across his face at the satisfying crunch from its small bones snapping. He continued advancing up the large room, taking cover again before whispering over his comm. "Any plans boss? Should we just rush the big man up there or take out this grunts first? Are we going loud? Or trying to keep the element of surprise for as long as possible?" Rex leaned into the wall he crouched against, his breathing was beginning to slow down again as the initial adrenaline rush was going away.

The inside of the ship was slightly different from what she had anticipated but most things were recognizable. Due to the fact that this ship was much larger than many other Covenant ships everything was much more advanced. Her studies of the enemies' technology was still applicable but it was going to be slightly challenging for her to figure out the way to the engine room. Still, she was going to do her best to get both her partner and herself out of the ship alive and in one piece. Though the appearance of a guard post made that somewhat more difficult. The Grunts were nothing to worry about. The Elites were what worried the Colonel most. Creatures bred to be the equals of Spartans.
Although the two made it through the door without being noticed, the sound of the door closing drew attention towards their entrance. She knew they had not been spotted but the sound of movement confirmed that the guards were fanning out.

Odessa watched as two of the Elite's rushed out the door, obviously thinking the intruders were in the hangar, while the last Elite and the Grunts remained behind. One of said Grunts happened to make the mistake of passing the boxes they were hidden behind and was quickly dealt with by Rex's brute strength. After dropping the body his voice came across the comm and the Colonel made a few quick calculations in her head.
"Keep things as quiet as we can keep them. As soon as we take out their shield systems and engine room we can go out as loud as we want to." Odessa whispered in response while maneuvering herself to where she could see the last few guards.
"The Elite is mine.. take out the rest would you? No mercy." She added while sliding her rifle into the slot on her back and drawing the blade from her shoulder. The dark metal shone gently as she gripped it with the blade coming out of the bottom of her fist in a tactical stance. She knew very well that Rex would be capable of eliminating the entire force if given permission to do so but she had a personal grudge to take care of.
"3..2..1..Go!" Upon her signal the Colonel leaped over the box that had kept her from view and took a running jump towards the Elite. The creature turned with a screech to alert the others while bringing his weapon up. He was unable to get a single shot off though as Odessa kicked his gun away while simultaneously slamming her knife through its armor at the neck. The Elite gargled and stumbled back as she drew her blade out and stabbed the other side of its neck. It fell with a thud as the knife was stabbed a third time into the top of its head, the industrial metal blade piercing through its armor with ease. Clean and efficient.

So much for staying quiet. Rex grunted as he jumped up, stepping into the open and letting off two bursts from his rifle. One of each into each head of the two jackal sentries. Planting his foot, he rotated his body and caught a grunt in the face with the stock of his gun. It squealed as it was lifted off of the ground and the others soon scattered in panic. It was easy pickings from here, a burst into each of them was all that was necessary to clear the room of those useless grunts and Rex moved to reload. He chuckled at his CO before speaking, "Well we could have entered the room with that plan, sir!"

His joyfulness was cut short as the door slid open. The hissing sound of the hydraulics cutting the room in half. Rex turned on his heel to find himself face to face with the two elites from earlier. Instinct instantly kicked in and a warcry was released from under his helmet.

Pushing off with his right foot, he charged at the two. The golden one catching the rear of Rex's weapon as he brought it up. It stumbled back and the soldier threw his gun to the side and, then bracing himself, shouldered the other elite dressing in red against the threshold of the doorway. Stepping back into the hangar from which they came, Rex moved to engage the leader of this group. The Sangelli ripped a small handle from its waist and activated it. Shit. Of course he has a sword. The alien now had the upper hand and rushed Rex. He had no idea how to fight this so instead he started with dodging it. Leaning and ducking to avoid losing his life. One slash with this and he would surely be finished.

The beast of a warrior now stopped in anger, since he hadn't been able to defeat his adversary already. An aggravated yell was let out and he attempted to move again. However, this time, Rex took the opportunity he was given when the alien had paused. He stepped in and brought his right elbow to meet the elite's face. Jarring the warrior, it stepped back and tried to resume it's offensive. But Rex had other plans. He followed the elbow with a swift punch to the aliens left set of ribs and finished the combo with a hook to the right side of it's face. The elite seemed to have no knowledge of hand to hand combat so it only got more frustrated with each knock back. Rex felt more confident now and began bouncing on his toes. The alien rushed back in, swinging wildly. A grin came across Rex's face as he spotted an obvious opening. He side stepped the beast just as it's swing would have cut Rex in half vertically and he laced his arm across it's chest. Wrapping around it's throat from under the arm and reached around to clasp his hands together behind it's head. The sword was dropped from it's grip instantly and Rex proceeded to kick the alien's knee out from behind. Slowly, he pressed his forearm against it's throat and brought the elite to the ground. He held it until only low gargling could be heard.

Once silence was the only thing heard, he stood and shook himself off before jogging to meet back up with the Colonel, where ever she was. "Tough buggers, aren't they?"

When the two Elite's from before burst through the door there was no time to stop and think of a strategy. Rex knew this just as well as Odessa did and reacted immediately by charging the two creatures. When he shouldered the Elite in red through the door she stood from where she had been crouched and moved to stop him from joining the fray going on between her partner and their leader. Allowing a two on one fight would have been both dangerous and neglectful of her as an officer.
The red Elite seemed surprised when she appeared in front of him, blocking him from helping his leader, but he recovered quickly.
Unlike his leader this one did not possess an energy blade but instead he drew a sidearm. The Colonel quickly dodged the first two shots before closing the distance. Her blade once again pierced armor as she drove it through the creatures arm and then sent him crashing to the ground with a sweep of her leg. This Elite she dispatched of the same way she did the previous one; two stabs to the neck and then another to the top of the head as it tried to fight back with its bare hands.
Although it had been a relatively easy fight to win Odessa knew very well that she would have been in trouble had it been equipped with an energy blade.

She stepped back into the room cleaning her blade with one hand before she slid it back into its sheath on her shoulder.
"Aye..tough indeed. Now let's get moving. If the schematics of this ship are anything like the ones I've studied we're a few floors away from the engine room. With the majority of their fleet deployed we should meet little resistance, especially with the amount of noise we just made. They'll come here first." Odessa said while moving from body to body quickly looking for some kind of identification object. To use the elevators and get through doors they were going to need whatever it was that allowed these guys to do it.
On the leader she found what looked like a circuit board but she knew better. She slid the object into one of her pouches and then nodded at her partner, drawing her weapon again as she advanced along a single corridor that branched away from the others.
This ship was different for sure but the similarities were enough. The hallway led them to the entrance to an elevator which she used to card to get into, allowing them to step into the room without setting off an alarm. Once her partner had joined her she searched the buttons for the mechanics room and pressed it.

Standing in the elevator gave them both time for the adrenaline to flow out of their systems. Which was probably best seeing as they were going to need to keep their heads level if they wanted to get off the ship alive. They were about as deep into enemy territory as possible without any form of backup. Exactly the kind of situation they had been trained for.
"When the elevator door opens be ready for anything. If there is nothing I think it'd be best for you to take out the engine room, which will be to the right, while I move to take out the shield systems. If one goes out before the other we'll have the entire ship coming after us. If we can get them both offline at once, we'll have enough time to escape. Does that sound like a plan?"
Odesssa asked him through the comms system while checking her HUD. It was not the best of ideas to split up but at the same time she knew that he was more than capable of handling himself.