Second chance: Noble

(Unknown Location)
(Unknown Time)

Slowly stalking through the forest, the group of infiltrators were pushing into the enemy's territory in the dead of the night. This particular night was chosen due to the new moon making it the darkest night of the month only being able to see mere feet In front of them, the leader turned to look behind him to see his six allies scanning the area around them keeping a close eye on the perimeter, giving a small nod at them, he returned his attention to the path ahead and the mission they were currently tasked with. The mission handed down to them from the highest level of their government held such significance that they were told ‘Either come back successful or don’t bother coming back outside a coffin.’ shuddering at the thought the leader knew his team would accomplish the mission but at the same time from what he knew others sent ahead never returned from what he knew. Hearing a twig snapping the group swung their weapons and aimed at the sound only to see a small deer poking its head above some bushes before racing off, silently curing the leader turned and motioned for the group to spread out and change direction heading in the opposite direction of said animal. It probably wouldn’t alert anything close by but they wouldn’t risk being caught or giving away their position, this of course would add time to their mission and time was not anything they could afford but carelessness would doom them to failure and failure was not known within this group.

It took nearly two hours for them to close in on their target getting close to the edge, they soon found themselves looking down a sandstone cliff with a sheer ninety degree drop that had to be around six stories to the bottom. Getting low the leader looked over the edge scanning the area seeing and hearing nothing coming from the darkness, silently cursing he pulled back the cliff this was the tricky part supposedly their target was at the bottom of this cliff. The leader had hoped he would be able to see and make out some type of structure or patrol would be seen but nothing and this mission could only be done at night. Sighing the leader looked back to his team and whispered “Alright we’ll split up here I want us in groups of two, this’ll be about recon in fifteen minutes I want us all to meet at our fall back position. Group 1 you take the south, group 2 take the north, group three scan this area and group four we’ll skirt around and see if we can make our way to the far side. Let’s not get caught so get moving.”

Nodding their heads the group silently broke apart in their predesignated groups and started to move out, hopefully this recon would prove fruitful or else this mission would be the end of the group. After all everything depended on them and what they would be setting up here for Project Pathway.

(Caudal Island chain.)
(00:00 hours)
(Unknown location)

Strapped down Noble team was sitting stock still only moving due to the turbulence of the Harpy as flew at top speed to their target location. Cortana had given the group a new mission to begin the infiltration of the Caudal island chain starting with the furthest island that held one of the largest ship yards in the kingdom, lately said kingdoms navy had become a thorn in the side of the U.W.M. as it allowed them to transport troops and provide artillery support from the coast that would force them to take longer and more dangerous routes to capital cities or blocking trade routes forcing the advancing line to halt. It surprised Cortana how effective the kingdom was at its warfare and siege tactics somehow; they had managed to outfit some of the ships with Wraith plasma casters and some turrets that would pick ships out of the sky when they tried to bomb said ships. So, the president had sent orders down that she wanted two SPARTAN teams to be dispatched the first being Noble and the second an unknown team that had proven themselves recently. Noble only knew of their mission parameters and goals they of course did not know where the other team was heading or what their own goals were.

But the goal was simple Noble would plant as many bombs as possible across the facility’s and on any ships they could sneak aboard. Cortana wanted the facilities dust and the ships crippled as the U.W.M. would soon invade and having this kingdom scrambling from their surprise attack could help with the initial invasion considering Noble's secondary goal was to try and create a hole for the force to go through. Seeing the light starting to flash Carter and the team quickly went towards the edge looking over their gear on last time they awaited the light to turn green and once they did, they took the plunge jumping out of the cargo bay they fell back to the earth or more specifically they race towards the sea splashing down they sunk to the bottom where they began to move towards the island. As the team slowly stalked through the murky depths, they knew the trek would take them twenty minutes to reach an underground cave system that Noble would use to reach the interior of the island for the nest stage to begin. It took them a little less than twenty minutes to reach the opening but that was only due to the luck of a current slowly pushing them towards the cave system, scanning the area Carter noted that the cave mouth was around eight meters in diameter looking into the opening the commander opened up the map that was provided from a number of drones Cortana had sent in advance giving them sixty percent of the system but only one path was highlighted in neon yellow this path would take the team to the surface.

Looking at his team Carter motioned for them to move forward, and they did as one it took them another ten minutes before they found themselves in a cavern with a ceiling thirteen meters high. Slowly surfacing the group scanned the space looking for any signs of hostiles when nothing was found or seen they pulled themselves over the edge and onto dry land, pulling out their weapons the team quickly investigated them making sure they weren't waterlogged. Once everything was given the green light, they moved out heading to the surface following the route they soon found themselves nearing an exit point the problem they were facing was that the exit hole had dropped down to about four meters in diameter. Taking the lead Carter was the first to exit quickly scanning the surrounding he sent the signal for Kat to advance once she was beside him, he stepped away taking cover by some trees and the pattern continued as Noble exited the cave they slowly created a perimeter that allowed them to keep an eye on the area around them. Once they had all exited the cave all Carter spoke over TEAMCOM "Alright team we know our targets and their locations, lets split into two teams and hit each side of the island and try to keep these guys guessing. Team One would be Me, Noble Three and Noble Five the second team will consist of Noble Two, Four and Six. Noble Two is in charge."

"Copy Commander." Kat answered back her voice causing Emile to internally roll his eyes.

"Now let’s split the island down the middle, Team One will take the East side targets and Team Two will take the West side targets. Each team will be radio silent from the other until the third day or the completion of the mission, the main goal at this time is infiltration and placement of the explosives on the facilities and ships with set timers. This island has a total of five factories and six security compounds I want them all to have explosives planted in them by the time the invasion force shows up, the secondary objective is to gather any and all intel we can on the enemies here and any other bases they’ve got.”

“The invasion depends on how much we accomplish in the next few days, so let’s make sure that nothing is left standing or is in an unsalvageable state at the end of our hunt. I want us to be ghosts for this entire op if anyone sees even a glimpse of you make them disappear, I don't want our targets to even know we're here till we blow the facilities back to kingdom come." Looking over his people Carter knew that every word spoken had been memorized by his team he smirked and finished the sentence with “Alright Noble let’s get started.”

(Team One)
(Location Easter Facility Three)
(Day 1 06:00hrs)

Peering through his scope Jun marks another two security personnel as they passed through the gate to start their patrol of the factory, it hadn’t taken team one long to discover the first security facility they didn’t know how many ponies were calling the facility home. But they’ve seen at least eighteen groups of three patrols pass through the gate whether they were entering or exiting the facility, so far the schedule looked to be normal type when one group entered another would quickly exit heading off onto the island to begin patrols, checks or to possibly resupply other smaller areas. One thing quickly noticed by the SPARTANs was the lack of vehicle checks when patrols would return to the facility so they quickly took advantage tagging at least six vehicles with smaller explosives brought along by Emile to spread the damage and chaos across the island in case they wanted to further confuse the enemy. Since their arrival Carter had used his magic to cloak, track and tag five vehicles with the explosives, all five were hooked to a separate detonator so when the main explosives were set off they could be detonated as a secondary explosion.

Now though was the difficult part the team needed to figure out a way into the compound to place the larger devices, at the moment Carter was following a foot patrol keeping tabs on them and getting ready to make his move. It had been decided that Carter would infiltrate around dusk while Jorge would cause a disturbance by toppling a few trees onto the road, sighing Jun was ready for the proverbially shit to hit the fan as the way SPARTAN missions always went. This entire op was to get ready for another front that needed to be won, this time though they wouldn’t have the advantage of the land all this was due to the chain of islands they would need to hope across before getting to the main islands which consisted of three large island masses. Those islands held the main body of the kingdom where the royalty and highest leveled military advisors lived, the problem that came from the islands colonized around the main three were all the outer islands that had been colonized by the main kingdom and were quickly repurposed to be military complexes with the outer most focusing on ships while the inner focused on training frogmen and ground forces. Sighing to himself Jun wondered just how much of the island these ponies had explored and possibly booby trapped. Focusing on a small group of four Jun smirked to himself as he noticed their relaxed demeanor which reminded him of the insurrectionists he'd dealt with in the past. Thinking they were well trained and knowing everything they would need to know, but what they were were amateurs that never had their guards up hearing a small chirp in his ear Jun focused on it and Carter's voice came over the speakers "Ok Noble fall back the objective has been complete."

With that said his COM went dead backing off Jun quickly retreated and started to head back to the rendezvous spot being careful not to take a direct route or leave any trace of his presence the SPARTAN found himself there. Seeing Jorge and Carter already hunkered down he signaled them that he was coming from the west, carefully coming in he spoke over TEAMCOM "So commander, where'd you place the explosive?"

"Found a nice spot close enough to what I believe is their fuel deposits, saw a few of those vehicles refueling at them. So we should have a nice bonfire when they go up." Carter stated as his visor tilted slightly obviously looking over the islands layout and trying to figure out what the next target should be, giving him some room Jun turned to the west and pulled out his rifle keeping an eye out on the surroundings as the sun overhead began to slowly rise slowly bathing the island in a soft orange light Jun thought 'One day down .'

(Team 2)
(Location rendezvous spot Echo)
(Day 1 12:00hrs)

Looking over the map again Kat B-320 was finding the best route to their first target near the northeastern shore one of the six shipyards, they had begun their march and had been careful to not leave any traces of their path along with the trio keeping approximately eight meters apart far enough away that if any enemies saw them, they hopefully wouldn't find the others if they attacked. Hearing a small chirp in her ear she accepted the link and asked "What is it Noble Four?"

"Just checking in on our progress." Emile snarked in his usually tone, sighing Kat ignored him.

"Noble Four you and Noble Six have access to our progress. You do not need me to tell you how far away we are. Just check the nav."

"Testy testy, I'm just trying to make conversation."

"Yes, Noble Four I can see that. But instead of that why don't you concentrate on placing one fo-"

"Hoof." Emile stated a slight snicker escaping his lips as he said the word.

"Hoof Infront of the other and march on so we can place our distractions for the enemy when our friends come knocking." Kat suggested as the SPARTANs were closing in smirking she continued "After all it's up to you to keep the our rendezvous warm while me and Six check on the base.”

“Hmph I’ll keep it warm for you.” Emile muttered a moment before he disconnected the COM. Smirking to herself Kat went back to the map and saw they were getting closer pausing she opened up TEAMCOM and said “Alright we’re three miles out, let’s get to the rendezvous spot and set up for tonight. Six check your cloaking I won’t want any mishaps, Emile you look over the explosives and I’ll check on that data Noble One forwarded to us.”

Two green lights blipped on her H.U.D. In confirmation as they took a small detour and found a good spot to make their resting area. Digging a small trench deep enough so they could hunker down but kept it shallow enough that hopefully if it were stumbled across the locals would mistake it for an animal or possible sink hole. Once everything was set up Kat and Six began to prepare everything for their night time op, deciding to go when the sun would begin to set over the horizon once that was set they checked the time 13:56 hours nodding her head Kat turned and said “Sun should start setting around 17:38 hours we leave then and should make it to the facility as the light begins to disappear.”

“Should give enough cover with the poor light, shadows and turning of the guards.” Six stated as he thought about past operations that also involved infiltration that took place around dusk and dawn.

“It should, but still we need to take all the precautions we can take when planting our presents.”

“Agreed.”

Waiting for more to be said Kat realized Six was finished and wouldn’t be giving any more vocalization, sighing Kat and Six began to look over the map and the rough lay out of the building. Getting the plan together the two SPARTANs knew they were ready to make their move, seeing that it was almost time both of the super soldiers took off into the brush heading to the facility getting it ready for the invasion.

(Team One)
(6 days later)
(23:05 hrs)
(Caudal Island chain.)

Hunkering down in a small cave system Team 1 waited for the commander to pass along the information he was currently getting from the ally forces coming in. They were now moving forward with the next steps of the operation when they assault group was ready to begin the first wave of attack Noble team would activate the explosives causing chaos to run through the island while Noble would also move acting as a further distraction attacking guards around the island hoping to make them think the invasion force had already landed. The goal was for team 1 and 2 to sow enough disinformation and chaos that when the actual invasion force landed it would be too late to actively retaliate against them. Nodding his helmet Carter cut off the COM he turned and to the rest as he began to relay the information to the team “Alright that was the admiral he just informed me that the fleet would be arriving at midnight tonight. They'll be launching the first wave an hour before then won’t know when they’ll be landing till it happens.”

“So usual plan? We give the old one two and wait for back up while taking off any and all attention.” Jorge stated as he rolled one of his stiff shoulders trying to loosen it

“Exactly,” Carter stated looking out towards the forest he took a breath “Kat has the same intel, she sent an encrypted message stating we need to randomize when we attack and set off our surprises.”

“Makes sense if we blow west side first with delays on the facility they won’t know where or when the attack is coming, especially if it’s happening in the east also.” Jun

“That’s the plan I figured we blow that nearly completed war ship first then have everything else go in increments of five minutes. We’ll save the vehicles and set them to blow at our signal this should give them enough time for them to blow at random areas.” Carter finished hunkering down next to the other two while reading over the data, everything signal wise was still green nodding his head he then said “So we’ll set everything to go off half an hour before the forces arrive and as that’s all going off we’ll head off any security detail and take them out.”

Nodding their heads in agreement the three SPARTANs checked the time and noted they had fifty five minutes before the party would start. They checked over the equipment and began to pack everything up so they could move quickly, deciding they would head to Whiskey site to begin their assault they soon would exited the cave beginning the long trek. Looking up to the sky Carter knew the next few hours would be long and stressful but was ready for every second of it.

(Team Two)
(Caudal island chain)
(23:10 hours)

Getting into position hadn’t been to difficult for the team with the incoming invasion force coming they had been quick and decisive in how and when they moved. After getting off the COM’s with the fleet Kat had brought them up to speed giving them all the same information she had been afforded while also stating that she had suggested with Noble One they should set off the explosions at random intervals and not at the same time, hoping this would allow for further chaos to bee down before the main forces arrive. Guessing her best Kat figured that Team One would set theirs off at least a half hour before the force arrived so Kat decided that she would be blowing theirs fifteen minutes before their arrival. With a two minute timer set to blow the other facilities, the first ones to go would be security l after all if the wests security bases were giant balls of fire it would stretch the other facilities thin if Team One decided to blow a different set if targets.

After the security went up the next things to go would be the ships they had rigged, one interesting curve ball that had happened is one of the ships Six had rigged had set off a two days earlier heading north possibly going towards U.P.R. territory to help with their growing defensive line. But before it could leave their COM range, Kat quickly set it on a timer that would blow the ship in three days, which meant sometime tomorrow the ship and her crew would find themselves at the bottom of the ocean. As the time passed Kat quickly found herself checking to make sure the signals were still strong, they were and time was drawing near she saw that the clock read 23:28 and they were nearly at their vantage point.

Once they were in the set up Kat smiled to herself while turning to Emile she said “Noble Four you want to do the honors and get the party start.”

“On your mark Noble Two,” Emile replied hunkering down he raised his head slightly using the internal switches to detonate the bombs.

“On my mark blow the explosives.” Kate said looking to see the clock was at 23:29:30

“On your mark.”

Watching the clock Kat waited till it was at 23:29:55 before beginning her countdown “Five”

“Four”

“Three”

“Two”

“One”

“Mark.” As the word left her mouth Emile chinned the control and in almost an instant the security building they had in their sights, blew apart at its heart. Every window blew out of the building as the center most structure blew apart causing debris to start raining down across the place, across the facility’s dozens of small fires began to spread as a gas line ignited. As soon as this happened the camp came to life as personal began to race about calling for reinforcements and giving out orders, scanning the area Kat began to tag targets that looked to be high level personal not even a second after they were marked Six took aim and ended their existence on this plane.

The chaos only got worse as off in the distance an orange mushroom cloud could be seen for a moment, before it slowly dissipated some guards raced off heading out to the first of many bases the would be exploding while others tried to find their commanders that had suddenly gone silent. Quickly gathering themselves up the three SPARTANs began to change locations, sticking to the shadows as they moved away heading out to find some of the patrols. As they raced through the forest they soon encountered a small patrol group of four who’d stopped mid shift as they stared up at the sky one of them could be heard on the radio shouting “What in the hat is going on! Charon Base answer the damned message we just saw *WHOOMP*”

Whirling away from the radio the guy saw another cloud forming behind them, more than likely this was the base they had just left whispering to himself he asked “What the buck is happening?”

Seeing their moment the SPARTANs quickly took aim and dispatched the guards killing them with headshots, each one of their weapons letting out almost inaudible coughs as they were discharged. Moving up they removed any weapons the group had, checking the vehicle they found no other weapons as they were about to move off a number of voices came over the radio all giving reports or demanding information on what was happening from the sounds of it the command structure had fallen into disarray as each voice started to yell over the others and force themselves to be heard. That was until a new voice took over cutting off all the others its voice thick with authority “We have been infiltrated and an unknown number of assailants are on the island, regroup with any survivors and start patrolling the island. The rest of you need to sweep the intact facilities NOW find those explosives before anymore go off. For one final order who ever speaks on an open radio channel again will be executed when this is over.”

The message kept replaying looking between each other the SPARTANs knew they didn’t have long, but off in the distance a new cloud rose from the Eastern end of the island. That must’ve been one of Team 1’s explosives hopefully this would break concentration again and make them think it wasn’t just the West being attacked. Checking her clock Kat saw it was 23:45 fifteen minutes and the invasion force would be arriving in full force, pulling up the map Kat looked it over and spoke “Alright let’s head to the next security facility that’s about to blow and eliminate any patrols on our way.”

“Yes ma’am.” Both Six and Emile said in unison while following behind her covering theirs wings and rear.

(Team 1)
(Manufacturer Facility 2)
(23:46 hrs)

Ignoring the sound of a distant explosion Carter pulled out his rifle and began to pick off incoming patrols, the numbers seemed to be increasing as far as he could guess they were trying to build up a network. Jun had managed to find a small radio they had borrowed from a dispatched guard and had been quietly eavesdropping on conversations. The chances of them being found was slim but still anything could have happened at this point, but they had learned that the patrols were split into two groups. So at the moment Carter was mulling over whether he should pull the pin and blow all the devices at once, he changed his mind deciding that if the forces were spilt running through the buildings hunting down the explosives while others were looking around the island for a invasion force that hadn’t arrived yet it. The split forces could help the mission so he wound the timers down having them blow in a minute and a half so they would be going up quicker, didn’t want to risk them being found but It could help if a team thought they’d have time to find and disarm them.

Hearing the crack of a rifle Carter saw a patrol vehicle swerve into a tree causing the passenger to be thrust into the dashboard his head slamming into the glass which splintered. Scanning the back seat he saw another individual slowly moving to the opposite side taking his time he lined up the shot and fired the head whipped to the side before crumpling into the back seat, hearing a chirp in his ear Carter chinned a switch and heard Jun “Time to move commander I doubt that they’ll go unnoticed for long.”

But before he could answer something sparked in the engine compartment and the jeep soon caught fire before it blew apart, causing a small fired to begin spreading through the forest letting out a groan Carter said “Well this just got more interesting.”

“Yeah, but a forest fire is great cover for us wouldn’t you agree?” Jun asked his voice had a small edge to it, nodding his head Carter turned and began to back away.

“Nothing we can do about it,” Carter looked behind himself for a moment seeing a thick column of smoke starting to rise into the night sky “But I do agree this fire will be useful for a time.”

Racing off the two SPARTANs found Jorge set up near an access road noticing the rising smoke he cocked his head, sighing Carter caught him up to speed while also checking the time 23:59 the force should be answering any moment now. Chinning a control he opened his come up to a secure line that connected to whoever was in control, this line wouldn’t intersect any commands or give them away it didn’t take long for someone to speak to him “This is Commander Hard Hoof, is this Noble One?”

“Noble One here commander, I’m calling to check in on the delivery.”

“Delivery is on the south beach and is hot and ready Noble One,” taking a moment the commander must’ve seen the rising smoke before coming back to him “But it looks like your team has been busy Noble One.”

“Very much so, now I do need to let you know a fire has started to spread on the north eastern part of the island. It’s spreading at this point but you should be prepared for it if you need to come this way.”

“I read you Noble One we’ll keep an eye out for that fire, we’ve designated a FOB site and will transmit location once the remaining bases are taken care of and the islands secure.”

“We read you commander, patrols are all over the island trying to rebuild the chain of command, do your best to avoid any of the main bases we’ve already set those up to no longer be problem's.”

“That’s good to know, how many are left.”

Looking up to the sky of in the distance to the South West a small orange glow could be seen doing a quick head count he stated “There should be three bases left but they won’t last long, countdowns being rushed and timers are set to a minute thirty.”

“Minute thirty we read you.”

“We’ve also managed to booby trap at least six of their vehicles with bombs,” checking the signal strength it was green sighing he stated “They can go up in the next thirty seconds.”

“Get it done SPARTAN,” the commander paused for a moment before continuing “I’m going to be sending at least four fireteams further into the island to scout ahead best we’ve got.”

“We read you commander, we’ll see you once everything’s finished.”

“Of course SPARTAN, good hunting.” After that the radio clicked off shaking his head Carter turned and spoke over TEAMCOM “Sounds like our back up has just arrived, let’s start ramping up the attacks. Draw as much attention from them as we can, the vehicles should be going up now.”

“Hopefully they weren’t together, should help with eliminating a few patrols and slowing their progress.” Jun remarked as he stopped to study the ground seeing a pair of hoof tracks.

“Interesting.” He muttered as he brushed a hoof over them, following the path he saw that they just ended like the ponies had been plucked from the ground by a grav lift. Looking around the three soldiers raised their weapons ready for an ambush, as the pushed ahead they seemingly pushed through a shimmer pocket of air and found themselves looking at a hidden base with a massive array attached to it’s top. Tensing up Carter quickly checked his recorder making sure he was getting everything they were seeing, the U.P.R. had finally rigged one of the Covenants cloaking towers it looked like. Cursing mentally he questioned himself about why he and his team hadn’t spent more time searching the island that was until he heard the sound of yelling coming from his left, motioning to his team they fell in line and found where the yelling was coming from. Coming closer to a clearing they saw a small plume of smoke rising into the sky and a rescue team was getting together and developing a plan, while looking over a map adjusting his view Carter noticed that the smoke was exiting a pony made tunnel that more than likely connected to the main cave systems.

That explained why they hadn’t found this place they were more than likely given explicit instructions to only head to said location using the tunnels and never out in the open, that was until Noble showed up and began to blow chunks out of the island causing chaos and for the teams to race around trying to get help or get to areas that needed their help. But from the smoke coming out from the tunnel it seemed that one of the vehicles they had rigged had blown underground and more than likely caused a cave in, which explained the small team who were now moving towards the cave taking the initiative Carter took aim and spoke over TEAMCOM “Put’em down Noble!”

Taking aim the three super soldiers opened fire their weapons coughing as clouds of blood puffed up into the air and the bodies continued forward for a moment before stopping a foot away from the entrance. Nodding his head Carter motioned for Jun to cover him while he check the bodies, patting them down he couldn’t see or find anything of use from them pulling his weapon up he used the hoof cannon to put a signal round into each of the enemies head and left them their speaking up he said “Ok Noble let’s take this base, Jun you got a signal in here?”

“I do commander.” Jun replied coolly as he fell in behind him.

“Ok inform Commander Hard Hoof and Noble Two about what we found, me and Jorge are gonna start recon see what we can find out about this base. After you finish that you’ll be our over watch.” Carter ordered as he moved forward both of them fell in line as they went towards the hidden base.

(Outside of Cloaked Base)
(00:33hrs)
(Noble Team One)

Standing under the cover of the trees both Carter and Jorge eyed the gates the base was much more fortified than the others, the entire base was surrounded by a massive solid steel wall that wrapped the base. From their initial investigation the base had only one entrance and exit that had at least ten guards on it, three were in each watch tower while four on the ground investigating each vehicle or personnel who tried to enter. In all there were six towers two were at the entrance of the facility and one at each corner. All of which were manned and armed with turrets luckily nothing covenant but they still had enough fire powers to bring MJOLNIR shields down and damage the armor if not the SPARTAN within. Backing away into the shadows further Carter looked around he’d have to wait until back up arrived, they’d need someone to take out the towers and Hard Hoof had explained that his scouts had the newly introduced M70P rocket launcher, designed much like the the SPNKr back home it had twin tube that rotated after firing it’s ammunition. One interesting change that Cortana had managed to implement into the system was how they could track their targets, using a small switch the user could tag their intended target with a magical seal that the rocket would race after like a blood hound on the hunt once launched.

Hard hoof had at least fifteen ponies in his units trained to use the weapons and would be sending at least four to help blow the towers. He hadn’t quite said how long it would take them to get there but stated that Nobel would be contacted once they breached the cloak, they had been waiting far to long for their allies to arrive but when you intended on capturing a base instead of blowing it to kingdom come it was always best to have back up and plenty of assistance. The other half of Noble should also be arriving soon which meant that the team would be back up to full strength, hearing a small chirp of an handshake signal Carter chinned a control to check the signal making sure it was U.W.M. after it was green lit he accepted the signal and spoke “Is this the wrecking crew?”

“Wrecking crew is here to help you out Noble One,” a young female voice spoke up she had a slight rasp, some noise could be heard in the background after a moment she was back “Alright Noble one we’ve got some ordinance that can help open up that building. Just tell us where to set up.”

Taking his time Carter went into detail about the building and the troops who’ve been coming in and out, after they ponies were brought up to speed they’d devised a plan for them to take out the towers in one go. Carter stressed that the building needed to be as undamaged as possible so the science division could research the cloaking device. What he didn’t say was also to protect whatever lied within the building, if this country would go so far as to make an entire base invisible they had to have something important. It didn’t take the team long to get into position they’d split up and line themselves up to be able to hit their designated targets from one area, when they got into position Carter checked on Jun and Jorge seeing them adjusting their postures slightly ready to breach the building.

It felt like an eternity waiting for the team to get into position and take their targets, but after a moment two balls of fire flew from the trees slamming into two of the towers after ten seconds another volley came out and took out the remaining towers. Before they could react though gunfire began to echo around the building forcing the guards to take cover, Nobel slowly advanced from the south making their way up both Jun and Carter took out any guards working towards high ground or possible commander. Once they were at the wall Jorge removed a small frame charge quickly setting it up he made an outline of a squad large enough for them to move through, backing away the SPARTANs covered their faceplates while Jorge said “Fire in the hole!”

Hitting the switch the charges blew forcing the debris into the building and hopefully taking anyone close enough out, barging in the three men scanned the area only to find an empty hallway. After a moment Carter clicked his teeth over the speakers and motioned for them to advance, trying to find the administrators office they needed to know where the control center was for the cloak. As they worked through the building Carter was confused how empty it was, they foot traffic signaled that far more enemies should be hold up in the building, but despite being in the building for nearly five minutes they hadn’t seen head or tail of anyone. The fighting outside was dying down now which led Carter to believe that either the U.W.M. had won or lost the fight, Carter was prepared for worst case scenario but doubted that more reinforcements hadn’t been sent in said direction of the invisible base. Hearing the scuffle of hooves Carter pause using his hoof to signal for the rest to stop, as they heard the hooves stop, they waited half expecting the individual to race pass them. But they heard nothing and nopony had tried to attack which Carter found odd, quickly stepping around the corner he raised his rifle ready to open fire………..but there was nothing just an empty hallway that ended in a dead end. Having a sense of Deja vu he looked over his shoulder and said “Jun scan the ground while I test the walls, Jorge watch our backs.”

Jumping into the work Jun began to scan the ground and went as far as to check where it met the wall, while Carter gently tapped the wall while he used his sensors to find any type of hollow. Jorge watched the hallway hefting his weapon he waited in silence unsure as to what his teammates would find it didn't take the two supersoldiers long to find the fake wall. Using his magic Carter sent a pulse into the wall showing a light blue outline of the door once the outline was in full view he then used said magic to rip the door open pushing the now ruined door to the side revealing a hard metal shaft, edging forward Carter looked up and down casting his flashlight down seeing nothing but darkness he pulled out a small glowstick snapping it and shaking it till it glowed bright he let it go and began to count the seconds after about twelve seconds he heard the distinct sound of it hitting the bottom. Doing some quick calculations, the drop was around six hundred meters he'd have to fast rope down to reach the bottom so he wouldn’t have to risk armor lock up. Jun could easily glide down though and scout ahead turning to the sniper Carter issued the order and he took off down the shaft, now current problem was the elevator if they decided to bring it up it could lock Carter in the shaft just long enough for the enemy to attack him. So looking towards the cables Carter lifted his rifle and shot them causing said cables to whip down the shaft smashing into the sides as they fell, looking around he found the best area to anchor his rope down and made sure they everything was secure so that the area didn’t rip up and have him falling to the bottom.

Turning to Jorge he said “Give us ten minutes Noble 5, if anyone comes by you can send them down but tell them to radio ahead. We’re not going to risk friendly fire.”

“Understood Commander.” Jorge answered without looking back at him, nodding Carter went down to the basement landing atop the elevator he saw the hatch was already ripped open.

Dropping down Carter scanned the empty hallway it was dimly lit and littered with papers and debris from the attack, loose ceiling tiles had crashed to the ground spreading small white specks across the ground. Slowly moving forward he noticed that many of the rooms were either pitch black or had flashing lights as they fought to stay on, chinning his control he sent Jun an encoded message signaling he had just entered the basement. Receiving a green acknowledgment light he nodded and began to clear the area room by room, once he was sure that he wasn’t in any immediate danger Carter activated his COM “Jun how are we looking ?”

“Nothing on my end commander it’s a ghost town down here, I’m having trouble finding that control room but whatever they have goin in this hell hole it’s not good.”

“Evidence or guts?”

“Little bit of both,” Jun replied as he decided to forward his location via waypoint,
Locking in Carter began to make his way while continuing the sweep “Found some files marked ‘Project Pathway’ not much can be made out on it, think it’s magic everytime I try to read it he the words seem to bunch of and become incoherent.”

Internally Carter ground his teeth that was one major issue they had recently discovered, once the tables had been turned the axis powers had taken to prioritizing keeping their secrets just that. Files would be unreadable until the spell was broken, set themselves ablaze or even teleport away towards an unknown area, it’s a newly developed problem but one that the E.I.A. have been trying to crack with little success. As he entered the room Carter saw Jun had pulled out several stacks of files siding up next to him Jun took to watching the door, picking up the files they all had the same file name ‘Project Pathway’ turning he found a file cabinet and opened it. Tossing in the files he tagged it with an identification marker with a recorded message once it was set, Carter pulled out a teleport scroll placing the scroll atop the cabinet he tapped the paper and after a moment it took the cabinet with it to an unidentified base far from it.

“Think that’ll help them out?”

“If they have a self destruct maybe sending the whole damn file system will help keep them from blowing.”

“We can only hope, this project is making me uneasy commander.”

“Yes but it shouldn’t be possible if it is what we’re worried about, Cortana is monitoring every tiny signal that is sent to and from the planet. If even a hint of something was being sent out from an axis power she’d shut it down immediately.”

“Unless it’s using some MagiTech they’ve developed. You have to admit commander when it comes to magic we’re out of our depth with it and it keeps hitting us below the belt.” Jun said his tone coming off ice cold it was the same tone he used when giving enemy numbers.

“I agree but what kinda’ve damned spell are they using to cloak it? We’ll need to bring this worry up with Cortana once we’re secure.” Carter answered as he moved out of the room looking to the left he knew Jun had taken the right.

“Good because we’re not ready for a full fledged invasion by the Covenant.”

“No we are not so let’s wrap this up and give her a call.” Carter answered back moving deeper into the facility hunting for the control room to shut it all down.

(Unknown Location)
(Unknown Time)

Walking through the ship a creature wearing full combat armor made its way to the bridge, after being woken up it was very interested to see just exactly what its subordinates had found. Reaching the bridge the crew looked at the creature and motioned towards the main control panel, walking over the creature waited as one of its com specialists pulled up the data. After a second a hologram appeared on the table standing before them was a four legged and gray furred creature wearing regal robes speaking in a clear and authoritative voice which was translated flawlessly through the speakers “To my brothers among the stars I am Emperor Searing Wind, I send this message in hopes for you to find my home planet and help me liberate it from the heretics who wish to stop us from joining you on the Great Journey. We are fighting valiantly but are outnumbered and outgunned, I have attached to this signal data with our planets location, we await you my brothers and look forward to joining you among the stars.”

After the message finished a long stream of symbols surged across the screen before the creature, after a moment the staff captured the data and entered it pulling up the data the world and its system was brought up onto the table. Reaching up with a three fingers hand it held the world in its palm while what could be considered a smile stretched on its face, it soon started barking orders making its crew jump to it telling them to get ready while ordering some to start gather resources and reinforcements to begin a new operation.