Despite one Jammer being knocked out, the Marines and Eldar still found themselves in need to enter combat not too far from the other two Jammers. Faen's armored boots crunched against the debris below her feet as the boulevard became awash with Plasma Fire. A pair of Covenant tanks let loose waves from their mortars just as the Farseer found cover behind an overturned civilian-use truck. She gasped as she saw an Avenger collapse, taking the shot of a Jackal Sniper right to his right eye socket. The corpse tumbled over and fell, dead, his helmet cracked...

That forced the others to take cover, but not before one of the Banshees was hit by a burst of plasma from a turret mounted up higher. Her armor took the brunt of the damage and she was okay, thankfully, but the armor was charred. A Marine suffered a similar fate, where a single Needle shot hit his shoulder, punching through armor and sending him, wounded, to the floor. Two of his comrades, among which the Sergeant himself, dragged the man into cover beside a median barrier of concrete.

Reaver peeked out and fired a burst toward the enemy as the Farseer looked for the best route to go through, from broken car to broken car. She watched the UNSC Platoon and their Eldar reinforcements continue to exchange fire, before looking to her Exarchs and waving them forth. A Long Rifle's projectile struck one of the enemy's Snipers and the Farseer moreso felt than saw the Pathfinder and his men, split between multiple buildings.

The Marines were joined by the rest of the contingent, major included... One of the tanks scored a lucky, hit, however. The plasma round from its mortar struck in the midst of a grouping of Marines, Dragons and Avengers. The superheated gas detonated as it hit the car behind which they took cover, exploding the vehicle and taking several of the good guys gang with it.

"Fuck..." Reaver swore, racking the bolt of his AR.

"That's at least a dozen of ours down." The Major muttered, looking over the Jersey Barrier to see the Covenant defenses. "We're gonna need Air Support to take those vics out."

"That or a really lucky lightning bolt from the Farseer." Reaver returned. He looked around the field, to see that the bottom part of the structure was relatively undefended, save for the pair of enemy tanks. He grinned "Speaking of..." He stood up and let loose a barrage of bullets, killing two grunts with the continuous stream of lead, before turning to the Farseer and calling out "FARSEER! I GOT AN IDEA!"

"Oh?!" Faen asked, before using her telekinesis to push herself and others out of the way of another boulder of Plasma which left her original cover smouldering. She ran to the Sergeant's side, sending a bolt of lightning arching into the center of the enemy position and killing six Grunts and an Elite Minor. She took a knee beside him and asked "What would that idea be!?"

He pointed to the two tanks and the Farseer hummed, then added "Yes, you're suicidal, I know! Anything else!?" sarcastically.

The Sergeant snorted "Not what I meant! If your troops can keep the tanks busy, two teams could go behind them and sabotage the other Jammers!" before ducking as a Jackal Sniper's rifle shot just past his head. He swore to himself, whilst watching the Farseer look at possible routes. She looked to him, her lips parting slightly... And he smirked "See? I'm not just insane! I'm creative!"

The Farseer had to take a moment to register his somewhat dark, self-deprecating humor, before nodding... She looked ahead and waved the Avengers and Dragons in. As the duet of Squads moved to join their Farseer, one of the Jackal Snipers once again caught one in the open. The hole drilled into the Dire Avenger's heart sent the man collapsing to the floor. A second shot nicked another, wounding him.

"Well, they're getting better at aiming!" Taevel said, taking Faen's left flank and dumping a wave of Shurikens.

"Yes, worryingly so! Taevel, I need you, your Avengers and the Dragons to keep the enemy's tanks busy!" Faen ordered.

"I'll slide Melta Bombs right underneath'em if I have to." The Exarch gave a nod. "Are you planning on something, Farseer?"

"It's more the Human's plan. We take two separate Strike Teams and destroy the Jammers in each building." She returned, looking over the cover and watching as the Artillery continued to fall on their Marine allies, taking one or two as the soldiers, probable veterans and used to facing stuff like this, scattered and divided themselves evenly between the destroyed vehicles that served as cover on an otherwise-open Freeway.

"Well... That sounds like a Human idea." Taevel said. "That reminds me, Farseer... Communique from the Craftworld. After we're done on the ground, the High Council has requested to speak to you." making Faen pause. Oh, great, what did they want now...? Probably something relating to their intervention. Faen knew how 'conservative' quote-unquote, the High Council was...

She ducked under a wave of Plasma, then said "Right..." turning her gaze to the Sergeant "Which one will you take!?"

"Oh, ya think I'm lettin' ya go alone?" He chuckled "Like hell!" and turned to his men, calling out "Hawkins, Hitchcock, Victor! Take a payload of C14 and any Space Elves that wanna join ya and hit the Sinoviet building! I, Jones, Gavrilo and Weiss will take the ONI building with the Farseer!" and racking the bolt of his rifle. He looked to her, smirking, then said "That is if she's willing to join us."

She sighed, readying her spear, then nodded. Maybe the council was asking to speak with her about needlessly risking her life on the ground like this? She was, after all, one of their eldest and most powerful Farseers. Which was an achievement in and of itself, considering how few of her kin focused on the path of the Seer. With a raised fist, the distraction that the group asked for had begun.

She watched as the enemy's tanks focused on the scattering mass of Aspect Warriors, each firing their weapon at them. Plasma balls of doom were the retaliation... And the Farseer readied herself, waving forth two of her Banshees for protection. The Sergeant looked to her, grin withstanding, then winked. Squinting, surprised by the little interaction, the Farseer watched as the man and his squad pounced over Cover and opened fire...

His men followed, Designated Marksman Rifles and Assault Rifles creating a crescendo of projectile-based fire... The Farseer jumped over her own cover and moved with them, followed by the two Banshees, blades drawn as they rushed past the broken civilian and military vehicles on the road. Plasma turrets greeted them, two of the Sergeant's men falling to the floor with smoking stumps instead of heads.

The Farseer raised a psychic barrier between them and the enemy's guns. She watched the tanks and her soldiers working against them, before looking back to see that Caen was dueling another pair of elites that tried to outflank them. The Banshee Exarch gave a nod to the Farseer, before severing the head of another Elite. The Farseer left her worries for later, even as she saw more of the Covenant stream in, before watching as the Marines split.

The Sergeant looked at Hawkins moving in. The young, pale, blue-eyed boy had an unbreakable spirit. Following him, Hitchcock let loose his skills with a Designated Marksman Rifle, killing three grunts in three shots and hammering an Elite's shields enough for Victor to dump rounds into the bastard from his Assault Rifle. The Minor collapsed...

And the Sergeant swore "FUCK!" as an Energy Sword swung just where his head would've been, had he not ducked and started firing into the Elite... A monster clad in scarlet armor, with blue linings. It looked ceremonial. He went bug-eyed as the Zealot slashed again, gutting a Banshee. As the shields started to flare on the creature, the man had to reload his rifle. He watched its sword come down toward Faen... She raised an open palm, stopping the strike via psycho-kinesis. And the remaining Banshee vivisected the bastard at the waist. The two pieces of the half-Alien dropped to the floor...

Panting, the Sergeant stood to his feet as corporal Weiss came to check on him, the hilt of the Energy Sword in his hand. She patted him down, then said "You nearly lost your head there, boss." grinning

"Thank God for the 'Seer and her Banshees, eh?" He nodded to the Farseer. She nodded back, then looked down at the fallen Banshee. She knelt to her side, before removing the mask and helmet of the warrior girl, one looking around 18, maybe 19 years old in Human terms... Her teal eyes stared at the empty sky, mouth agape, blood foaming. The Farseer felt no life in her... Saying a word from the Eldar lexicon, the woman closed the young one's eye, before standing up.

"Sorry." Reaver sighed.

"This is war." She hummed... "Let's go."

As they entered the building, the Marines were the first in. Greeted by a hail of needler shards, small, pink crystals that detonate upon embedding themselves into a target and leaving micro-shrapnel in said target's body, the group took cover behind a display case. The glass above shattered as the Grunts holding the automatic pistols with semi-tracking projectiles fired.

Corporal Weiss's response was to grab a grenade off her belt and hurl it over their cover. Its detonation didn't take any of the grunts with it, but it did give enough of a distraction for the Marines and Farseer to peek out, the former letting their rifles let loose a staccato symphony of gunfire, while the latter sent small, less draining bolts of psychic energy toward her target. An arching strike killed 6 Grunts, whilst the others were being rallied by their Elite commander.

The Farseer caught a Plasma Bolt from the Mon'Keigh bastard right in the shoulder, sending her back into cover with a smoldering wound. She growled, then looked to find the Sergeant and... See he was not there. The Corporal looked to her and pointed ahead... She looked over their cover, to watch the man advancing, rifle in hand, dumping rounds into the Elite. It was a minor, so its shields vanished pretty fast...

But Reaver's gun clicked empty...

The Marine Sergeant swore, slid the gun onto his back and drew his side-arm just as the Elite Minor tried to tackle him, dumping two high-caliber pistol rounds into its head. The response from the grunts was a needle round to the shoulder that sent him to the floor, alive, but hurt... The wound started to bleed, but he managed to raise his Handgun from the floor and fire twice.

"Sarge!" The Corporal cried out, moving toward him. Faen rolled her eyes... Humans...

Standing up, she sent another bolt of lightning that near-boiled a Grunt alive, before charging them and slashing the remaining ones to pieces with her weapon of choice, raising a barrier to protect herself as more rounds streamed in. The surviving Banshee charged in, letting loose her ear-piercing shriek and sending grunts running as she started to cut them down.

The Farseer slashed another Grunt, before looking to the Sergeant... The man was on his feet, rifle reloaded and wound patched up by himself. Approaching her, he spoke calmly "Well, that was close."

"You took an enemy round in the shoulder." The Banshee stated with a deadpan. "Are all humans as insane as you?"

"Only the good ones." The two Marines answered in unison, bumping fists. Reaver then said "C'mon, then, girls. We've got a jammer to take down and I can't let Hitch get theirs before we get ours."

The Marines then stepped off toward the elevators, with the Eldar watching them leave... The Banshee hummed "Farseer, remind me again... Why are we helping them? We could just not have intervened."

Faen sighed "Visions, Aspect Warrior... Visions of peace..." And she shook her head, before calmly ordering "Come along" as she went to follow them. As they entered the elevator, Reaver hit the button for the top floor, before checking his gear. Ammunition was in the yellow, but would probably be enough to take down the next Jammer. He looked out of the rear window of the elevator, at the burning city. Flyers engaged Covenant Drop Ships... A Longsword even managed to knock one of the fuckers out of the sky.

"Hell to the fuck yeah." The Sergeant said, slapping Corporal Weiss's arm and pointing to the crashing Covie Dropship. "Flyboys got them."

"Think their radios work?" She inquired.

"Hopefully. Otherwise, I don't really see them coordinating... Unless some poor fuck is hanging off the side with signal flags." The Sergeant chuckled. He noticed the Farseer eyeing him with a bit of fright, then inquired "What's wrong there... Faenbryn was it?" before a smirk appeared on his face "Mind if I call ya Faen? Way shorter than Farseer or your full name."

The woman narrowed her eyes at him. He snorted "Yeah, Faen it is."

"Do you just live to be an annoyance, Human?" The Sword-Girl beside Faen spoke with a tone of exhasperation.

"I live to kill Covies, sweet-cheeks." He answered in clear jest. Faen put a hand on the glowering blademaster's hand. The Sergeant got an ear-to-ear grin from the reaction, which he completed with an "I'm just kidding. No need to get defensive about it." and clicking the safety off his rifle as the elevator dinged. He quipped "You have reached your floor! Please, exit in a calm and orderly fashion from the elevator."

Just as he was about to let the ladies exit first, he cocked his head to the left and yanked the Farseer, who prepared herself to exit, to his side and out of the way. She wanted to protest just as a more focused needle round punched through the glass window, drilling a hole through it, exactly where her head could've been. The Marine looked to Weiss, then waved her forward and said "We got a Skirmisher. Needle Rifle... Didn't get a good bead on it."

The DMR-toting Marine took a knee, scoping in the floor:An atrium with a multitude of catwalks and gangways, as well as a dozen or so trees. She watched the lilac flash of the gun's muzzle go off and saw a round strike the floor between them and the Banshee... And locking onto the dark spot from where the shot flashed, her reticle turned red. She squeezed. The gun barked. And a wet thump echoed across to them.

"Marksman down." She nodded.

"Crack shot as always, Snow-White." Sarge smirked, patting her on the shoulder. His visor once again went slightly fuzzy after one pulse. He nodded to the Farseer, then stepped out first, raising his MA5 and sweeping the area ahead. He clenched his fist and elbowed down once. The Corporal joined him, eyes locked onto the once-occupied nest of the Skirmisher sniper. She tapped his shoulder just as a pulse of energy disrupted their HUDs.

Looking back to the Farseer, who seemed surprised, he nodded "It's close. C'mon."

She stepped out, looking at the man. He smirked, then stepped forward, sweeping the area in his own arc, while Weiss maintained her own arc of fire, which also encompassed the catwalks above. The two Eldar maintained their position, spear and sword at the ready in case of any up-close enemies. They continued to tread slowly past the corners, eyes open...

The Farseer felt a chill. She looked to the left and called out "Marksman. Ambusher on your left!"

And just as the Riflewoman crossed into the hallway, into her line of sight came two grunts and the ugly, grey-skinned, spiky-haired emo cousin of the Jackal. The Skirmisher. It had its Plasma pistol overcharged and pointing at them... Corporal Weiss quickly reacted. One bullet to the gun arm, two to the stomach, one to the head... Tarry, blueberry-colored blood spattered and the monster fell, its pistol going off and narrowly missing the Sergeant's head.

He swiveled about, dumping his AR's clip into the two grunts after getting a good sight picture. Lead filled the grunts' bodies, sending them toppling to the floor in a large pool of shining-blue blood. The Farseer felt another tingle, stepping forward and thrusting her spear into a Jackal with an energy shield it was just activating. The blade split the creature's head in two.

"Fucking hell! Up high! Two Elite majors with Repeaters!" Weiss called out, noticing a pair of Elites in orange, more decorated armors appearing. She raised her rifle and fired up into the Catwalks. The bullets either bounced off or vanished upon impact with the shields. The Elites' response:Dropping plasma grenades onto them. Two of the small, blue, high-explosive and highly-volatile sticky bombs fell between the squad.

Faen jumped back, as did the Banshee. The Marines jumped and rolled away, onto their knees, both raising their weapons and dumping rounds toward the two Elites. Bullets sparked off the walls and the steel girders holding the metal bridges up. The Elites' response was a concerted wave of Plasma, from what looked like rifle-length weapons. Faen looked about, for any enemy weapons... Before noticing one of the Grunts' Plasma pistols. She slid toward it, grabbing it from the floor, implanting her singing spear into the floor and raising the pistol. She squeezed the trigger once, twice, three times.

The bolts of plasma struck the support girders, heating them up. She continued firing, until the pistol's top blew and heat washed her hand. She tossed it aside, grabbing her spear and freezing as a bolt of Plasma struck the arm with which she held her weapon was hit right in the joint. She stumbled, dropping the weapon to the floor... And the Marine Sergeant stepped up, dashing toward her. He grabbed her by the arm and put her against the wall, before reloading his rifle and firing in short, controlled bursts, into the elites.

One's shields flared and burst. Weiss took the cue, firing right into the split-jawed freak's head. The round punched clean through, flinging its helmet off its head. The Corpse fell over the side, dropping to the floor with a wet crack as all of its vertebrae became a very dusty accordion. Its comrade maintained the barrage of plasma... Until the Banshee jumped up to it, slicing its weapon in half and stabbing it right through the gut.

She looked forth, to see a pair of guns similar to those guarding the first Jammer...

"No..." She whispered. And before she could react, the two Grunts filled her armor full of hot plasma, sending her toppling over the side of the railing. The Farseer gasped, standing to her feet and dashing to catch the woman. She felt her arm give in just as she grabbed the soldier out of mid-air. Both fell to the floor. A dozen holes peppered the wraitbone plating...

The Farseer took her helmet off, then said "Dammit... No..."

She watched with wide eyes as Weiss took out a bottle with a nozzle from her breast pocket, sliding said nozzle into the chest cavity of the Eldar Banshee and saying "Here, this may sting... A lot... But it will at least keep your guts with you until we can get you to a medic or, shaman or... Whatever it is you ayys have as medics." as she squeezed the trigger of the bottle... A pressurized hiss came and the wounds were filled with a self-inflating, cool, antiseptic and disinfectant-filled foam... The Banshee gripped Weiss's hand, squeezing against it and gritting her teeth...

"Easy does it, Ayy. You're breaking my hand." Weiss warned, then softened "What's your name?"

As the Eldar exhaled audibly through her teeth, she spoke "Aira..."

"Nice name. I'm Weiss Ackermann... And yes, my name literally translates to 'white' in my parents' native language, German." She said, cleaning out the wounds. She looked to the Farseer and Sergeant and said "She's stable, so she'll make it, but I'll stay with her... May I suggest you two start advancing toward the Jammer?" And she paused "Wait... Where's the Sergeant!?"

The Farseer went bug-eyed again and the two looked all over, until Weiss pointed to a pylon where Plasma blasts struck and boiled concrete. The Farseer's shoulders sagged. And she now started to feel a stabbing pain in her arm... She went to grab her singing spear, then said "I'll take care of him." rolling her eyes, before surging forward and raising her energy barrier and blocking Plasma rounds. She took cover just behind him, before asking "You are really insane, aren't you?"

"Eh, jury's still out on that one. Hell, the Major hasn't given me a Section-8 yet." He shrugged, taking cover as a round of Plasma smacked just beside his face. "Hey, quick question... Can you use your mind powers to hurl a grenade? And if yes, how far?"

"What are you planning this time?" She glared at him. He smirked, pulling a thin, hole-filled Grenade out of his pocket. She rolled her eyes, then said "I can hit between those turrets... What type of Grenade is it?" and she felt her heart start jumping as he pulled the pin. He smirked, then handed the Farseer the Grenade... She immediately launched it, boosting it with a Telekinetic blast...

It landed between the shooting Grunts, both of whom looked at it. And before the Farseer could say another word, the grenade 'went off', dazzling, but not killing the Grunts, with a loud bang and a flash. The Marine Sergeant, as he ran forth, raised his Assault Rifle and let rip his last magazine. Bullets pinged off the floor and the alloy that made up the Jammer and substantially killing the grunts. He pulled a rather large, square 'pack' out of his own carry bag. It had wires, switches a timer, as well as material that allowed it to stick to the Jammer.

He set the bomb onto the target, tapped in a few numbers on a keypad, spun a handle and slid said handle in. It beeped and the Marine walked away from the Charge, grin on his face and rifle leaning against his shoulder. He took out a small, square object with an antenna and flicked off the cover of a button, before pressing the button... The pack of High-Explosive materiel detonated, sending Shrapnel flying... And as the smoke cleared, all that remained of the Covenant object was a husk.

He bumped a fist into the Farseer's shoulder and wanted to compliment her, but she pinned the blade of her unpowered spear next to his throat. He chuckled, then said "Easy, Faen. I was just about to say you got a great arm. Might even play pitch in the Little Leagues if you want to, after the war..." And he pushed aside the spear, no fear in his eyes. "And the fist bump in the shoulder is a human way of saying 'nice job' without actually saying it, by the way."

She hummed, brow raised. He head his radio come to life, static bursting out of it with a high-pitched sound that rang in his ears. He groaned, slamming his hand into the side of his helmet, before he heard it... Radio traffic... 'This is Eagle 2-5, We got Radio back!' 'Lima-2-5 here! Radio's fuckin' working!' 'All units, all units, we got our radio working! Looks like Lima-9 lived through the fuckery and got our Radio working!'

One transmission stood out among all others...

"Attention all UNSC Marine units on the ground and in the air:This is Ballroom! General Koller speaking! Thanks to the Marine Platoon known as Lima-9, the Jammers installed by the Covenant have been destroyed, all radio contact has been reestablished and we've got a direct link to the Battlegroup upstairs! They're saying something about some kinda alien ships entering to reinforce them! They call themselves the Eldar and rumor has it that, among Lima-9's remaining forces is two platoons' worth of these new Alien allies of ours, with possibly more Groundside reinforcements incoming, so check your targets! If Major Wilhelm Connely and Sergeant Michael Reaver are alive and can hear this communique, HighCom wishes to speak with whoever came groundside to help us. The Covenant are in full retreat planetside, so the roads should be relatively clear! We are sending Air Support from FOB Oxcart and Pelicans for evacuation of wounded, as well as two platoons of Scorpion Battle Tanks! That is all! Ballroom, out!"

The Sergeant's shoulders sagged. He sighed, relieved, and leaned against the wall, a smile on his face. He chuckled, then said "This is Lima-9! We're alive and on our way out from the ONI office building... And yeah, I got the commander of the Eldar's ground troops right her. Tell the vics to bring some food over from the base, I'm fuckin' starving and I'm sure my men are too... Lima-9 out."

Looking to the Farseer, he said "Nice work out there, Faen. Saved our asses."

The Farseer wanted to correct him... But she found not the strength to do so. Sighing and shaking her head, she walked straight to the elevators. The Sergeant chuckled, then said "Oh, come on, don't like the nickname, Faen? Faen. Faaeeeeeeen!" He kept pestering her, laughing all the while... She was starting to lose her patience... Only for him to add one final straw. "Oh, come on, Faen, y'know you love it!"

"I will shove the end of my spear down your throat if you do not shut up..." She snarled, stepping faster.

He laughed. "Yeah, you love it..."

"I WILL THROW A LIGHTNING BOLT AT YOU, YOU MENTALLY-UNSTABLE NEANDERTHAL!" She bellowed...

Weiss and Aira exchanged glances...

And the former snorted, while the latter planted a palm on her face...