Davek sighed, there was no point in hanging around and spying on them if he couldn't hear anything, which meant, he'd have to go in. He didn't get any surveillance equipment for the mission, as the mission parameters hadn't exactly been known. Carefully making his way back to the inn he'd stayed in the night before, he showered quickly and changed clothes from his black t-shirt and jeans, to a grey t-shirt and brown cargo pants. Washed his clothes to the best of his ability and packed his things. He paid his bill on the way out, and made his way back to the Ohana.<br/><br/>As he walked, he couldn't help thinking about the last mission he'd been on with Shana. They'd been deployed to take over a Covenant Cruiser that was hovering over New York City but, it had opened a slipspace gate and escaped before they'd even made it half way in their SOEIV pods. His mind traveled back in time, and replayed the moment he had finally managed to garner a small amount of trust with Shana, the moment her life had literally hung in his hands. His mind rushed backwards 4 years in time in the blink of an eye, and sent him from Falaknuma, in the 18 Scorpii system, near the Sigma Octanus System in the Inner Colonies, or as the brass like to refer to as now, FLEETCOM sector three, to the Sol System, and finally Earth some 45.7 lightyears away.<br/><br/><strong><em> 4 years ago...<br/><span class="bbc_u">Location:</span> On top of Grand Central Banks and Loans, New York City, NY. <br/><span class="bbc_u">Date:</span> October 27, 2552. One week after the Covenant Invasion of Earth has begun.</em></strong><br/><br/>The sounds of plasma fire followed them as they made their way up the stairs, only to be stopped by debris. Gladiator grunted and kicked down the door beside him, and led the way to the elevator shaft. Power was out all over the building, casting everything in darkness and clouds of ghostly fog as debris continued to fall from the ceiling as a result of the battle that was raging on outside. Only days before, Patric, one of the Spartans on his team had been put on one of the few medical Pelican transports in the area, and taken to safety for medical aid. Their crazy ODST "Sling", Spartan "Valkyrie", Spartan "Hunter", Shana, along with himself, and two other Marines, Jacobs, and O'Brian, were all that was left now of their team. It had been utter hell since the moment they all had crash landed, every step had been a fight, and there had been very few chances for rest. The others were either dead, or missing.<br/><br/>Seven people out of what was once an infiltration team of over thirty Marines, ODSTs, and Spartans. Four that he knew of, had been confirmed KIA, and nine people that he knew of, were MIA, leaving eleven more with unknown statuses. In every way so far, this mission was one big failure on his record but, if he could learn why the Covenant was here, it might make the sacrifices that had already been made, easier for him to bear. He had to believe that the answers they hoped to gain, would make the lives they'd lost worth something. The thought of his people dying for nothing ate at him fiercely. Now finally, they were close, and it looked like they were about to get some answers as to why the Covenant was in New York City, and not fighting over in New Mombasa where everyone else was. That is, if they could manage to take out this one last communication jammer. Luckily, it looked like the Covenant had already searched this building, so there was nothing in front of them impeding their way except debris, the gaps left in the flooring, walls, and ceilings. Fortunately, they made it relatively quick to the roof.<br/><br/>Gladiator motioned for Shana to go ahead of him up the stairs as he magnetized his MA5C Assault rifle to his hip. He grabbed a large sturdy looking metal desk a moment later, and hauled it bodily up the stairs, intending to jam the door with it to occupy the Covenant for a few precious minutes. He wasted no time in closing the heavy door and jamming the desk inside the fire escape, the desks edges giving way with a harsh, ear piercing cry as they bent inwards as the wall earned a new scar.<br/><br/>"Gladiator, we have a problem..." Shana started.<br/>"Great, now what?" came Davek's annoyed response as the Covenant they'd been eluding caught up to them much faster than he would've liked, and it sounded like they'd brought Brutes to the party. Just great.<br/>"There's no way for us to reach the coms jammer from here" Shana stated flatly, irritation beginning to edge into her voice "look".<br/>The big blue and gold armored spartan walked over to the melted hole in the wall, and stuck his head out. He spotted the jammer easily but, Shana was right, there was no way any of the rubble would support her weight, much less his, for him to make his way to it, and the map they had didn't reveal any rooftop access points beyond the shattered, and slagged remains of what at one time must have been a simple fire escape.<br/><br/>Spotting a possible route, the Spartan two looked back to Shana "let's try over there," Gladiator said, pointing directly to their left, across the cylindrical hole that had been carved vertically into the building, the remains of what must have been a Covenant Battle Cruiser's ventral beam, and to a small outcropping of brick, and concrete flooring, and steel girders jutted out above nothing "the remains of that wall might hold a way up to the roof".<br/>"If you say so..."<br/><br/>Gladiator piled on some of the heaviest rubble he could find, and another desk into the barricade, to slow their Covenant pursuers, which were already hammering, and firing on the door, before he joined Shana. He took a look at the route that he'd spotted, and it was questionable at best. The wall looked like it could give at any moment but, it did have enough handholds to be able to climb, and when Davek pushed gently against it, it held, somewhat. The ledge the communication jammer rested on was over their heads, and to the right of them. Right over a thirty story plummet to the ground below. Davek just prayed that the ledge would hold, despite in the instability of the building.<br/><br/>"Alright, up you go," Davek said turning to her.<br/>"Fuck that!"<br/>"Shana..."<br/>"There's no way in hell it'll hold"<br/>"Shana, we need a direct line to command, and between the two of us, you're the smallest, and the lightest," Gladiator reminded her, his hands on his hips.<br/>"Thank you Captain Obvious for that stirring reminder," Shana snapped back.<br/>"I'll be right below you to hold it up should it start to fall, and if the ledge gives, I'll catch you but, if we don't move and clear those com lines, then we've wasted our time, and our comrades will have fought, and died for nothing."<br/>Gladiator wasn't pleased with the situation in the least but, he was sincere in his promise to her. He'd try his damnedest to catch her, or failing that, jump off the damned building himself, and hope to hell that he could make the fall survivable by being the cushion for her. He'd displayed such brave recklessness before, and he hoped that she would remember that, and trust that he'd keep his word.<br/>"Oh fuck me! Fine! But, if you don't catch me. I swear I'll come back as a goddamned ghost and haunt your ass," Shana threatened.<br/>"Fine by me, now get up there so I can give our Covie friends a warm welcome," Gladiator said jerking his thumb up to the roof.<br/><br/>He watched her briefly as she started climbing the wall, and quirked his head a little to the side, noticing for the first time the curvature of her buttocks. A small smile creeped onto his face, that was thankfully hidden behind his helmet. Feeling eyes upon her Shana turned to look at him, a questioning expression upon her face "what?"<br/>"Huh? Oh. Nothing. I just never noticed what a nice looking ass you have is all," Davek replied, grinning from ear to ear.<br/>"Oh bite me," Shana replied rolling her eyes before continuing the climb.<br/>"Maybe later," Gladiator started to laugh but, he was quickly cut off as the barricade exploded outwards as the Covenant that'd been pursuing them used their grenades, and the Jiralhanae Commanders used their Brute Shot weapons. The explosion sent tremors through the floors, and walls, loosening dust and debris. The blue and gold armored Spartan cursed as Shana slipped, caught herself, and resumed her climb, as he began firing at the Covenant entering the destroyed rooms. Jackals, and Grunts dropped like flies amidst the hail of gunfire that was sent their way but, the Brutes were another matter entirely. Their armor was thicker, and better protected them from his assault. One of the Brutes leveled his grenade launcher, and fired it into a pillar, which bent backwards with the force of the explosion, then began cracking, as the ceiling began to sag.<br/><br/>He heard Shana shout something but, was too busy engaging the Covenant to catch her words. He timed his next shot, and waited for the Brute to take aim again as his partner dashed out and took cover behind some debris on the other side of the gap. He zoomed in on his target, the Brute's forearm, and fired, the bullet hit the target right where it was supposed to, and just as the alien fired, the barrel was flung to the side, and dipped toward the ground, a second later the smoking remains of a Brute toppled over the edge and fell to the street below. The remaining Brute was none too happy about his partners demise, and leveled his Spiker weapon, and fired, forcing Gladiator into cover that barely protected him as the sharp metal spikes dove into concrete, and drywall. Gladiator sprang up, and leveled his DMR, searching for the Brute but, the alien had already moved into a different spot. Luckily, his threat tracking radar still worked on his HUD. Taking a grenade from the small armored pouch at the small of his back, he gave a toss to where the radar said the Brute was, and was rewarded with a startled bark as the alien jumped from it's cover, and ran. A second later, the grenade detonated, reducing the debris it'd been using to dust. The Brute though, was fast, and again, fired it's Spiker weapon, forcing Gladiator back into cover. When he raised up again, the Brute was right on him, mouth wide, and snarling as it brought the blades on the underside of the gun crashing down on the Spartan. Gladiator hit the ground, sparks flying from the impact of the blades on his helmet. His vision began to blur thanks to the concussion he still had but, he kicked out a foot anyway, and was rewarded with a bark of pain, and the sound of the alien hitting the floor. Holding his head lightly, Gladiator rolled over and took a knee to get up but, the Brute, not two feet away, grabbed his ankle with it's long arm, and pulled him back down, then slid him hard into the debris he'd been using for cover.<br/><br/>Again his vision blurred, and blackness began to edge into the edges of his vision but, he stubbornly clung to consciousness and pushed the blackness away. He felt himself sliding again, and took out the knife he had sheathed on his right shoulder, and plunged it into the floor. The alien's strength pulled him a good four feet more, carving a large semicircle into the floor, before he stopped, his knife hooking on something, and halting the alien's efforts. Gladiator kicked at the hands that held his ankle, and finally felt them release, then he turned over, and shot the beast three times in the chest, the bullets harmlessly bouncing off it's armor but, knocking it back nonetheless. Getting to his feet, he leveled his DMR again but, had to jump away to avoid the Brutes charge as it began to go berserk.<br/><br/>Scrabbling to his feet again, he turned just in time to be football tackled, and slammed into the damaged pillar. The impact of the Spartan, plus the Brute, dislodged the pillar completely, and the roof heaved mightily. Hearing Shana's cry of surprise, he slammed the butt of his DMR into the Brute's head as it came for a second tackle, and used his legs to lift it over himself, and fling the beserking beast into the air. It landed with a heavy thud, and skidded towards the edge, it's bottom half sliding over into open air but, managed to catch itself using it's powerful arms. As it started to crawl back up, Gladiator's knife buried itself deep into it's left eye, and it plummeted to the street below. Rushing over, Davek saw the Covenant Communication Jammer fall past, and looked up to see Shana clinging for dear life to the weak, and crumbling ledge. A second later, it finally gave way, and she fell into open air. His heart leaped into his throat. Of all the deaths he'd seen, he could only imagine the one that awaited her, at that moment, being the most horrible. He saw her twist in the air in slow motion, a look of terror on her face as her arms flailed to catch hold of anything close. The heavier debris fell past first, and Shana followed seconds later.<br/><br/>Gladiator reached out his arm, his finger's grasping for her hand, and somehow their hands met. The moment he felt her hand in his gloved one, he clamped onto it tight, and pulled her close, as he backpedaled away from the edge, the roof groaning as it began to collapse.<br/><br/><strong>Today...</strong><br/><br/>It all came back in a rush as he strode towards Shana's booth. He'd broken her hand in five places when he'd grabbed her like that but, she was alive. As he stopped in front of Shana, he smiled and said "Hey Shana, it's been a while. Got room for one more?"