<br/><strong>Gladiator0161</strong><br/><strong>Loc: Lexington avenue and 40th, NYC, NY</strong><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: times new roman;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 10pt;">"Gladiator to Shana, Sling, Sierra 435, and 636. Sit rep! Anyone still alive out there?" Gladiator waited a moment for any kind of response over the SQUADCOM. Nothing. Not even static. Growling softly, he repeated his message “I repeat. This is Sierra oh one six one to Shana, Sling, Sierra 435, and Sierra 636. Does anyone copy? Over.” He waited another minute or so but, to him every minute felt more like an hour. He slammed his fist onto the end table next to his bed, not noticing that the doctor had just placed two bottles of water there, along with his meds. Fearing the worst the Spartan’s fist smashed down onto one unfortunate bottle of water, the impact shattering it with such force that the bottle exploded sending a white spray in every direction, and spilling the rest of the table’s contents onto the floor, or sending them sailing across the room as he swore. The table itself was broken in half, a large indent of where his fist had impacted it’s surface, marring the unfortunate piece of furniture. All commotion within the makeshift medbay ceased at the explosion, no one daring to move or breath as all eyes turned on the source of the powerful display, wondering what the unpredictable behemoth would do next. A moment later Gladiator’s visor tilted up, as he noticed the lack of activity in the area.<br/><br/>He noticed too the frightened look on the medics faces. He gave a great sigh, then switched his coms over to the audio setting so everyone could hear him. He gave a quick apology to everyone then looked to Valkyrie, the only other Spartan in the room and said “Valkyrie. I’ve lost contact with our team, keep trying to make contact with them while I guide this civie across hostile territory. Hopefully I can get her out of there alive” the only motion the female Spartan made was a curt nod before turning around and complying with her orders.<br/><br/>Switching back to TACCOM frequency 259 he looked at the live footage and pulled a few more active security cameras on her block to get a quick layout of her area and said “PFC Foster, this is Sierra zero one six one. You have two scout patrols of Jackals two blocks north and west, a Brute patrol three blocks east of you, and a Elite patrol four blocks south of your position. Do. Not. Panic. Do exactly as I say, when I say. You will get through this if you listen to me. I am at 9 2 1 8 on Lexington Avenue and 40th street, in a parking garage with a medical team and some marines. I am sending you a nav marker to point the way on your pad. I will try to get footage of the air traffic but, until I do, stay close to the buildings, and use the abandoned cars for cover when crossing the street if at all possible. If you can hot wire a car and get here faster, do it. Do you copy? Over.” A moment later, he sent the nav marker and his location to her pad, and prayed that she heard everything he’d just told her but, most especially he prayed that she kept her head and tried to remain calm.</span></span><br/><br/><strong><em>Gunnery Sergeant Desmonde "Sling" Rockwell</em></strong>[/i]<br/><strong>Loc: Mall Emergency Medical Room, NYC, NY</strong><br/><br/>Sling coughed a couple of times as Shana began exploring their prison, eventually finding a door near the back. His leg had been quick fixed now but, he'd forgotten about another injury, the piece of drywall debris in his back. The wound was undoubtedly infected now, and his skin was probably healing itself around the piece of embedded shrapnel. He could feel himself starting to burn up from the infection. He felt weak, like all the strength had been sapped from his body. Sling tried to lay down and save his strength but, the piece of embedded debris wouldn't let him get comfortable. Gritting his teeth as he remembered the piece of drywall in his back he sat up. He needed to get that debris out of his back, and his wound cleaned. He'd watched through tear blurry eyes as O'Brian tried to regain some of his lost dignity in his encounter with the ODST, and ripped one of the bed rails off the bed to try and open a barricaded sliding door somewhere near the back of the small emergency medical room.<br/><br/>Stripping off his chest armor, his helmet, and the black shirt underneath, he found a mirror and propped it on the counter, angling the mirror to catch the light in the room to where he would be able to see his back. He found the drywall debris readily enough, and as expected, the wound was now infected. It was inflamed and gross looking, puss and blood were oozing from it and he could begin to smell a foul odor. He needed to work fast, and get back in the game, the Covenant wouldn't be far behind. He started opening the cabinets in the room until he found some latex gloves, and a 16 oz. bottle of Dakin's Solution, a disinfectant and cleaning solution he'd heard some of the medics talk about in the past. It was an old brand of medical cleaner but, it was still used. Finding a pair of surgical pliers, he grabbed them, as well as some surgical gauze, medical tape, the gloves and the bottle, then went back to the mirror. A few minutes later he took a deep breath, and yanked the piece of drywall out with the pliers, gritting his teeth through the pain, as he tossed the bloodied piece of drywall aside angrily, along with the pliers. He put his helmet back on, and poured the cleaning solution onto the wound. It felt like he'd just poured molten lava into the hole in his back. He muted the audio speakers and cried out in pain as he leaned heavily on the counter, though he was sure that Shana and O'Brian could still hear his muffled cries of pain. His hands shook as he forced himself to pour more solution down his back and into it. Next he unrolled a length of gauze and used it as a towel to rub against the wound, making sure that the dead skin, and debris were removed, then poured the rest of the bottle down his back again. Panting heavily, he leaned heavily on the counter in pain.<br/><br/>He unrolled the rest of the gauze bundle and worked it around his chest and back, using the mirror to check his placement. Finally he tied the gauze good and tight, then used the tape to keep it stable. He turned his audio speakers back on, took his helmet off, and pulled his shirt back on as he panted heavily. A few groaning moments later, he donned his ODST armor. There was a big puddle of cleaning solution on the floor, and he smelled of bleach but, his wound was clean. A few seconds later, a loud gurgling growl filtered through the cracked open sliding door just as the bed rail snapped in O'Brian's hands.<em>Oh great, a Hunter. This just keeps getting better and better</em>[/i] he thought as he made himself start to limp towards Shana and O'Brian. A second later Shana threw herself away from the door, slamming against a metal cabinet as the Hunter fired at the door. O'Brian was fine but, babbling in fright like a baby. As Shana picked herself up and put her helmet back on, she and Sling locked eyes. As Shana began calling for backup the Hunter fired again, cutting her off as the shock wave from the impact shook the floor beneath her. She fell to the cold hard ground, and Sling fell backwards onto his injured back unable to keep his balance. He groaned and muttered through clenched teeth "That son of a bitch is gonna die!" his anger over rode his pain and he grabbed his Mauler and his M6C/SOCOM pistol from their holsters, preparing for the behemoth to fire again and burst through the wall. A moment later the Hunter fired it's Fuel Rod Cannon a third time, a green explosion lifting the melting metal frame, sliding door and a two foot section of wall, and throwing it over the trio's heads. The door slammed against the far side of the room. Sling picked himself up, Mauler and his M6C pistol in hand, as the lumbering giant gurgled a mocking growl at them. Sling roared, focusing the Hunter's attention on him, and ran at the behemoth, ignoring the pain in his body. The Hunter, thinking that it was going to get an easy kill, raised it's shield arm, preparing to swat him away like a fly. As Sling put all his strength into his suicidal run, roaring like a enraged maniac all the way, the behemoth began charging it's Fuel Rod Cannon at it's side. At the last second Sling dropped to the ground, the Hunter's shield buzzing by his visor by mere centimeters, and slid between the monster's legs. As he came through, he raised the Mauler in his left hand and fired into the monster's back twice. Both shots were partial hits, and it growled in pain but, turned towards him angrily.<br/><br/>"Now! Light it up!" Sling shouted as the Hunter turned towards him fully, and raised it's fully charged Fuel Rod Cannon.