Project Ares

Ambush

Geonosis

It had been only a mere 15 minutes since the fleet had dropped out of hyperspace and already the enormous Venator was shaking under the strain of battle. As the waves of vulture droids peppered the deck with laser fire and kamikaze strikes, most troopers and officers crumbled under the sheer force echoing through the ship's hull. However, most did not include the Master Chief. Stoically walking towards the busy hangar, upon entry he saw that the main hangar door was busy opening for the next wave of fighters to be deployed into battle.

Unfortunately, as the last three Y-wings left the hangar, they were gunned down by a squad of vulture droids that then landed in the hangar bay's open area. As the droids started firing at the stationary fighters and transports, Chief gunned it for the new arrivals to give them a spartan welcome. Picking up an RPG from a nearby explosives cache, Chief ignored safety protocols and fired the heavy ordinance at the nearest Vulture droid. Hitting the cybernetic's centre mass and causing it to tumble into the adjacent one, bringing both hostiles down.

With two droids remaining, Chief slid underneath the nearest one's legs, bringing his arm backwards. The soldier punched one of the robot's legs out from underneath it, bringing his knife out of its sheath and driving it straight up into the collapsing droid's head. As the nearby clone troopers finished off the last Vulture droid, the large hangar bay doors were finally sealed shut. "Master Chief, this is Admiral Yularen, I was just informed that your designated transports are required for the main assault now due to the damage caused by the intruders. I'm sorry soldier, but your team is going to have to wait for the next available window."

"Sir, permission to take my team to the surface in an improvised manner?" 117 requested, seeing only the benefits of their deployment, the Admiral could not have replied back sooner. "What is your method of insertion?"

"Sir, I'll load up a trio of escape pods and we'll fall down to the surface. Our landing will be rough but it'll get us on target and the men will be able to walk it off." Following a few seconds of radio static, the Admiral returned. "One one seven, you have the green light. I'll order the Resolute to get into position to commence the landing procedures soon, comm me once your team is ready to deploy."

"Sir, yes sir." Getting to where Blue Team was recovering from their quick skirmish in the hanger, Chief gave the order to load up with as much as they could carry before heading to the nearest escape pods. "Escape pods sir?" Echo asked confused, explaining the situation and how they won't be able to get down to the surface without waiting for at least half an hour. Following his explanation, Fives was the first to speak up. "You heard the chief, move it troopers!"

As the men rushed off with packs full of ammo, rations and explosives, Chief held back for a moment. Marching over to a nearby gunship that was being outfitted with a heavy blaster cannon, 117 picked up the large battery pack and mounted it on his armour's spare weapons slot. Before the small group of engineers and mechanics could argue, Chief gave them a silent but menacing look before saying; "I need this weapon."

Breaking the large gun off of its stand and feeling the weight of it in his hands, Chief jogged away to the escape pods where the rest of his team was already waiting for him. Once he arrived, it was fair to say that the troops felt a large boost in their confidence when they saw the small tank getting into one of the pods with them. "Admiral Yularen, we are ready to launch. You can start the countdown now."

"Copy that Master Chief, launching in T-minus 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, launch initiated!" As the pods left the safety of the cruiser, the trio of craft went barreling towards the planet's surface. Once they hit the atmosphere, the front window burned a bright yellow/orange as the crafts sliced through the air at hypersonic speeds. Regaining some measure of control once they had slowed down, the pods' pilots guided the crafts to the canyon's entrance.