Twigs and leaves snapped underfoot as the trio made their way quickly but deliberately through the light wooded area, glimpses of black and grey rectangles were visible through breaks in the treeline, buildings that were starting to crumble under the covenant assault as they mercilessly blasted their way through the city. The distant popping of gunfire was just audible in the distance, sometimes accompanied by muffled explosions that caused the trees to flutter in unison. It was strangely quiet in the forest itself however, a serene atmosphere that was completely contrasted by the carnage happening just minutes away, if one looked closely they could see the scurrying of small woodland creatures as they watched the three large lumbering figures crash past.
Dragan kept his MA5C rifle pointed forwards at chest height, finger ever so lightly brushing the trigger guard, every tree was a possible hiding place for an Elite, every crest a snipers perch and every rock an ambush spot for unsuspecting soldiers, hopefully the Covenant saw the disadvantages of fighting in a forest and had kept to the city, but the groups job wasn't to assume, it was to know. The group came to a small clearing, however it wasn't part of the natural formation of the forest, evidenced by the fact that multiple trees had fallen completely over or had been snapped in two, this long scar ran for about thirty foot until at the end of it, a single burning wreck lay overturned in the dirt. At first it was hard to identify because all that remained was black, charred metal, however moving to one side it became apparent this was the remains of an AV-14 Attack VTOL, or the Hornet for short. Judging by the massive path gouged out in the terrain, it had come down quite violently and dragged along the ground before coming to its final resting place, its right engine unit was missing and the left one was badly damaged and still smouldering. When Dragan approached the front to identify any remains, the canopy had been removed and the pilots seat was void of any corpse, as was the surrounding area suggesting the occupant had got away. Seeing nothing else of importance, Dragan signaled for the group to move on.
Two minutes later the group approached the edge of the trees, the abrupt end to the foliage coincided with a sharp drop but provided ample view of the local area from an elevated position. The city limits started around 700 meters away straight infront of them, and off to the right was the main road leading in, blockaded by multiple wrecks of Civillian, UNSC and Covenant vehicles alike, the defenders had set up makeshift fortified positions along the road flanking both sides but they hand't been enough, metal plates, sandbags and crates all lay strewn over the place.
"Tucker get your scope up and scan our left flank. Hawkins you take up rear security" Ilyas motioned and crouched down low to the edge of the ridge and used his VISR to zoom in on the edge of town.
However something much closer caught his eye, a shroud of dust that was lifting over the expanse between them and the town, and it was closing fast. The origin of hte dust was caused by a single wraith, flanked by two ghosts on either side making way towards the trio. That wasn't all, two more Wraiths were moving parallel were heading towards the rest of Eclipse, a gaggle of grunts led by a Brute Minor filed not far behind, armed with Plasma Rifles and Spikers.
"Fuck" He swore to himself quietly and crept back from the edge.
"Hawkins, Tucker. Look alive we have contacts en-route. One Wraith and two ghosts. Stay low and don't fire yet."
He keyed in his mic to contact Ethan with the news.
"Lieutenant Woods. Contacts to your direct north. Two Wraiths supported by ground troops headed towards your position. We've also got contacts coming our way. Should we engage?"
