A Lone ODST

Klara woke up a few hours later again. Much like the last time she cautiously cracked the lid open. She looked out and saw a lone ODST leaned against the wall, seeming to be dead. She cautiously squeezed her way hiding spot. She crawled her way over the ODST and looked them over, unable to actually judge their gender with the body armor they wore. She kicks their leg, head cocked to the side. The ODST woke up and aimed his M6 at her, moving quicker then she could have countered. She stepped back and raised her hands to let the ODST know she was no threat to them. The ODST nodded and re-holstered their pistol before getting up. They held out their hand, nodding to the NMPD Officer.

"I'm Sergeant First Class Samantha Yulta."

The ODST stated, answering the question of their gender rather decisively. Klara took the ODST's hand and gave it a good shake.

"I'm Officer Klara Fardau, a pleasure to see an ODST at a time like this."

The ODST smiled and gave a soft nod, looking around curiously. She gestured for Klara to follow, the woman was more then happy to stick with the ODST. Such an elite soldier would certainly only boost her chances of surviving this mess. The two started their way into a building to sneak their way towards the evacuation route away from prying eyes. They figured it was safer to move through the buildings as the Covenant seemed oddly uninterested to actually head into the buildings unless they thought something was inside worth engaging. The two women worked their way a few more kilometers to the West, before setting up a sort of camp for the next few hours to allow the Covenant patrols to die down a little bit. The two simply sat down inside of a dumpster that was conveniently devoid of too much garbage. Klara fell fast asleep, knowing conversation would be unwise, likely dragging attention to them. Samantha stayed awake, keeping her ears strained to listen for anything that would require her to wake up Klara for a firefight.

After a good hour of staying inside the dumpster, Samantha put her helmet back on and saw something most curious. A new IFF tag nearby and closing. She opened up the lid a crack and looked outside, seeing another ODST moving quickly and quietly in her direction. Samantha opened up the lid and gave a gesture for the other ODST to head her way and climb in. Soon enough, Klara and Samantha had a new companion inside their little hideout. The two ODSTs converse mainly through hand signals and closed channel radio communications. Even through closed channel communications, they didn't really want to talk too much in case something happened. The two conversed in their silent way for around two hours before waking Klara. The three of them gathered their items and looked around curiously outside the dumpster before deciding it was safe enough to get out and move along towards the next location of interest further west. The three make a sort of reversed V formation with the two ODSTs in the front and the NMPD Officer at the rear of the three person 'fireteam'.

"We're almost to the river. We all know how to swim, right?"

Klara asks, looking forward at the two of the ODSTs.

"Of course. We do also have fifteen minutes of air if needed in our ODST armor."

Samantha states, the other ODST nods in agreement. They hadn't really spoken once Klara had awoken. The group ended up quickly in a dead end, finding the way sealed off by both immense rubble from a skyscraper's collapse and the bulkhead sealed off from the Superintendent. The three hear movement and take up positions in the rubble, planning to fight if needed from improvised defensive positions in the rubble. The two ODSTs took up positions in gaps in the concrete and rebar. Klara simply picked somewhere that was a bit lower, which seemed good enough for her. The three of them waited to see what would come into the corridor they had just come from. Soon enough a group of Grunts came around the corner lead by a pair of Jackals.