On the surface of Harvest, UNSC forces found themselves under attack Covenant forces, all over the planet. In the Northern part of the planet where the Forerunner vault was located, Covenant forces had converged on that location attempting to overwhelm the defending UNSC forces.
Among the UNSC forces was Spartan team Black. It was composed of 4 Spartans, Margaret-053 the leader, Roma-143 the intelligence specialists, Otto-031 the heavy weapons specialists, and Victor-101 who was teams' sniper/recon specialists.
They reported directly to ONI and was assigned to escort a civilian consultant by the name of Ellen Anders as she investigates the Forerunner Vault. She was hired by Admiral Parangosky to see what exactly Axel had seen when he came down here, but so far none of the Forerunner consoles respond to anything she does.
From her research, she already discovered that the consoles were active, but she couldn't get anything from them. So, she could only spend her time trying to figure out what she was doing wrong.
Meanwhile, at this time outside of the Forerunner vault, the UNSC marines were defending the base from the Covenant attack. Spartan Team Black was at the forefront of the defense alongside Sergeant Forge.
Margaret was on a turret emplacement firing at the advancing Covenant forces with two marines on her side covering her flanks and reloading the turret when needed.
Roma was fighting alongside Otto with Sergeant Forge and the Marines. The Covenant forces were relentless, wave after wave attacked the team as Roma and Otto held their ground. Otto's heavy machine gun roared in a ceaseless stream of bullets that obliterated everything in its path. Roma, nimble and efficient with her assault rifle, cutting down the Covenant forces one by one.
Meanwhile, Victor had secured a vantage point high up on a rocky cliff, his sniper scope aimed on the battlefield below. His heart was steady, each beat in sync with the rhythm of his breathing. He watched the chaos from above through the scope of his sniper. Every shot he made was precise, taking out key targets within the enemy ranks and disrupting their formation.
But even with all of this, the Covenant forces had come prepared, 4 Wraith tanks rushed forward until they had the base in their range and started to fire their Plasma mortars at the defensive line. Sergeant Forge, seeing this ordered them to pull back to avoid the Plasma leaving the frontlines defenseless.
Roma and Otto had retreated while covering their backs to make sure the marines didn't get shot while trying to flee. A few seconds later in front of them where they were previously standing, the entire area was hit by Plasma mortar that would've killed them if they did not.
Margaret who had to abandon the turret she was using had walked up to the Sergeant who was issuing orders to his men "Sergeant Forge, we need to retreat, we won't be able to hold off this many enemy forces without running out of ammo."
Sergeant Forge turned his head to look at Margaret "Three Pelicans from Charlie base are en-route to evacuate us, we won't be able to hold this position and we they can't send us backup, so instead they sent us Pelicans to take us back to Charlie base until we get reinforcements" Stated Sergeant Forge.
"Copy that Sergeant, in the meantime we will go and distract the Covenant, let us know when the Pelicans arrive so we can get a ride out of here" Responded Margaret.
"I'll be the first" Said Sergeant Forge, "Good luck out there."
Margaret turned towards her team "Alright, here's the plan, we are going to destroy those Wraith tanks, so the Pelicans won't get blown up when they land. Otto, I want you to take control of one of them and cause some damage to the Covenant forces."
"Copy that" Responded Otto as he checked his heavy machine gun to see if he had enough ammo for the fight.
"Roma, I want you to take the second Wraith tank while I take the third and Victor, you will support us on the ground," said Margaret.
"This is going to be fun" replied Roma.
"Make sure it stays that way," Margaret shot back, "Everyone geared up?"
Nods and affirmatives came from the team as they prepared to move out. Their mission was clear; take out the Wraith tanks before they turn the base into a smoldering ruin.
Victor quietly moved, positioning himself at a higher vantage point, his eyes locked onto the battlefield beneath him. He watched his team's movements, his trigger finger ready. The first shot rang out, hitting a Sangheili Major who was manning one of the Wraith tanks turrets. The Covenant soldier fell over as he was still clutching the controls of the tank's turret.
Margaret and Otto charged forward to capitalize on Victor's opening shot ignoring the grunts and jackals who shot at them. Their powerful MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armors made them formidable tanks in their own rights. With a powerful leap, Margaret was on top of her target, ripping open its hatch and dispatching its operator with ruthless efficiency. Otto followed suit, launching himself at the second Wraith tank. He landed hard onto its smooth shell, gripping onto it as he wrestled open the hatch.
Roma who was behind the two provided cover fire against the Covenant forces that tried to intervene. Her assault rifle barked in rapid succession as she cut down Grunts and Jackals attempting to rush her teammates.
Finally gaining access to his chosen tank, Otto engaged in a swift but brutal melee fight with the operator inside before taking control of the Covenant tank.
Now that the tanks were under their control, they turned them on the Covenant forces and opened fire on them. The tank that Roma was supposed to get had retreated behind enemy lines, so she mounted up with Otto on the tank's turret and started lighting the Covenant up.
Meanwhile back at the vault, the three Pelicans had come into sight and would not wait too long for them to board before leaving because of how hot the landing zone was.
"Spartan Team Black, the Pelicans are 3 mikes out so if you want a ride, you better get back here" said Sergeant Forge over his commlink.
Margaret responded "Copy that Sergeant we are on our way" as she said this, three streams of a charged plasma cannon had struck the tank disabling its shields in seconds.
Margaret jumped out of the tank just in time as in the next few seconds it exploded. Facing the new threat Margaret had seen a new type of Covenant vehicle which looked like a Spider tank of sorts.
"Black team let's move back to the base" Shouted Margaret over the commlink. Roma and Otto had jumped out of their tank as they saw what happened to Margaret's tank and didn't want to face a similar fate.
The Spartans had dashed back towards the base leaving behind the Covenant forces who were steadily advancing. Once they made it back to the base the Pelicans were just getting loaded up with Marines joined by Ellen Anders who was forced to leave her lab. Otto grabbed a rocket launcher he saw on the ground and found that it was still loaded.
He then boarded one of the Pelicans alongside his team. Once the last marine was onboard the Pelicans took off. But the Covenant forces were right there and had seen them causing one of the Spider tanks to target the Pelicans.
Otto had expected this and had aimed at the Spider tank with his rocket launcher, a second later when he had a lock on, he fired the shot which hit the Spider tank and destroyed it in a single shot.
The remaining Covenant forces focused on the vault while ignoring the fleeing humans. Their main objective was to secure the vault and they had completed it.
Fighting all over the planet had resulted in hundreds of lives already being lost as the UNSC tried to resist the Covenant forces on the planet's surface.
At the same time above the planet, Admiral Cole and his battlegroup had arrived within the system. His main objective was to take back Harvest and provide support to the troops on the surface.