The Battle for Earth

by Cornball

Spartans must help a marine company, but get more than what they bargained for.

The Battle for Earth

Chapter 1

The Strike

The smoke cleared and only three silhouettes stood against the setting sun. Nick, the best scout there ever was. Josh, the best sniper, and Evan, their leader. They were Spartans, clad in their MJOLNIR armor. They had been sent to reinforce Bravo Company who had been under heavy fire since 0800 hours. There had been 800 good, strong soldiers and now, they were all gone.

Nick moved up next to Evan, "We had better get moving. More covenant will more than likely be on their way."

Josh, looking behind them and said, "Yeah let's start moving."

"Okay, I'll call in a dropship to come get us. This is Spartan 112 calling Behemoth 412; we request immediate evac, over."

"This is Behemoth 412; I read you and will be there in 5 mics, over."

"Alright, Josh, Nick, set up a small perimeter before Behemoth gets here, make sure nothing non-human gets on that Pelican."

Four minutes later the booming sound of a Pelican was descending on the Spartans. After it touched down Josh, Nick, and Evan climbed into the back, when they were seated the Pelican was off.

Evan moved up to the cockpit, "Any word from Vice Admiral Winslow?"

"None yet, I think he's still in a meeting with Admiral Danforth."

"Okay, take us back to HQ."

After they landed and were off of the Pelican, a PFC walked up to Evan, "The Vice Admiral would like to have a word with you, sir."

"Okay." Evan turned to the other Spartans and switched on his Team Com, "While I'm gone I want you two to restock on ammo and supplies. I'll be back soon."

The PFC led Evan through a series of yellow luminous hallways towards the Vice Admirals office. A burly Corporal stood next to the door.

"Spartan 112 is here to see the Vice Admiral."

The Corporal stood there and looked Evan up and down. Finally he opened the door and let the Spartan walk through.

Evan walked up to the Vice Admiral's desk and stood at attention.

"Vice Admiral, you wanted to see me sir?"

The Vice Admiral looked up from the papers he was reading.

"Ahh, Master Chief, yes I wanted to see you."

Vice Admiral Winslow stood up from his desk, walked around it and stuck out his hand. Evan looked at it for a minute then took the Vice Admiral's hand and shook it. Vice Admiral Winslow walked back around his desk and sat down.

"I'm sorry that I have to send you back out, but Charlie Company is under heavy fire and have asked for reinforcements."

"What part of the city are they in?"

"They are in the north central part of the industrial district. After you help them, there is a covenant cruiser that I want you to board and destroy. Be careful, the covenant own that part of the city. It will be difficult to get in."

"Sir, yes, sir, anything else?"

"No. Dismissed."

Evan brought his feet together, snapped off a crisp salute spun on his heel and walked towards the door. After he was back outside Josh and Nick had already stowed the gear that Evan had told them to.

Josh walked up to Evan and saluted him, "So, what does the Vice Admiral want us to do?"

"We are to move to the north central part of the industrial district and reinforce Charlie Company, and then we have to destroy a covenant cruiser in the same district."

Nick turned away from the stowed gear and looked at Evan, "Sounds like a walk in the park to me."

Josh walks around to the other side of Nick tightens a strap then turns toward Evan again, "I feel a but coming on."

"Yeah, the covenant owns that part of the city and we have no way of knowing how many covenant that means."

Josh looks off towards the direction of the industrial district, "Guess I should get a sniper rifle then."

He turns toward the weapons pile on the ground a grabs a sniper rifle. He quickly stows away the rifle along with the ammo.

Evan looks around and says, "Lets get moving, make sure you have everything and then get on the Pelican."

After a quick check over the supplies and gear they boarded the Pelican.

The ride to the industrial district was quick and uneventful. When they landed the Spartans jumped off and grabbed the gear and supplies they needed.

After the Pelican faded into the distance Evan turned to look at his teammates, "Okay, Charlie Company should be a little ways past that large building over there. Move slowly but quickly we need to make sure that Charlie doesn't have any covenant sneaking up behind them, and I want to avoid an ambush. Nick, you take point, Josh, you take the rear, move out."

They moved quickly across the road and used the cover of the buildings to help them out.

They were half way there when Nick told them to halt, "There, just ahead, there are two Brutes, a Hunter pair, and a group of Elites and Grunts. Should we get closer or take them out from here?"

Evan moved up beside of Nick, "No stay here. Josh move inside this building and go up to the next floor. When you get there take out the Hunter pair. Nick me and you will move inside and stay on the bottom floor. I'll shoot from the window you shoot from the door. When we hear Josh's first shot we need to take down the Brutes then the others."

"Okay."

They waited for a minute then heard Josh's shot, then another. Both Hunters were down before Evan or Nick had fired their first shot. Evan and Nick both opened fire. Between all three of the Spartans fire power the covenant didn't stand a chance, pieces of alien flesh flew left and right. When they were done there wasn't anything left.

Evan reloaded his battle rifle, "Good job, okay lets get moving."

Josh had come back down then and started moving with Nick and Evan. They finally made it to the base of the large building that Charlie Company was supposed to be at.

Josh looked around the area but didn't see anyone, "Anyone got an idea of where they could be?"

Nick moved towards the doorway of the building, "They could be inside. I'll move up and see if they are."

Evan turned quickly, "No, we'll check around the building first and then move inside and check."

As the Spartans moved around the building they found covenant bodies everywhere

Josh bent down to check one of the bodies, "This one wasn't killed that long ago and there are tire tracks from a warthog right there. You think they left?"

Evan examined the tracks, "I don't know, they could have, from the look of the tracks they were driving and slid here."

Nick walked to the corner of the building, "Hey there are two other warthogs around here and from the look of the tracks they slid too."

Evan looked at the tracks at his feet, "Then what happened to the warthog that was here?"

Josh looked at Evan, "The warthog that was there could have been used to go and call for reinforcements, but was ambushed on the way back. I guess we should move inside and check it out."

The three Spartans moved back around to the front of the building and slipped inside. The inside was a mess; there were bodies everywhere covenant and human alike.

Nick surveyed the carnage, "These bodies have been here a while. The blood is coagulated and the blood on the floor is dried."

Josh moved towards the bottom of the stairs, "Hey guys, are you done down here because I think we should go on up."

Evan looked around the room once more, "Yeah lets get moving."

They moved up the stairs quietly. When they reached the top of the flight of stairs there was a soldier sitting against the wall.

Josh turned to face Evan, "There is a soldier sitting against the wall on the far side of the room."

Nick leaned around Evan, "Is he alive?"

"I don't know he may be. What do you want me to do?"

Evan leaned around Josh and looked into the room, "I'll go in and see if he is alive. Josh get on the other side of the door, Nick when I move into the room you get where I am. It may be a trap."

Evan slipped inside the room and crept along the wall keeping an eye on his motion tracker, no contact. Half way along the wall he stopped and called out, "Hey you okay?"

The soldier stayed where he was.

Evan moved a little closer, "Hey are you alright?"

The soldier lifted his head saw Evan and was grabbing for his gun when he realized it was a Spartan.

"Oh man, am I glad to see you."

He looked around the room, "Is it just you?"

Evan turned towards the door and waved Josh and Nick through.

"Thank God, three Spartans, this is great."

Evan looked back at the soldier, "What is your rank and name?"

The soldier looked at Evan, "PFC Walters, John."

Evan looked around the room, "Where is the rest of your company?"

The PFC rubbed his eyes, "They are up about two floors. They sent me down here to see if the reinforcements would arrive. I've been sitting her for half an hour and I dozed off two minutes ago. I didn't think anyone would come."

Josh moved back towards the stairs and looked up the next flight, "How many are in your company?"

Walters looked at Josh, "About twenty, we had thirty, but then we were ambushed and lost the ten in the first four minutes. We were at the base of this building when we were attacked. There may be a lot fewer now though."

Nick moved up next to Evan, "We should move up to the floor they are on now. If we don't there may be none left."

Evan turned and looked at Nick then at Josh by the stairs then back to Nick, "Yeah lets move. Walters you're coming with us."

The Private stood up and moved towards Evan, "Sir, yes, Sir."

Evan walked towards the stairs and began moving up. At the top of the flight he checked the room; the walls were splattered with alien and human blood. There were plasma scorches and bullet holes all over the walls. Evan stepped pass the room and moved on up the stairs. At the top he swept the inside of the room with his rifle. There were human and covenant bodies on the floor and blood on the walls.

Evan turned to face the Private, "What was your all clear signal?"

The PFC moved up in front of Evan. He moved his head around the wall and tapped on the wall three times. When he did this, two PFCs stepped out from another room.

Evan looked at the PFCs, "Are you all that is left of Charlie Company?"

They both nodded their heads in unison. They were battle weary and looked like they had been through hell and back.

Josh moved into the room then turned to face Evan, "I know these guys have been through a lot, but we have to go now. There will be more coming soon; I'm surprised they aren't already here."

Evan moved quickly to the window and looked down, "We'll use the warthogs to get to the cruiser."

He turned to face the Privates, "I know you guys are tired, but I want you to come with us and help us take over the cruiser."

Walters turned to face the rest of his company, "Okay guys, lets saddle up and give 'em hell."

The two battle weary PFCs immediately straitened up and were ready to go. The jog back down to the warthogs was quick and quiet. Evan jumped in the driver seat and Nick took the rocket launcher on the back. Walters jumped into the passenger seat and reloaded his battle rifle, "Ready to go, sir."

The other PFCs jumped into the passenger and driver seats of the other warthog as Josh manned the LAAG.

Josh pulled back the firing hammer on the warthog, "Which way is the covenant cruiser?"

Nick turned to face Josh from the passenger seat of Evan's warthog, "It's approximately three kilometers northeast of here."

Evan started the engine, "Well we better start moving then. Everyone hold on."

Evan threw the warthog into reverse and spun it around; slamming it back into first he shot off. Half a kilo down the road, a phantom's engine roared over the warthog. Josh tracked the phantom with the LAAG but knew better than to open fire. A second phantom moved over the two warthogs and four brutes dropped out of the rear bay. The first three landed on the road but the fourth one landed on the front of Josh's warthog. The brute swung its massive arm twice and threw both PFCs out of the warthog.

Josh jumped off the warthog right before it slammed into a street lamp. The brute was thrown off of the warthog, but before it could get to its feet Josh emptied half a clip into it with his battle rifle. He turned around to see Nick firing rockets at the other three brutes while Evan drove the warthog closer to Josh.

Nick fired off three more rockets and all three nailed their intended targets. Pieces of brute were flung left and right.

Evan pulled the warthog up to Josh, "You alright?"

Josh slapped a fresh clip home with the satisfying click as it went in, "Yeah I'm all right, but I could use Walters' help though."

The private jumped down from the passenger seat, "Sure, what do you need?"

Josh ran over to the warthog and waved him over, "I need you to man the LAAG for me."

Without hesitation, Walters jumped up into the back of the hog and was ready to go. Josh climbed into the driver seat and started the engine. He put it in first and followed Evan. The rest of the way to the covenant cruiser was uneventful. When they were within 100 meters of the cruiser they stopped the warthogs and got out.

Walters took a look around, "How do we get onto the cruiser from here? Is there a gravity lift nearby?"

Evan took a step forward, "I suppose so. If there is, it should be directly under the cruiser."

Josh started toward the ship when a plasma blot sizzled by his head. He and the Spartans dropped to the ground and slid up behind a large piece of debris. Walters unfortunately had been hit right in the middle of the chest and his entrails were all over the ground. He dropped, with a blank stare on his face, to the ground.

Josh edged his head and sniper rifle up over the edge of the debris and looked through the scope, "There is a really large group of Elites and Hunters on the other side of that building across the street. I may be able to take out some of the Hunters before they all start tearing this place up with plasma fire."

Evan turns to look at Josh, "No not yet, you stay here and let me and Nick get closer before you open fire I'll signal when we're in place."

Nick and Evan slipped around the piece of debris and moved from cover to cover. When they were in place two acknowledgement lights winked on and off. Josh aimed for the farthest Hunter and opened fire. Evan heard the first shot and started firing round after round. They had taken down half of the group, but the other half had moved into cover.

Evan sat back down, "Alright we have to get closer, Josh you stay where you are and provide cover fire, while me and Nick get closer."

A blue acknowledgement light winked on. Nick moved to the corner of a building and motioned Evan forward. Evan moved up right behind Nick and primed a grenade. He counted to three and threw it to the other end. The grenade went off and Evan heard Josh fire off three shots then reload. Nick put his battle rifle around the corner of the building and fired off a few three round bursts. Nick leaned around the corner and a plasma bolt flew by his head followed by a shot from Josh.

Nick primed a grenade and threw it around the corner. Josh fired a shot and Nick heard the grenade go off. Evan tapped Nick on the shoulder and motioned for him to move back to the piece of debris behind them. Nick moved to the debris and Evan followed. As they got to the debris one of the Elites threw a plasma grenade. Nick saw it and ran, but Evan was too late the grenade stuck to his side and detonated. Nick dived behind a fallen pillar and turned just as the grenade went off.

Josh stayed right where he was and didn't move a muscle. He waited for the Elite who threw the grenade to stick his head around the corner. As soon as he did he would of wished he hadn't of done that. The elite ran from cover, but didn't even make it two steps before his head exploded in a shower of blood and brains.

"Take that punk."

Nick turned around and rested his back against the pillar; he couldn't believe what had happened. Evan was gone; he couldn't come back. He sat there a moment, a dull thud in his head. He had seen men die before, but Evan had been a friend a brother, now he was gone. In the background there was the steady crack crack crack of Josh's sniper rifle. He needed to pull together Josh still needed him. He picked up his battle rifle and rose up to a crouch and he waited for the covenant to come around the corner; he'd take them all down before they could pull off a shot. The sound of the sniper rifle died down and that was when the remaining Hunters came around the corner.

They hadn't seen Nick yet; all he needed was to see a little bit of orange and he'd drop the first one. Nick leveled his rifle with the first Hunter and squeezed the trigger. A three round burst tore through the small portion of unprotected orange flesh and the first one dropped.

Josh had reloaded then and fired two times and killed the next two Hunters. Nick was firing controlled three round bursts. He needed to get out of there now or he'd be in some serious trouble. He probably had no more than half a clip left and he wasn't moving. The last thing Josh needed was to lose two friends in one fight. He fired the last two shots in his clip, switched to his battle rifle and moved forward firing short controlled bursts as he went.

Josh came up next to Nick, reloaded and started firing again. After a few minutes they had finally finished off the Hunters. They moved passed the building and down the street. When they came to the next intersection they could feel the static coming from the gravity lift so they should be close.

Nick looked up and saw the gravity lift at the top of the building, "There's the gravity lift Josh. Lets move up to the roof and get into the cruiser."

Josh looked up at the gravity lift. He almost wished they didn't have to go in there, but they had their orders and besides Evan would want them to finish the mission, he would make them finish the mission. Josh stepped to the door swept the inside of the room with his rifle and waved Nick forward. Nick moved inside and checked the rooms the moved to the bottom of the stairs. Josh came up from behind him and started up the stairs. He made it to the top of the stairs and motioned for Nick to move up. They made up three-quarters of the building before they met any resistance.

There were two Grunt patrols of the fifth floor. A few quick bursts from Josh and Nick's battle rifles was all it took to get rid of them. They continued up to the next floor where two red armored Elites stood guard. Nick slipped to the other side of the doorway and waited for Josh's signal. Josh nodded his head and they both emptied half a clip into each of them.

They made it the rest of the way up to the roof without any trouble. When Nick made it to the top of the last flight of stairs he poked his head around the corner of the door. Guarding the gravity lift was a plasma turret, a Hunter pair, and a gold armor Elite. Both Nick and Josh primed plasma grenades counted to three and threw them. Josh's plasma grenade stuck to the rotating part of the plasma turret and Nick's stuck to the gold armor Elite.

When the grenade that was stuck to the turret exploded it threw the Grunt in it off of the building and the plasma turret slammed into one of the Hunters. The Elite tried to grab the grenade off, but it blew before he could. His limp body was thrown across the roof. Nick and Josh stepped out from cover and leveled their rifles against the Hunters. The dangerous spines on the back of the Hunters sprung up and he Hunters charged. The Spartans rolled to the side and the Hunters ran right off the roof.

Josh and Nick stepped into the purplish light of the gravity lift and they were lifted off of their feet into the belly of the beast. Once they were inside they looked around the loading bay. There was no covenant to be seen.

Nick moved to the closest door and it buzzed open, "There's no one around here. You would think with the commotion we caused down there on the roof they would have a waiting party for us."

Josh walked over to Nick, "Don't drop your guard though. Which way is the quickest to the bridge?"

Nick brought up the schematics of the covenant cruiser, "Down this hallway. All we have to do is just keep following it."

Josh brought his rifle up to bear, "Well let's get going."

He slipped inside of the hall and moved forward at a crouch. He reached the end of it where there was another door. Nick moved up to the other side. Josh signaled him to open the door, but before he had even touched the panel the door opened. A Grunt patrol walked through the door, Josh and Nick slid up closer to the wall. The Grunts walked by without noticing them. The Spartans slipped pass the door before it slid closed.

Josh and Nick stepped out onto the second level and into the light of a ship bay. Inside were some of the covenants' scarab like dropships and their single man Banshee fighters. There were Grunts, Elites, Brutes, and Hunters everywhere in the ship bay. They would have to fight for their lives to get through here.

Josh moved along the side wall and Nick followed. Halfway across the bay a Hunter saw both Spartans and fired his fuel rod cannon mounted on his arm. Nick and Josh dived out of the way just as the round slammed into the wall. Josh crouched behind a methane tank that had fallen over and scanned the landing bay below. The Hunter side stepped out from behind a Wraith tank.

Josh switched to his sniper rifle and zoomed in with 2x. After finding the orange flesh in between the thick pieces of armor he took careful aim and pulled off two rounds. The Hunter dropped and the rest of the covenant opened fire. Josh moved from target to target picking off any alien threat he could.

Nick had snuck around to the other side of the bay and began firing. He primed a grenade and tossed it in the middle of a group of grunts. Nick reloaded as the satisfying whump of the grenade took out the Grunts. Josh switched back to his battle rifle and dropped two more Hunters. After a few more minutes Josh and Nick cleaned up the rest of the rest of the covenant. Nick moved next to the door near him and waited for Josh to come around.

Josh looked at Nick when he made it to the other side, "How much farther to the bridge?"

Nick pulled up the schematics of the cruiser, "Not that much farther, we have to go through this door, move down the hallway and go through another door at the end of the hallway. The only problem is that there are a few patrols on the other side of this door and there is a lot of covenant in the bridge."

Josh reloaded his battle rifle and slid through the door. The hallway was long and every few meters there was a patrol of Jackals and Grunts. Nick and Josh too opposite sides of the hallway and started forward. Three meters down the hallway Josh crouched down and aimed at the nearest Grunt, a quick burst was all it took to put the alien down. When the first shot rang through the hallway all the covenant turned their plasma pistol or rifle at Nick and Josh and fired. Josh slid inside of a little indent in the wall and fired around the corner in short controlled bursts.

Nick primed a fragmentation grenade and tossed it down the hall. Josh stopped firing and looked around the corner. The grenade detonated and sent Grunts and Jackals flying. Nick took up his battle rifle and resumed firing. Josh moved forward two meters to the next indent in the wall and fired from there. The battle itself took five minutes to complete and another two cornering the others and killing them.

Josh moved up to the flashing panel next to the door. Nick moved up to the other side. Nick nodded his head brought his rifle up to bear and Josh pressed the button to open the door. The door opened with a slight hiss and the two Elites guarding the door turned and stared. Before they could give their war cry they were cut down in a hail of bullets. The rest of the covenant turned and the whine of plasma weapons cut through the air. Josh crouched behind the cover provided by the panel and pulled out a plasma grenade. He threw it in and it stuck to the head of a nearby Elite. The Elite grasped at the grenade and try to pull it off while he backed towards a group of Jackals.

The grenade exploded and the Elites lifeless body was flung across the room along with the bodies of dead Jackals. The remaining covenant was on the platform suspended in the middle of the room firing down on the Spartans. Josh used the 2x magnification and fired at the heads of the Elites he dropped two before the others wizened up and took cover behind the Grunts and Jackals.

Nick picked off the rest of the Grunts and then worked on the Jackals. Josh primed a frag grenade and threw it behind the protective barrier the Jackals had formed with their shields. The Elites dived out of the way but the Jackals were not able to react fast enough, Jackal blood painted the floor and nearby walls.

The remaining Elites continued firing at Josh and Nick. Nick ran inside of the bridge and dived behind a support pillar. Josh fired on the Elites and Nick fired from behind them. It took two minutes to finish off the Elites.

Nick walked up the slope to the center raised platform. Josh followed and watched the doors leading to the bridge. Nick looked at the controls pushed a few buttons and a countdown timer started.

Nick turned around and walked to Josh, "We have five minutes to get off the ship."

Josh turned to the timer back to the door then back to Nick, "Only five! Oh man it's going to be hard to get off this ship in five minutes."

"How is it going to be hard?"

Josh turned and ran for the door, "You'll find out."

Nick took off after Josh wondering how it would be hard. Outside of the bridge Nick tossed aside his battle rifle, which was out of ammo, and traded it for two plasma rifles. They rounded the corner and six Hunters, five Brutes, and twenty-five Elites were waiting for them.

Josh turned to Nick, "You wanted to know why, that's why."

They both dived to opposite sides of the hall and opened fire. The Elites started to drop and some of the Brutes did to. The Hunters moved in front of the covenant and charged their fuel rod cannons. Josh pulled out a grenade and waited for the Hunter to fire. The charge slammed against the back wall and Josh threw the grenade. The grenade sailed through the air and lodged itself in the barrel of the fuel rod cannon. The grenade went off and left the Hunter dazed.

Nick opened fire with the plasma rifles and tore the unprotected flesh to pieces. The first of the six Hunters dropped to the floor in a puddles of its' own flesh and blood. The Hunters' blood brother in a blinded rage charged at Nick as the deadly spines on its back shot out. Nick dived to the side and fired into the side of the Hunter. The Hunter dropped to the ground twitched once and died.

Nick stood and waited for the plasma rifle to cool down, "God why did I set it at five minutes. We'll never get off in time."

Josh fired a few controlled bursts with his battle rifle and dropped back behind the wall to reload. Nick was firing carefully to keep his aim and make sure the plasma rifles didn't overheat and leave him waiting for them to cool down. He dropped another Hunter as Josh primed a frag grenade counted to three yelled fire in the hole and lobbed the grenade down the hall. The grenade rolled between the legs of a Hunter and dropped a Brute and a few Elites. Nick threw a plasma grenade and it stuck to the wall next to a Brute. It roared in surprise and tried to dodge out of the way as the grenade blew and took him and an Elite out of existence.

Josh looked over at Nick, "We need to backtrack. Maybe we can find a way around them. We'll never make it off if we stay here."

Nick nodded and they ran back the way the had come. They came to a hatch halfway back and Nick ran his fingers over the holographic control panel thinking of which button would open the door. He pressed one and the hatch hissed then slid open. Nick scanned the inside of the room nodded that is was clear then slipped inside. Josh followed and followed nick to the left side of the room. As they made their way to the door it slid open and two Grunts walked through. Josh bashed the butt of his gun into the base of the first Grunts skull. Nick sliced through the second Grunt with a quick burst from his plasma rifles. They walked through the door and found a grav lift.

Josh ran to the lift, "How much time is left?"

Nick looked at the timer in his HUD, "Two minutes."

Nick reversed the lift beam so that it would lower them to the ground and they both stepped in. They dropped to the ground and ran for a warthog parked nearby. Josh jumped in the driver seat and Nick manned the Gauss cannon on the back. Josh threw the warthog into gear, spun it around and sped down the road

Nick looked at the timer in his HUD, "30 seconds. Step on it, we're still within the blast radius."

Josh pushed it into fifth, "I'm giving all I can. These things can only go so fast."

A Wraith tank came around a turn ahead of them. Josh saw the tank and tried to turn into the road next to the warthog but it was too late. Nick opened fire with the Gauss cannon trying to damage it enough so it wouldn't fire. The Wraith shot off one of its deadly plasma bombs. It arched through the air and blew up a few feet behind the 'hog.

The warthog flipped through the air, Josh and Nick jumped out of the warthog and ran inside of the nearest building. The covenant cruiser blew up and the wave of destruction from the detonation rocked the floor of the building and blew up the Wraith and warthog. Nick and Josh walked out of the building and watched the cruiser crash to the ground below it.

Josh looked at the destruction around them then turned to Nick, "Well, at least that's over with. I'll call in a Pelican to come get us. Behemoth 412 we have destroyed the cruiser and request immediate extraction."

There was static over the com then a voice broke through, "This is Behemoth 412. I read you and en route to your location, ETA 2 mics."

Josh nodded his head and gave Nick a thumbs up. Two minutes later the roar of a Pelican engine flew over then slowed and landed.

Josh and Nick jumped into the back of the Pelican and the pilot turned to the Spartans, "I thought there were three of you?"

Nick looked up at the pilot, "Long story."

The pilot nodded and turned back and brought the Pelican to life and took off.