AN: Well here we are folks, we're finally nearing the end of this story arc. Unlike the two previous parts, I'm pretty sure this one is going to far shorter than the both of them. Anyways, we'll just have to see about that.
Chapter 1: We're Not In Kansas Anymore
Karth
Nobody knew how the massive, alien city appeared in the middle of the capital. For one second, it was just a bunch of hotly contested apartment blocks. The next, a massive cityscape appeared right over it as if by magic or divine intervention.
Nevertheless, it was a huge opportunity. The city had landed right on top of an entire battalion of elite Brute stormtroops, meaning that there was now a massive hole in the Loyalists' defense of the city which provided straight line access to the Citadel of Eternal Light, the Loyalists' final stronghold. Of course, this meant that now there was a mad race between the Separatists and Loyalists to capture and consolidate the newly found city. The outcome of the entire conflict could depend on who controlled it.
Meanwhile, the Marines inhabiting what was left of New Mombasa were completely bewildered at what was happening around them. They had suddenly materialized onto a Covenant planet, scattered and confused. Wanting to err on the side of caution, Major Mackenzie, who was stationed in his mobile command post gave fallback order to every Marine unit he could reach. All the Marine units, including Paccone's squad, the Shiela, and Karla's mechanized company were to make a beeline for the Municipal Center of the city, which was easily the most fortified and secure area. Due to fears of terrorist and alien attack, the Municipal Center, which contained many important structures such as utility controls, the city hall, courts, etc., was specifically built and fortified to withstand a large-scale attack. Plus, from within the Center, the Marines could literally control all of New Mombasa's basic functions and utilities.
However, Karla decided to ignore the order for the moment. First, she had to examine that massive space station her "mother" showed her. She directed her platoons to secure the perimeter of the structure while she and a few squads of Marines probed the station's innards.
Nassau Station
"So… what are we doing in here again?" Williams asked nervously as he walked down the narrow and dark corridors.
"Looking for something." Karla turned to Tarin. "Contact our techies and engineers. Tell them they have two hours to strip this station of anything important. Weapons, ammo, parts, scrap metal, even the damn fusion reactor for all I care."
"On it."
"I've found one of the cryo bays." One of the scout Marines reported. "Looks like it's intact, but the door is sealed."
"Stay there, we're on our way." Karla waved her squad to move faster.
It took several minutes to reach the scout's position. Karla glanced at the door and simply said, "Open it."
Two Marines jumped forward and started planting explosive charges, shaping the C7 in way that would blow the door in without causing too much collateral damage. The Marines set the last charge and set the timer for thirty seconds.
"Fire in the hole!" One of them yelled as he ran for cover.
There was a sharp bang as the door was blown inwards like paper. Three Marines rushed in using standard breach formation.
"Clear!" One of the Marines shouted, followed by two more similar exclamations.
"Lets move in then." Karla stepped into the room, and observed that there were about fifty pods in the bay. All of them empty.
"Doesn't look like anything's here, Captain." Williams said, just as he saw something flit by his peripheral vision. "What the-"
Williams turned and shrieked as he saw a massive shadow standing in front of him. It had to be at least seven feet tall, though from William's point of view, it towered over him like a skyscraper.
Karla, Tarin, and the five other Marines with them wasted no time in drawing their weapons. However, as their flashlights lined up along with their rifles, they immediately saw what they were facing.
"Holy shit." One of the Marines gasped. "It's a Spartan!"
The crimson armored soldier nodded. "That's right, Private. Now," it turned to Karla and asked, "what year is it?"
New Mombasa Municipal Center
"Well, things are definitely not looking good." Paccone scratched his head and he approached his squad. "Just got out of briefing, and apparently, there's all kinds of hell headed our way."
"Isn't that how it always is?" Leo asked glumly.
"Oh, it's even worse than that." Paccone pointed out the window. "According to surveillance, we've got two entire Covenant armies converging onto our position. One from the east, the other to the west. From what the bean counters can tell, each army has about ten thousand assorted troops and a thousand armored vehicles."
"And… this has to do with us how?" Kumi asked.
"Glad you asked!" Paccone grinned. "We've been given orders to set up on the tallest building we can find on the edge of the city and observe both armies."
"Why do they always pick us for the suicide missions?" Kumi sighed.
"It could've been that I said a few things during the briefing that some of the higher ups didn't quite like." Paccone shrugged. "Anyways, due to recent losses, we're being paired up with Alvarado and his crew so that they can suffer along with us."
With the mention of 'recent losses', Leo turned to check on Sam. She was still quiet, as she had been ever since Scohar, or whatever he was, died. Actually, Leo wasn't sure if the guy actually died or not, but Sam was still feeling the loss nonetheless. Unlike a lot of the veteran squadmates who were killed on Aeola, Sam was fairly close to Scohar, or at least as close you could get to a new guy. Anyways, she still hadn't gotten over the wild experience involving him.
"Private Carter!" Paccone snapped, forcing Leo to refocus his attention.
"What, sir?"
"Just checking on you. Looked you were dozing off there for a second." Paccone then pointed to a crudely drawn map of the city. "Anyways, the Mason Tower just north of here should make a good outpost. It's tall plus it has broadcasting equipment we can use to boost our radio signals."
Kumi raised her hand. "Ummm, since Sam and Leo don't appear to be doing it, I'd like to point out the obvious and ask how exactly we're supposed to get there."
"Well, on the wings of the good old reliable Pelican of course! Guaranteed to get you where you need to go or you're a paint stain on the ground! It appears that by some stroke of luck, depending on your point of view, we have a whole flight of them here and ready to use."
"Wonderful." Leo sighed.
Nassau Station
"Okay, I'm not even going to ask how a space station, much less a Spartan, showed up here." Williams scratched his head in confusion. "Just being here is making me wonder if we're not actually dead."
"I think the Spartan's just as confused as you are." Tarin replied.
"I though Spartan armor was supposed to be green." Williams remarked.
"That's because the only Spartan you ever saw pictures of was the Master Chief." Tarin unsheathed her knife and started playing around with hit. "All he wears is green."
Meanwhile, Karla was trying to brief the Spartan, who was now packing and assembling weapons in preparation for battle.
"I am Captain Wellings, commanding officer of this Marine division." Karla said in her most authoritative tone. "What is your name, Spartan?"
"Sir!" The Spartan stood at attention. "My designation is Petty Officer Spartan-"
"No." Karla shook her head. "I don't want an number, soldier. I want a name. What is your name, soldier?"
Karla thought that if the Spartans were so dehumanized from what they went through, they should at least have the courtesy of being identified as humans, rather than a randomly assigned number. Because of their superhuman nature and concealing armor, very few people have seen the person under it and as such, rumors flew everywhere about their true nature. Karla could not count the number of stories of Spartans actually being robots, captured aliens, biologically engineered clones or the greatest soldiers in history, or even kidnapped children trained since birth. Though Karla didn't believe any of these rumors, she did find that last one quite possible since it seemed like something ONI would do.
The Spartan hesitated, as if it wasn't used to using real names. Finally, it replied, "My name is… Nicole, sir."
That certainly raised an eyebrow. Though Karla was aware that there were female Spartans, she had never actually seen or heard of any of them, possibly because they looked just like the males due to the MJOLNIR armor, which concealed and obscured body outlines quite effectively. The heavily filtered voice transmitted through their helmets didn't help much either, though when she listened carefully, Karla could now notice an air of femininity in Nicole's voice.
"Good, now what was your mission?"
"I'm afraid that classified, sir." Nicole stood just as resolutely as ever.
"Well, consider those orders to be void for the time being. We have more pressing concerns." Karla turned to Tarin. "Lieutenant, those two hours are almost up. What's our status?"
"We've taken a good deal of weapons, ammo, and equipment from the station." Tarin confirmed. "The engineers have already dismantled the important stuff and planted explosives in vital areas of the station so that anybody here that comes after us won't be able to use it."
"Good. Williams, what's the status of our prisoner?"
"Oh yeah, last I checked, he's locked up under guard with Bravo company."
"Perfect." Karla turned back to Nicole. "Those drill sergeants of yours ever teach you the fine arts of interrogation?"
"Sorry, no." Nicole shrugged. "But I was trained extensively in human and Covenant physiology and anatomy. I know plenty of weak spots, pressure points, nerve locations, and other vital areas of interest. Plus I've got plenty of experience in close-quarters combat."
"That'll do." Karla grinned. "We've got an Elite to make acquaintances with."
"This is all because he kicked your ass and stole something from you, isn't it?" Williams narrowed his eyes.
"You're damn right."
Municipal Center
"Barfbag!" Sam smiled as she saw the familiar face.
"Oh great, not you guys again." Barfbag grinned back. "I took the trouble of coming back to save your asses, and look where I'm stuck now, Covenant fucking central."
"Mason Tower, and make it fast." Paccone snapped mockingly.
"Hey, I'm a Pelican pilot, not your damn taxi driver."
"Not much of a difference to me." Paccone snorted. "Get back to me once you've calculated the fare. I'll be sure to tip you for the trouble."
"You go into combat with this guy?" Barfbag shook his head incredulously. "And you're all still alive?"
"Beats getting shot." Leo grumbled.
At that moment, Alvarado and his squad arrived, their weapons and gear already prepped and loaded.
"Okay people, listen up." Barfbag said loudly so that all the Marines could hear. "For those of you that haven't hitched a ride on my Pelican yet, here are some ground rules. First, keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times. I don't want to get court marshaled for somebody falling out the door. Second, if you feel the need to liberate yourself of your previously eaten meal, please for the love of god try not to do it all over the damn cabin. I'm sick and tired of cleaning up your motherfucking vomit on my motherfucking Pelican. Finally, if we find ourselves plummeting to the ground to our deaths, remember that screaming loudly and panicking won't help the situation. Oh, and I'm also sick of people talking about that 'the pilot always dies first' crap. If I hear you talking about it, I'll fucking kill you."
"Well, he seems just as cranky as ever." Kumi shrugged. "Guess it shouldn't be surprising, since he crashes his Pelican almost every other mission."
"I heard that!" Barfbag snapped.
New Mombasa
"I don't get it." Scottie scratched his head as he examined Shiela. "She works perfectly fine whenever we're NOT in combat. It's like the moment the shooting starts stuff starts breaking for no reason whatsoever."
"I blame Wrall. He was the one who chose the tank." Kazi sniffed as she restocked Shiela's shell locker. "And now look at where we are, stuck on planet crawling with Covvies."
"I didn't choose the tank." Wrall said defensively.
"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night." Kazi picked up another shell. "Shion, what's the count?"
"We're pretty much full on shells." Shion said as she examined the shell locker. "What I'm worried about is the lack of rounds for the machine gun. It's almost spent and I haven't been able to find any extra boxes of the stuff."
"Well shit, that's not good." Kazi grimaced. "If we run into infantry, we're going to have a hard time."
"That's why we have the Warthogs covering our backs." Wrall pointed out. "They're specialized for that kind of job."
"With that crazy Captain of theirs taking the lead? We're doomed." Scottie groaned.
"Hey, I'm that same crazy Captain that saved your ass from that Wraith." Karla said as she looked down through Shiela's hatch.
"Whoa!" Scottie cried out in surprise. "I uh… didn't mean anything negative about that, sir."
"I'm sure you didn't." Karla turned to Wrall. "Wrall, get this hunk of junk moving. We're going to go link up with the rest of the Marines and figure out where to go from there."
"Sure thing, let me just start it up then." Wrall banged the engine housing with his fist and the engine roared to life.
"Hm, you must seriously like this machine if you're still driving it around. Most tank crews I know would have ditched it in a heartbeat." Karla smirked. "Anyways, just be ready to move out."
"Like I said, crazy." Scottie said after he was sure Karla had left.
As Karla walked back to her own Warthog, she passed the transport that was holding the Elite prisoner. He was chained up and restrained, with at least four heavily armed Marines keeping watch on him at all times. She stopped and stared at it for a few seconds. The Elite stayed silent, but stared back as well.
"Once we get to where we're going, you and me are going to have a looong talk." Karla said.
"I'm looking forward to it." The Elite growled.
Meanwhile, just outside of the newly transplanted city, the two Covenant armies slowly converged, getting closer and closer…
