Breath, breathe, that's the key, just keep breathing, oh shit it's gaining on me where the hell is it? UNSC marine Corbin Holden panted as he ran for his life, looking for his weapon. Not like he had much hope in killing a brute with it but he was going to try. He kept splitting his concentration on running and looking. Finally he found what he was looking for; his standard issued Battle rifle had saved his life on more than one occasion but there was only so much that he could do against his adversary this time. He picked it up and continued running along the rocky outcropping making his way beside the mountain on his left and a forest on his right. Risking a glance behind him he started to panic, the brute was a fearsome sight; at least 7 feet tall and about a meter in his shoulders weighing more than the average mongoose and snarling it was enough to make any marine scared for his life. Realizing that he could never get away in time Corbin turned and took aim. Firing the three burst weapon repeatedly shook his shoulder and made his aim waver. He stopped shooting to readjust his aim and continued pounding round after round at the oncoming brute. He stopped to switch magazines and looked up just in time to see the brute bring his arms down in a crushing sweep. Just in time Corbin jumped left and rolled while bringing his gun up and shooting six rounds at the head of the brute. Bellowing in pain and outrage, the brute charged again this time expecting a dodge but was disappointed and surprised when Corbin jumped forward and rolled through his legs. Corbin leaped to his feet and took off running, this time towards the forest hoping to lose the brute in the trees. He made it to the edge of the forest where the trees were still sparse but he didn't manage to elude the brute in time. Being tall and having a larger stride, the brute caught up to Corbin and knocked him into the air. Knocked off the ground Corbin did his best to hold onto his gun. He lost it once he thought; he was not going to lose it again. His brief defiance of gravity was just that, brief. He ended up hitting the trunk of a tree and fell to the ground gasping for breath. He was a little bit further in the trees than before and this meant that the brute had to go slower to compensate for the tightness of the trees. Corbin had less of a problem and decided to use this to his advantage. While the brute was distracted and struggling to get at him, Corbin opened up his com-link and radioed in to head command. In between breaths, which still came slightly hard for him, he spoke what he needed to say.

"High Command this is UNSC Trooper Corbin Holden of first battalion, easy company, 32nd platoon. I've been separated from my squad and I am now being chased by a covenant brute. Position unknown, please advice!"

He continued running and dodging trees and low hanging branches. Gradually the grunts and roars of the brute faded into the distance and he slowed down trying to conserve energy for later if he needed to run for it again.

"Trooper this is High Command we have received your transmission and are now pinpointing your location via helmet beacon. Standby"

"Roger High Command."

Moments stretched by which seemed like hours. Corbin eventually decided to sit for a few minutes to recover faster. He noticed that he was shaking uncontrollably and laughed shakily as he realized his adrenaline must be way up there. A sudden crash made him snap his head up and he saw the brute again getting closer more quickly than Corbin thought possible for all his bulk in a short space. The brute noticed him and let out a roar of outrage that made Corbin get up and start running again. His radio cackled to life and he paid attention to what was being said.

"This is High Command. We have located you and advise that you turn around and meet up with the convoy that is passing by the forest you are currently in over."

Corbin was shocked

"Negative High Command, I repeat negative, I am being pursued by a covenant brute here and he just happens to be in that direction. I'm not sure if you've ever seen a brute up close but they're scary as hell, I repeat negative on direction change. Please advise over."

"Trooper that is the only way out of that forest. The next closest exit is 22 miles east of your position but exits directly into the covenant camp, I advise you grow a bigger pair and either fight your way out of this with that brute or shoot yourself a grave and save the brute some work, over."

Corbin sighed and stopped running. Damn.

"Roger High Command, over and out."

Corbin hung his head and looked inside himself. Am I ready to die? Am I really ready? A deep growl broke him out of his revere; I guess I'll find out. He checked his ammo count, 3 magazines of 36 rounds each, plus his 24 rounds currently in his battle rifle. He decided he wasn't going to shoot sparingly. Either he made it or he didn't and he didn't have to worry about rounds if he was dead. He looked towards the brute who was about 100 meters away from him and mad as hell. Corbin decided to try a practical approach. He was going to charge the brute, if he could try and get on top of him and shoot him in the head. The Master Chief can do it, why couldn't he. Never mind that the Master Chief has super high tech armor and is bred specifically to kick ass. Corbin decided to try it, and with that he ran. He ran towards the brute with his mouth set in a determined grin, the brute looked at him and bellowed again wondering why this puny human was running towards his death. Corbin picked up his pace again and started yelling, quietly at first but gaining in volume as he gained momentum until he was running flat out yelling at the top of his lungs. The brute broke free of his temporary restraints and pounded his chest roaring his challenge. Corbin's yell turned into a laugh of reckless abandon as he started shooting his gun without really aiming. The quick jerks from different parts of the brute's body told Corbin that he was actually hitting something and he continued shooting for all he was worth. His gun clicked, telling him his mag was empty so without looking he dropped it from the stock of the rifle and threw in another magazine and kept on pounding away at the brute. The distance between them was now only 20 feet and Corbin was still running as fast as he could, bellowing his challenge as the brute roared his. 10 feet away Corbin jumped on a low hanging branch and launched himself into the air, still firing his weapon. He sailed over the brute and landed with a roll before jumping up and spinning around to face his enemy, his finger kept pulling that trigger until this clip too, clicked empty. At this point he was too close to try and reload without getting killed so he did the first thing that came to his mind, he jumped at the brute and with all his might brought the gun down hard, right into the face of the brute, shocking both of them, but Corbin was on a roll now and no one was going to stop him. He was getting out of this whether or not he had to strangle the brute with his bare hands, which was the next thing he tried. Flinging the gun aside, Corbin wrapped his hands around the brute's neck. The brute, struggling under the weight of this human, didn't really have much time to recover from the surprise of being jumped like he was. Corbin didn't let up one bit, in a flash of insight he gripped the brute's neck a little tighter and swung his body around the brute's, ending up behind him, before yanking sideways and down as hard as he could. He was rewarded with a sound that he never thought he would ever make; the sound of neck bones breaking. Sure enough, the brute went limp and slumped to the ground, right on top of Corbin. He managed to crawl out from underneath the brute and went to find his gun. He found it where he'd thrown it, dangling in the tree tops. When he had retrieved it he loaded up a clip and walked over to the brute and placing the muzzle to the brute's temple, fired 6 rounds into his head just to be sure. Corbin walked away from that forest feeling as if he'd won the war. Three weeks later, they did.