James looked down at his MA5C Assault Rifle. His digital counter read 32. He knew it would, he was still riding in the back of a Pelican dropship. Despite this, it had become a bit of a habit of his before going into combat. Somehow the full readout gave him some sense of peace, like everything was how it should be. His attention was snapped to the front of the Pelican as the pilot came on the COM.
"Beginning final descent, we'll follow the Chief in."
James was part of a group of Marines and ODST's tasked with following the Master Chief, a SPARTAN super-soldier, on a mission into New Mombasa. They hadn't been told what they were doing, only that they were to follow and support the Spartan. James could barely glimpse out the cockpit window and see the other two Pelicans in front of his own. While he felt good about having the Chief nearby in a fight it also meant that whatever they were doing was going to be extremely hazardous.
The Pelicans began diving down toward the surface and the tall buildings of New Mombasa streamed into view. Flying low to avoid ground fire, the Pelicans zipped around and over buildings at high speed. It was enough to make James start to feel queasy. He didn't like being in ships. If he was going to risk dying he would much rather have his boots on the ground and be able to influence his own fate instead of leaving it in the hands of a pilot.
The other Marines in the Pelican were silent. Most of the good humor was out of them, long years of war and the Covenant having found earth was enough to sap anyone's morale. James nudged the Marine next to him with his elbow,
"What a day, eh?"
"Yeah, a real winner," he answered back. "I think I'd rather be back on-" just then the pilot called out,
"What the hell is that!?" James looked out the cockpit window. A huge, purple, spider-like machine was trampling through the streets. Fear clutched at his nerves; he had heard of these, but never seen one up close. The huge metal beast turned its "face" towards the oncoming Pelicans. The pilot fought every urge he had to break away; his orders were his orders and he was following the Chief's Pelican.
Green motes of light began to gather around the front of the Scarab. James began muttering silent curses to himself and clutched his rifle all the tighter.
Damn machines. The motes of light thickened into a glowing mass. Oh, hell.
A huge flash filled the sky and a green beam of plasma shot out from the Scarab. It hit the lead Pelican with the Master Chief inside. Flame erupted from one of the engines as the Pelican began to flounder and fall from out of James' view.
That's not good. The Pelican jerked heavily as the pilot yanked the stick. It swerved around the Scarab and pulled up sharply. The pilot nosed it down and started to turn to catch a glimpse of what had become of the first dropship. Suddenly, the Pelican rocked violently and a second later the bay door dropped opened, plasma still sizzling the metal. James hit the switch next to his seat to try to close it but the door was completely fried.
Through the open hatch, he could see the behemoth of a machine. A turret on top had swiveled and was pointing at the dropship and he quickly realized that this is what had hit the Pelican. A few purple blobs shot from the turret. James turned his head toward the cockpit and shouted as loud as he could,
"Incoming! Move! Move! Move!" His voice joined the conglomeration of shouts of the dozen Marines in the Pelican. He looked back out the hatch and saw the slower moving plasma arching straight for the opening. It would kill them all. At the last second the pilot whipped the stick and caught the plasma along the side of the ship, scorching the wing and hull. The engines flared and the Pelican started to move forward with haste. James sighed with relief. At speed, the Pelican could out maneuver the plasma.
Not this time, bastards. But now what? The guy we were supposed to protect just got blown to hell. Tell me we're headed back to base. James looked to Lieutenant Carter who sat pale faced at the head of the Pelican. The man seemed to notice that all eyes were on him and waiting for his command. He surveyed the back of the dropship and then stole a glance at the cockpit, buying himself some time to think. He cleared his throat.
What he was going to say, no one will ever know. He was cut-off by a large bang and a violent shake of the dropship. The Lieutenant turned to the pilot,
"What the hell is going on!?"
"Starboard engine just gave out! The plasma must have done her worse than I thought!" the pilot yelled back. The Pelican began to spin as the pilot fought for control. "I don't think I can hold her, brace for impact!" Everyone in the cabin held their breath as the pilot desperately tried to regain control of the bird. The spin was gradual at first, and then became more intense. The world outside, through the open hatch, was beginning to be one huge blur as the drophsip lost altitude and spun faster. "She's done, we're going down!"
Lieutenant Carter looked around at the frightened faces of the Marines in the Pelican. He knew his face probably looked just as bad. But these were his Marines, and as their leader he knew he had to say something. He knew in a few moments they could all be dead, but he was duty bound to be a Marine to the end.
"Hang on, Marines! We're in for some chop…"