Zachery

S-101

22:57

Zachery leaned out the side of the falcon and watched the land go by and the shifting of the scenery. The two other SPARTAN-III's sat in front of him. Alice was tapping her boot to the steel floor while Drake was sharpening his already razor sharp knife against his chest armor. Their faces were covered by their helmets but he knew they were anxious. They all were.

Alice wore her air assault armor while Drake was wearing his Gungnir armor. They were all armed with standard issue battle- rifles and M6D pistols except for Zachery who had a SPARTAN laser as his secondary. And of course they had their combat knives strapped to their left shoulders.

"Drop off point coming up, two minutes." The pilots voice came through the headpiece installed into their helmets.

"Alright team, we're jumping in two, got it?" Zachery said over the team freq. They both gave him a thumbs up. Zach double checked all his clips to make sure they were full before they reached the drop point. The pilot didn't hesitate as they flew over the small clearing. They just jumped and started rolling before they hit the ground. The armors prototype energy shield took most of the pain away, but they still got the wind knocked out of them. They climbed to their feet and began the long trek up the mountain to a Covenant base located at the top.

It was almost two in the morning before they reached the top. The tired Spartans took shelter in a cave on the side of the mountain below the Covenant base. The Spartans took off their helmets and laid them on the ground and sipped from the canteens they had thankfully stashed in Drake's pack. Zach occasionally looked over Alice. He had trained with her for years and was always attracted to her. He wanted to tell her, but he was nervous which was odd with being a Spartan. He started to zone out not knowing he was still staring at their female comrade thinking about ways to tell her.

"See something you like?" Alice's voice cut in but didn't completely snap him out of his trance.

"Yeah I do." He mumbled but loud enough for everyone to hear. The cave was dark but he could still see Alice blush and he did too. Drake snickered at Zach's mistake but quickly stopped when Zach shot him a dirty look.

"Well we had better move unless you wanna hang out under the starlight?" Drake laughed again at his witty comment but stopped when no one else was.

"Your right. We should just get this over with." They all stood up and put their helmets back on and finished the climb up.

They stood just outside the ten foot tall granite wall that surrounded the entire base.

"Any ideas?"

"We can blow it up!" Drake's excitement was practically flowing from him at the thought of blowing a huge hole in the wall.

"Once again, we are focusing on stealth. You'll get to blow the place up later."

"Fine. I'll wait then."

Alice stared at the wall for a moment before speaking. "You two can give me a boost up, I'll take out the guards, and open the front gate for you guys."

"Sounds good, lets do it." The two male Spartans crouched down and put their hands out. Alice stepped up on their gauntleted hands and they shoved her up to the top of the wall. She climbed over.

"Nice ass." Drake said and looked at Zachery who stared as good of daggers as you can stare while looking through his gold visor.

Alice

S-083

02:17

She stabbed her combat knife down into the grunts skull and yanked it out. Purple- blue blood was wiped away as she slid the knife into its shoulder sheath. She stepped over its corps and jogged up the steps of the gate tower. There was an elite and two grunts standing guard in the tower. She pulled out her knife and stabbed the elite in the back of its neck and put two suppressed pistol rounds into each grunts head. She entered a code into the control pad and pulled a lever to open the gate.

The gate silently opened to her immense joy and the two other Spartans ran in and took out two elites and a pack of grunts with their battle- rifles. She hustled down to her teammates and their way through the compound taking out any covenant in their path. Alice had to admit that she had always found Zachery attractive. And the way he moved in combat, it made her wonder if that was the only way he could move that good.

She opened another door by keypad and Drake led the way in He took out a jackal and a grunt who appeared to be having a conversation. Zach ran over to the core at the center of the room and began tapping the pad.

"Drake, your up." Drake walked up to the control pad and took out a large pack of C-12 explosives and began planting it into the core system. Alice started staring at Zach through her peripheral vision. He stood at the ready with his battle- rifle and looking down each hallway. His gold visor covered his face which she wanted to see and judging by the moment they had in the cave, he wanted to see hers. She walked over to him and tabbed his shoulder. He looked at her.

"Channel twelve." She said.

"Something on your mind?" He asked.

"Yeah, what exactly did you like looking at earlier?"

"Umm, the stars looked pretty out in the night sky. Don't really get to see them this well at the base with all the lights and stuff." He was stuttering and looking around a little anxiously.

"You're a pretty good guy yourself."

"What? I mean, yeah. I'm not the worst."

"And it wouldn't be the worst thing to go do something when we get home."

"What?"

"A date. Just the two of us."

"I think I can find the time." Alice smiled. She hoped that he loved her too.

"Son of a bitch!" Alice and Zach turned to Drake who had an energy sword sticking through his chest. He primed a fragmentation grenade and turned to the elite.

"Eat shit, mother fucker!" And he shoved the grenade down the elites throat. Two seconds later, the grenade detonated and blew up the entire elites head and shredded Drakes helmet. Both the elite and Drake crumbled to the floor, the only difference was that Drake still was moving. Alice and Zach ran to his body and rolled him over on his back.

"Bomb needs to be detonated manually. Sixty seconds, go now." And with that he tore his dog tags off his neck and handed them to Zach. "Good luck my friends."

They nodded, turned, and ran down the hall. Two elites stood in their way and made what sounded like a choking sound, which was probably a laugh in their language. Zach as brave as he was, pulled out his knife and charged the elites head on and tackled them both. He brought his knife down in the throat of a red armor elite and started punching the other until its skull was crushed.

They continued running down the hall until the came to the door that led outside. Zach tore the door open and they ran outside to find the gate closed and five elites in their way all armed with energy swords. Zach raised his battle rifle and Alice fallowed suite. They opened fire on the elites and the elites charged. Two elites fell before they were halfway towards the two SPARTAN- III's. By the time the elites reached the Spartans two more were dead.

The last elite stabbed Zachery in his left arm. Alice took out her knife, climbed on the elites back, and stabbed the knife into the top of his helmet. The elite died instantly and fell to the ground. The energy sword followed along with Zach's arm from the shoulder down.

"Zach?" Alice moved towards him with concern.

"Its fine, lets go." They ran to the gate and Zach pulled out his Spartan Laser.

"Let me." Alice moved towards him with her arms outstretched.

"No. I got this." He aimed at the gate and held down the trigger. 2.5 seconds later a large hole was blasted through the gate. He dropped the laser and they ran out. Seven seconds left.

Drake

S-319

02:27

The grenade hurt. His shields and armor barely stopped any of the metal fragmentations. His face was now covered in cuts and he couldn't see out of his left eye. He was leaning against a control panel and staring at the timer. The bomb was already to go, he just needed to detonate it manually and blow this place strait to hell and all its inhabitants with it.

He heard gunfire outside and knew his comrades were in combat and wished he could be by their sides. Damn elite just had to end his killing spree. At least its dead, and his friends are about to make the great journey with him. The gunfire stopped, he heard their voices through the headset built into his Gungnir helmet. Zach got hurt. Now he really wished he could have been there. There was an explosion and he knew that he put that Spartan Laser to good use.

Seven seconds. This was it. He stood up and positioned his thumb over the detonator.

"Have fun in hell, bitches." He pressed his thumb down and a warm current swept over him, then he felt nothing. It was peaceful. He hoped his friends made it.

Zachery

S- 101

15:31

He woke up with a numbing sensation all throughout his entire body. His left arm was hurting and his brain felt like something hit him really hard, giving him a major headache. He sat up making his vision blur for a few moments. When it refocused, he looked around the room. He was in the bases medical bay. He'd been here several times before.

To his right, a woman lay sleeping with a few bandages on her arms and a wrap on her head, but other then that she looked alright. He looked to his left and only saw four empty beds and cabinets. He slid his legs out from under the blanket and got up. His helmet was resting on a stool with several dents and scorch marks. He reached for it with his left arm but saw something that shocked him.

He didn't see his arm. He saw a robotic arm in its place. And suddenly, it all rushed back to him.

They ran out the gate leaning on each other with Zachery holding his left shoulder. They got to the edge of the hill when the base erupted and a warm shockwave hit them, knocking them off the mountain. They tumbled down hitting rocks and scraping trees before they hit the ground. Alice managed to ignite a flare before she passed out. And that's all he remembered.

"Drake's dead." Drake was one of his best friends. He'd known him since they were five. They made it through the whole program only for it to be taken away by that elite. It got what it deserved. He wished it didn't have to be that way. He would never forget his lifelong friend. He knew they would meet again. But not today. Until that day he had to lead his fellow SPARTAN-III's and end this war. Only then will Drake, and all his fallen SPARTAN comrades before him, would truly be avenged.

Get ready Covenant. Because Spartans are coming. And Spartans don't die.