[In Shining Armor]
Right as he was about to send me to my maker, something really, really red hit him in the back. He was lifted off his feet, and flung twenty feet into the air. He landed some distance away with a skeleton crushing crack. Blue liquid started oozing out of the cracks in his armor.
Without thinking, I grabbed the energy sword he dropped as he flew. I ignited the blade and stabbed the left elite's throat, quickly killing it. Behind me, a burst of SMG fire made the third elite yell in pain as he succumbed to the suppression being laid down upon him. From out of nowhere, a soldier in brilliant white armor jumped down and planted two combat knives deep into the neck of the last elite, completely draining the blood from his head before taking them out. It was the kind of brutal efficiency you only saw in the movies. At least, that's what I thought.
Soon, all of my saviors came into view. I was staring at soldiers, UNSC, if I had to bet the rent on it, clad in some seriously advanced armor. Only one explanation came to mind when I thought of how they'd handled the elites. "Spartans."
They stared at me for a few seconds. It was almost like they didn't know I was addressing them when I'd said it. Finally, the white one spoke. "SPARTAN team Eta." He was kind of terse. Almost like he resented the fact that he had to say that. Another Spartan, with a pointed, shark like helmet, painted bright red with blue shoulders, spoke. "We're here for the same reason you are. We need to get to that complex." It was a woman behind that mask. It made me scared. In general, Spartans scared all of us, but female Spartans were something else entirely. The one holding the Spartan laser spoke. "We lost our sniper," she said, addressing the white one.
"You handy with a sniper rifle?" He asked, pointing at me. I was scared. I mean, sure, I was, but I probably wasn't on par with a Spartan…
"Uh, yes sir. Mine was damaged in the drop, though."
"Not a problem," An orange clad Spartan said. He took the weapon off of his back. It was a standard sniper rifle, modified to work with VISR systems. Curiously, it had a bright yellow band going around the stock of the weapon. "Our orders were to replace any key member of the squad with surviving ODSTs, if they were available." From what I could tell, that meant that we weren't meant to actually accomplish the mission we were given. We weren't even expected to survive.
"I suppose my outfit was a scapegoat, then?" I asked. I tried not to have an edge in my voice. It was HIGHCOM's fault, not theirs. It was kinda pressing on my mind, though.
The red one spoke again. "Basically. Your unit did its job well though, if that's any consolation." She said. There was a certain dryness to her voice. She wasn't exactly mean, but it somehow lacked sincerity.
"In any case, we need your services, now, Helljumper. You're now placed under my command, do you understand?"
I was a lance corporal, but it didn't really matter to me. Even if I did outrank them, which I doubted, I wasn't about to start ordering around a bunch of Spartans. "Yes, sir. Permission to speak, sir?"
"Let's move out of the open, and then granted." I nodded. Here was a story for my grandkids. You know, If I lived to have any.
[Hellomyname]
We got into the lush jungle. It was probably close to 85 degrees in here, but luckily my suit kept me nice and balmy. When we finally stopped covering ground so quickly, the white Spartan found a nice spot for some rest. "Okay, time for introductions and a re-confirmation of objectives." He said. Sounded like he wanted to get to the point. I liked that.
He spoke. "I'm Arthur. Arthur-H34. Commander of Eta team, and responsible for reconnaissance."
The red Spartan spoke again. "Julia-H13. Second in command, responsible for fire support for Arthur-H34 and reconnaissance."
A Spartan clad in Olive green armor and a large, spaceman like helmet spoke. "I'm Heather-H46. I handle anti-vehicle weaponry and medical duties."
The orange armored Spartan spoke. He had a bandit, almost rogue like helmet on, and carried a shotgun. Two covenant plasma rifles were on his legs. He seemed to be the only one wielding covenant weaponry. "Daniel-H87 at your service. Pointman and close weapons specialist."
Finally, a Dark grey Spartan spoke. Out of all of them, he seemed to be wearing the most standard looking helmet, the standard Spartan armor I knew the best. "Eric-H66. Heavy Weapons." He sounded like he spoke very little. Ironic.
"Your turn," Heather said.
"I'm Jackson. In Hermes Squad I was the designated marksman," I said. I wasn't exactly qualified to be the sniper for a bunch of SPARTANs, but if they needed the job done, I was happy to fill in.
"Okay. Eta team probably does things a bit differently than you're used to, trooper. We go in, quickly, quietly, take care of business, and get the hell out of here. You were probably told that the objective was to reach the covenant's strong point and set off a nuclear reaction in the center. That is still the goal, however, we'll be infiltrating rather than just blitzing the complex."
"Where are the HAVOK mines, sir?" I asked. I didn't know if we'd even received any on our way down. "They're at a secret drop zone about twenty kilometers from this location, along with some more weapons, supplies, and ammo. We should be able to get there by this time tomorrow. I'll let you know the specifics of the plan as I come up with them." Great. I suppose Spartans made up mission tactics as they went along.
"Alright, time to get moving," Julia said. Everyone got up and started to move out.
As we started to move, Eric tossed me an M7. "It's better than your magnum."
"Uh, yeah, thanks," I said. He was right, though. It was better than just carrying around a pistol. We moved through the jungle, jumping over and breaking through foliage. As we walked, no one really spoke. I wondered if all Spartan outfits were this silent when they were moving. All of the sudden Heather dropped back. It was the first time I noticed her armor. It was dark olive, and the bubble helmet had that gold electroplating that made the Spartans so recognizable. She was carrying a battle rifle and a Spartan Laser. Without thinking, I asked, "Were you the one who shot the elite?"
"Yes, yes I was." She cocked her head. Her helmet blocked any interpretation of emotion, but I could tell she was curious as to why I asked the question.
"Thank you," I replied. I wasn't really sure how else to say it. She definitely saved my ass back there.
"It wasn't anything big," she said as we continued walking. "No soldier gets left behind. Besides, we needed a guy like you.
I was still basically just a stand-in for their SPARTAN sniper, but if it meant I had these guys at my back, it was…bearable.