A/N: Yes, I'm continuing! It's a long time since I've NEVER updated. Thanks for the reviews, it's worth it. I'm trying to work on the action so I'm going to edit the whole story when I finish half or perhaps everything when it's done. I'm waiting for Halo Reach and yes, I'm going to write a fic collection or fanmade adaptation similar to this when it's released. I will probably write it two months after it's released, hence I will publish it on... November?

Yes, somewhere on those lines. Hopefully I will finish this on time! HOPEFULLY. Anyways, please review! I'm seven years away from becoming a young adult! (Subtract seven from eighteen and you'll know my age. For those who don't know. Funfact, lol)


Nothing to Rejoice About, Retard

"It's a good thing you came, Gunny. We wiped off enemy hostiles, and god there was a ton of 'em," The corners of Mickey's mouth went down with a chilling frown as the marine was glad to find his team members back. Dutch nodded and his eyes were fixated on an exhausted Romeo. Romeo was, in fact, out of breath and needed a missile pod to calm himself down. There was no guarantee Covenant reinforcements would come into their sight. He could just sense their presence everywhere. Talk about rest; nobody was getting it that day. NMPD officers were resting near the rooftop entrance where ammunition and sources of firepower were stored in a few crates. The fire from the burning Pelican soon subsided and smoke ceased to drift up into the sky to catch the enemy's interest. The ashes of the bodies were uncleared. Mickey then commented on the heavily damaged vehicle, "We're not going anywhere on air. We have to walk on foot."

Romeo knew what that meant. "That means more Covenant forces coming in, right?" Of course, everybody knew that. It all seemed endless; the enemies would re-spawn on every floor they descended on. Jackals, drones, brutes, grunts, you name it. They had to defend the rooftops; it was the first spot they thought was a hotel taxi waiting area for ambushes. Buck just shrugged, and looked at Dutch. "Mind if you spare us some ammo?" He asked smugly.

The corporal stood out of the sergeant's way and said rather surprisingly, "Go help yourself. Besides, we have to stay put in case more Covenant show up. We crash landed and blew our cover."

"Obviously," Romeo muttered under his breath, stifling a chuckle and avoiding his friend's cold stare. Buck strolled over to a crate of MA5C rounds and took four magazines from it. He smacked them in, checking that the clip was full, and went on for some grenades. He then beckoned Romeo to come after noticing a pile of grenades sitting peacefully beside a crate full of rockets. Romeo followed and joined the Gunny, expectantly waiting for an order. Instead, Buck turned and said, "C'mon, dig in. You've been hiding like a sore thumb in that corner."

"Naw, Gunny. I was just thinking about something," Romeo replied. He crouched on the floor and picked up two SRS99D magazines, and shoved them into the opening where the clips were inserted. The gun was smoky from plasma burns and the condition was horrible. There were no words to describe or elaborate his disgust for the almost broken and useless weapon.

Buck grew interested. "Thinking about what?" He demanded with curiosity.

"About the Rookie and Miss. Naval Intelligence, of course," The soldier huffed. True, there were no signs of Veronica Dare and Lance Corporal J.D. The city was in chaos, as expected, and the only thing Romeo thought in his mind was to flee, pronto. Buck took off his helmet and set it at his side. Romeo didn't hesitate to continue, "It's been hours. I mean, seriously: we haven't seen them for hours too. Take a rotten potato chip as Mombasa for instance, dip it in dark chocolate which is the enemy fleet and-"

"That's gross, Romeo!" Buck cringed. Nevertheless, he knew Romeo's point.

Romeo responded immediately, "That's the point, Gunny. This is what Mombasa City's gonna be if we don't make a move. I suggest we fast forward into finding that Mother Goose and get our asses out of here."

"Don't get me on my nerve, Romeo. Now's the time to relax; to have tons of ammo. Yeah... I know it sucks being trapped in this damn city but look on the bride side: we got Mickey and Dutch," Buck pointed out while looking over at the two ODSTs busy having a conversation with each other. Supposedly they were talking of the same subject but in a different perspective...or perhaps slightly different from Romeo's use of vocabulary. Buck wiped his helmet and sidearms to clean off crispy blood, "I bet we'll be out of here in no time. "

The sniper smiled grimly, "I just hope you're right."

Signaling the end of their conversation, He loaded his crappy SRS99D and whacked it to have good measure. He locked his grip on the handle and stood up to join Dutch and Mickey. Buck followed after, having the same patience as Romeo as they both wasted seconds walking on the familiar rooftop they once walked on in the past. The sky was painted with a welcoming evening, almost welcoming the night that was about to pour into the atmosphere. The sight was still beautiful, though, and Buck had never seen the Earth's skies in such a poignant way. He was oblivious to find a warming sunset. War was still continuing and he longed for something to put it to an end.

He kept staring and observing the sky, thinking that something will fall out of it. Somehow, as though his wish was granted, Buck noticed something different in the sky. A small, fragment of the sky slowly moved an inch. What?

"ENEMY SIGHTED! TAKE COVER!" Mickey suddenly yelled upon seeing the fragment which manifested in the air. It turned off its invisible camouflage and revealing the purple damnation of an incoming banshee. Another fragment manifested into a Phantom dropship. The engines of it roared loudly with yells of readiness from the reinforcements that were about to descend through the Phantom's gravity lift. The banshee spotted the stunned Mickey and materialized a green orb of plasma energy. When it was fully charged, the flying aircraft released the ball of plasma.

"I wonder why I'm not surprised, Dutch," Romeo rubbed his chin while looking at Dutch.

"I don't see why you're so calm when there's a freakin' ball of energy hauling our friend's ass, Romeo."

The energy shot teared through the air like a meteor heading towards Mickey's position, its menacing fiery light meeting the private's eyes. Mickey instinctively jumped and dropped to the ground so as to evade the deadly hit. If the soldier were to be directly hit, god knows what would happen to him. He landed with a grunt, but quickly recovered when he stood up. His lower legs were scarred, how nice.

Dutch was now signaling everybody into combat. He made a subtle hand signal at Romeo though the sniper was already fleeing from Dutch until he reached a mounted missile pod. He positioned himself to face the Phantom, and after making the right coordinates, he took a breath. He opened fire, releasing several missiles which raced towards the incoming Phantom.

In each shot one of the Phantom's parts were damaged until the whole ship lurched. The screeching cries of the engine noted its end.

It detonated in a self-explosion, bits of Phantom parts falling down near the skyscraper walls. Bodies of infantries also fell to their deaths. Romeo The banshee that was occupying Mickey's attention noticed Romeo waving at it in a frantic manner. Eager to take him out, it soared towards him. Romeo smirked at the banshee's response. Yeah, that's a good banshee. Just come into my little friend's view.

"Romeo!" Dutch yelled.

"I got him!" Romeo shouted and pulled his finger. A burst of firepower rushed out of the missile pod's barrel then charged at the banshee with much tremendous speed. The pilot of the banshee flinched, and made an attempt to flee as soon as possible. However, the three missiles had met with the banshee's core and detonated, followed by the explosion and the fate of the enemy. The banshee was vaporized and the explosion was like a crack in thunder. Remains of the aircraft were burnt and they smelled horrible. Romeo grinned, "Guess I got the hang of it!"

Buck smiled at him sarcastically, "Well, I'm glad you got the shot. But now we have more company!" He was right. Through the dusty smoke were more waves of banshees and a batch of infantry dropping off from the Phantom dropship. Buck was the first to react and grabbed as many frag grenades he could carry. Without words to say, he volunteered to take out the first group of Covenant infantries.

Jumping off the edge to the lower platform, He charged at the large number of infantry and swung his arm to throw a grenade. It seemed suicidal, but the results were good. Many brutes' shields were down when they were near the explosions; some even died. The remaining Covenant growled and the monstrous furry Brutes raised their weapons. They snarled evenly with revenge, their eyes bloodshot.

NMPD officers tried to give help by firing pistol rounds at the brutes, instantly and fatally injuring their heads. Snapping pistol rounds could be heard, one by one with brute voices lamenting within each shot.

Four grenades and four catastrophic yet wonderful fireworks-like explosions later, almost all the brutes Buck needed to strike off his list were gone. Grunts' heads snapped side to side in search of their Chieftain, trying to locate a brute they could address as their leader. A grunt in orange armor cowered with a squeal and tried to face Buck with a quivering plasma pistol. Buck rammed into that grunt and punch to its face, breaking the mask and the poor face of the helpless alien.

A loud, boom of thunder was heard. The Gunnery Sergeant looked up from the lower level and witnessed another banshee being put down by the two powerful missiles from Dutch's missile pod. The body of the banshee dropped on the lower platform and crushed a jackal under its heavy weight. The fallen brute - or the pilot of that banshee - fell onto the ground with a defeated moan. The body was on the edge of the upper platform and Buck was glad it didn't fall on him.

He then proceeded to knock a nearby grunt with the back of his rifle and shove a few rounds into its mouth. Taking out his MA5C, Buck punched out bullets at a few grunts and jackals, taking time to kill each and every one of them.

Buck took cover behind the damaged banshee and crouched on the floor to regain his breath. The sound of his heart pounding was not as loud as the situation the other squad members were in. He found out the large volume of ammo he wasted and smacked in few fresh magazines.

Charging out from his position, Buck ran in an ammo-wasting frenzy, dodging every shot he ran into. He jumped forward and swung down a plasma grenade as it clung onto the leg of a jackal. The alien panicked, and the grenade detonated. The explosion sent the grunts flying off the skyscraper and bright blue and violet blood adorned the gory area.

The sergeant depolarized his visor, equally tired as the rest of the men. The banshees were taken down and now it felt quiet. Peacefully quiet, for the moment.

"Another Phantom inbound! More banshees coming! Heads UP!" An NMPD officer called through the comm. and Buck's eyes darted all over the sky until he found the target the ODSTs were looking for. Dutch picked up a M6 Spartan Laser just as Buck ran up to the upper platform, "We got Phantom on our left! Someone take care of the banshees!"

"God dammit, there's a whole load of Phantoms today," Romeo gritted his teeth, wiping sweat from his hands, "Thank god I still have tons of ammo."

"I'm on it, Gunny!" Dutch replied, and picked up the heavy weapon. He locked on an incoming banshee which flew in a zig-zag movement towards him. He readied his laser and tapped the trigger, until the time was right.

The corporal pulled it, and a fantastic beam of red shot out at the banshee. It was instantly vaporized like the others, and the screeching aircraft crashed onto the rooftop just behind Dutch's position. He did the same to another banshee and the results came out the same. Each beam was worth a line of five banshees.

One banshee down and another to come. A particular one didn't seem to offer its surrender when it flew to the skyscraper rooftops with an overloading boost. It released a barrage of bright, blue bullets in a berserk manner and swung in each direction the squad didn't fire at.

It was going to take one hell of ammo and guts to take this baby back into the garage.

Dutch had only a moment to allow the laser to cool down and he didn't waste time in shaking it to ensure the weapon's coordinates were still online. After the cool-down, he immediately locked on the unstoppable banshee, setting his hesitance and tension aside. The banshee didn't give the corporal the chance to fire at it and tried to stall him by opening up a burst of more blueish plasma.

"Someone help me out here!" Dutch yelled out loudly, and a few NMPD officers joined up with pistols, MA5Cs and battle rifles snapping, rattling and clattering.

In the converge of fire, the banshee was lured into the Spartan laser's view, showing red in the middle of the scope. One of its wings was damaged and the brute piloting it growled in disapproval. Dutch was finally given the opportunity to set fire, a gleam of crimson set loose on a straight line. The banshee evaporated, leaving pieces of debris and a dead, unlucky brute.

An NMPD officer, who was shoving mags into his SRS99D smelled something smoky in the air. He looked up, finding banshee bits from a vehicle destroyed by Romeo's missiles, which were about to fall on the man himself when they were falling high above from the air. He froze dead on his spot, his eyes staring at the burning remains.

Dutch found the officer frozen in time and shouted, "Marine, get out of the way, NOW!"

The officer jerked its head to Dutch's direction and quickly nodded. He reached for an empty, safe spot and flung himself at it, landing hard on his face. He was glad he saved the sniper rifle though his nose wasn't feeling all that good. Dutch pulled a smug yet concerned look and recognized the SRS99D's owner immediately.

He yelled at Romeo, "Romeo! Was that your banshee you destroyed!"

"Yeah, why? THESE THINGS KEEP COMING AT ME!" Romeo almost screamed. He had just took out a flying banshee and a few at the fleeing ones. In fact, he didn't want to talk at all this time. Less talking, more shooting. He was quite the hypocrite.

Dutch concealed his disappointed look, "Just take note you almost killed our faithful marine."

"Uhuh?" Romeo was bemused, and full of doubt.

"And your sniper rife!" Mickey added for Dutch.

"..." He was immediately silenced. Romeo then burst, "That was the last snipe I ever had!"

Dutch just smacked his helmet and dismissively waved his hand, "Nevermind. You better watch where you're shooting, Romeo." The NMPD officer's mouth had curved a slight frown but he secretly nodded in agreement. Romeo didn't notice it, luckily. He returned to his position near Mickey and aimed Romeo's SRS99D at infantries preparing to exit the dropship through the gravity lift.

Upon firing at them, another Phantom was shot down by Romeo and another was coming. Dutch cried out, "Another Phantom, on approach! Filled with jet-pack Brutes! Hit 'em hard!"

Buck groaned. How he hated those bastards. He motioned for Mickey to give him a hand in handling those brutes and smacked in another magazine into his MA5C. Just two mags left and he would have to swap for another weapon. Mickey threw a large AIE-486H at the Gunnery Sergeant when he arrived. Buck had to arm the MA5C behind his back again before catching the machine gun, his hands barely missing the handles. He grinned at Mickey sarcastically, "Thanks. I need this."

"Your welcome, Gunny," Mickey performed a mock salute. He reloaded the assault rifle hurriedly and slipped past the other ODSTs before advancing down the stairs. A brute hovering in the air with a jet-pack on its back took the first shot upon finding the private sneaking up to them. It roared as its plasma rifle missed the shots.

Mickey ran with the weapon in his hand, opening up the first batch of snapping fire as the bullets pierced through the enemy's skin. The brutes which landed on the floor stepped back in pain but held their ground. They fired at the soldier but Mickey dodged their meager attempts to catch him, simultaneously killing them in the backs with a burst of bullets and a melee in the spot he could feel their spines crack.

He was supported and given cover by Buck's help of his machine gun. Buck had a good angle to throw the brutes down to the mud and he did it quite well. The armor-piercing ammo was just the type he needed for a brute killing spree. The rate of fire was moderate but it served good kills. Mickey didn't throw the towel and decided to melee the distracted enemies in the back with his rocket launcher. Taking out his M41, he sneaked past the bodies and avoided Buck's line of fire.

The first grunt he saw was armed with a needler and it cackled with delight when Buck almost and barely failed to dodge the fast-moving green ball. The red-toned ODST prepared himself and, with a thrust, he swung the M41 at the grunt with force.

The grunt's backpack or its tank of methane exploded in a small burst before blue blood could squirt out of its mask. The alien whined in pain and eventually fell to the ground, defeated.

Mickey then grabbed a plasma grenade from the dead Grunt and threw it with a swing at the alarmed group of brutes. It clung to the hairs of one brute, before evaporating it in the explosion. Brandishing out his MA5C, he shot out a burst of rounds and pierced through the brutes' chances to take him out. He had to run with his eyes closed to the nearest brute he heard and hit its face with the back of his MA5C before going back to kill another one, having to dodge Buck's machine gun rounds.

"The more I kill, the more blood I get on my armor," Mickey frowned when a speck of blood splashed onto his helmet visor. Wiping it away with the back of his hand, he cringed in disgust. He conserved his assault rifle ammo by swapping it for a spiker. There were only five brutes left. Four, three, left after two eliminated by Buck. Mickey had to finish off the last three.

Using only the enemy's spiker in his hand, Mickey ran and ran with his finger locked and the trigger pulled. Glowing spikes, different from the Needler's, shot out from the barrel and into the brutes' face as he quickly turned to shoot another brute when he finished filling one's face with full of spikes. The last brute stepped back, trying to pull the needle-like stakes out of its face.

The ODST threw the useless spiker to the floor and changed for his M41 rocket launcher. He kicked the last brute in the nuts and punched it with his rocket launcher, causing the needly spikes to drive in and completely and fatally injuring the brute's brain.

Running away to get a good distance, he called out to Buck, "Gunny! Step back!"

Buck heard Mickey's signal and disappeared from sight on the higher platform, allowing Mickey to finish off what's been living there without killing his allies. Smacking his rocket launcher, he ensured that the system was online.

The only two brutes were still struggling to remove the huge needles from their faces. The only thing they heard were their own cries and whines, nothing else. Blackish-blue blood oozed out from their wounds and their voices grew weak with each removal of the spikes. Their attempts, however, backfired.

The sound of firepower rang through the air and they could clearly smell the wisp of smoke coming in their direction. Turning around for only a split second, the brutes were thrown away into the air after the rocket collided with them.

The explosion was great and catastrophic and the effect was just as Mickey expected. The brutes were flung off the building, falling down from almost a hundred stories high to their fate. Through the smoke, Mickey was brushing his palms against a wall to rid of blood. He grabbed his MA5C which was sitting alone on the floor and made his way back to the top.

"We're fighting off the last of the last now, Mickey. Could use some help on the banshees," Buck smiled, holding another M41 on his shoulder. He pointed at Dutch and Romeo, "They're finishing off the Phantoms so... yeah."

Mickey nodded, "Alright, Gunny." He waved his hand slowly in a, "Whatever you say. Just hand me a shotgun, please."


Sizzling MY Bait, Not Yours

"Looks like we're doing good," Romeo shouted with satisfactory when some banshees turned their direction to flee from the ODSTs. Finally he was relieved they retreat; his hands were sore and sustained bruises. There was only one Phantom left. After finishing it off, they were good to go in a search for the Rookie and Dare. He complained, "Can't these go away now?"

Buck just shrugged, "Not if we take care of it."

The dark-skinned marine was disappointed but he still had enough energy to bring the Phantom down. Taking the missile pod in his bare hands, he unmounted it with a slight grunt. After giving - or throwing it - to Dutch, the corporal rushed to the crate to fill in more rockets into his pod. He threw the lid and hurriedly grabbed as many rockets the Missile Pod could carry. Slotting them in, the more dust popped out of the weapon. Mickey was trying to wipe off blood from his armor and Buck was in desperate need to contact his captain, Dare, while Romeo and Dutch attempted to take the Covenant vehicle out.

The NMPD officer who 'took care' of Romeo's SRS99D ran towards him, with the sniper rifle in his hand. The condition wasn't good, but better functional than never. He spoke with a thick Australian accent, "Here's your snipe, sir. Sorry if it's damaged badly; Covenant just keeps pouring out."

Romeo nodded slowly, "This will really go into the trash. But good work though." He gave the officer a reluctant thumbs-up before the officer could scamper back with his fellow colleague-friend near the weaponry stock. Romeo glanced at the SRS99D and sighed.

"Brute Chieftain, on sight!" Buck yelled his voice strained. Romeo blinked and bit his lip. Not another one of those bastards again; he had enough for breakfast. Running towards Dutch, he watched the giant and big Brute descending from the gravity lift. Raising his SRS99D, Romeo wanted to get a clear shot though he wasn't able to. The brute had already went out of his aim. It tore up the stairs, waving its Gravity Hammer like a heavy club in a golf competition. "SCATTER!"

Mickey's shotgun snapped along with his hesitance. Dutch threw the missile pod aside and whipped out his assault rifle out. The NMPD officer Romeo met with earlier took his MA5C and sprinted towards the the ODST group, allowing the Helljumpers to buy some time while he distracted the enemy.

The brute snarled at the marine and ripped around with its Gravity Hammer, the weapon meeting up with the officer's neck. The man could only feel the hard, electrical feeling in his limbs and nothing else.

The officer was thrown out of the way quite brutally. Blood was seen coughed out of his mouth, making Romeo's eyes widen.

"W-whoa!" Romeo shook, finally given a shot of the brute. He raised the SRS99D and pulled his finger; despite the fact he was shocked to see his sniper-rifle-caretaker's nuts being beaten up by the Chieftain. To his expectations, the brute's shields were lost and the only quickest way was to melee it.

The blue-themed ODST was about to turn his sniper rifle over when the brute finally went in a berserk trance. It stepped towards him, causing Romeo to fall back and hitting a slab of concrete behind him. No, he didn't experience being this close to being cornered by a brute, and a Chieftain at that. It swept its Gravity Hammer up with a loud growl, and Romeo used his SRS99D as a shield.

It was a moment before Romeo could feel something in his chest crack. His heart pounded louder in his helmet and a sharp pain in his left lung prevented him to breath properly. The brute had brought the back of the Gravity Hammer to Romeo's left side of his chest, breaking through the armor. Although it hurt, the SRS99D provided enough protection before the sharp edge of the large weapon could reach the core of the wound. The SRS99D was attached to the Gravity Hammer due to the impact caused. The brute roared with confidence and victory, preparing to finish off the wounded ODST.

"You son of a-!" Buck quickly reacted, brandishing out his combat knife. The brute was about to kill the helpless marine when his neck was grabbed by the Gunnery Sergeant. Buck tried to make a blind spot on its neck and shoved his knife into brute's neck. He tried to hang onto the brute as long as he can; the knife driving into the blood vessels.

Dutch flinched, and Mickey tried to have a clean shot on the brute. He couldn't because Buck was on it, and decided to take the alternate option: tackle the brute to the ground for Dutch to take the shot. He lunged at the brute, helping Buck in forcing it to the ground. Mickey breathed, "Somebody take this bastard out!"

The death-marked corporal responded by dropping his primary weapon and quickly flung himself at the two ODSTs and the brute, charging it with a shoulder to the chest.

The brute whined in pain and struggled to get the three ODSTs off its tail. It was too late: the knife had already reached the heart of the end of its life and the brute collapsed onto the floor, dead. It was over, and Dutch cocked his fists in a boxing motion while Mickey tried to get up from the floor. Both smiled in relief, but soon they heard a voice under the dead brute. A muffled voice, to be precise.

"Get. This. Thing. Off. Of. Me," The voice said, catching the pair's attention. A hand was waving. Dutch and Mickey helped to turn over the dead brute, so that Buck would stand up. He brushed off the dust and reached for the knife stuck in the brute's neck. Taking it out, he shook it, smearing blood on the floor and on Dutch's armor. Dutch backed away slightly but Romeo cried in pain. Placing his hand over the wound, he coughed and Mickey bent down to check Romeo's wound. A bit of blood squirted out from the hole in the armor. Buck asked hastily, "How bad?"

The situation was bad; Buck knew this wasn't good. Still, he questioned to find if Romeo could talk. He couldn't lose a teammate in the battle, the team couldn't allow it. Romeo's visor depolarized, and he removed his hand from the wound. Talking with much difficulty, he gasped for breath, "A-Ahh, not good."

Mickey reassured his friend, "Don't worry. We're going to get you out of here."

"Not by air we're not," Dutch frowned. He gestured toward the Pelican. They had to find a way without using a Pelican. With Romeo's wound, Dutch knew it wasn't going to be easy calling for help. Mickey glanced at Dutch and curved his lips in a straight line.

Buck sighed, "It's alright. We can go by walking." He let out a hand, and Romeo took it with a quivering one. The Gunnery Sergeant helped the sniper up, took Romeo's arm and put it around his shoulder. Buck wanted to use himself as support for Romeo, and Romeo winced. The cut in his body was unbearable and he couldn't withstand the pain. Romeo gasped again, "A-Ahh!"

"I know another way." Buck smiled. "Also, we can use him as bait."

"Oh god."

"Just kidding. ...But seriously."