This Town Isn't Big Enough
Aszod, Eposz
August 30th 2552, 13:10
The civilians load their clothing and possessions into small bags, Jack grabbing ammunition for his SOCOM. "Jack?" Alice quietly asks. Before he can respond, he puts on his prototype Mark VI helmet, and removes Alice from the uplink. He places her back in his head, getting a cold chill from the integration of her to him. "Yes?" he responds quietly. "Operational strength is down to 25%. We have to move fast to get these civilians out of here. Right now." she demands, sounding anxious and pushy. "I'll get it done." he responds to her, loading the M6 and holstering it. "You mean we'll get it done." she states to him. He lets out a small, yet quiet laugh. The civilians make ready, load their weapons, and get ready to leave on the Spartans mark. He counts down from three, ready to kick open the door to let the civilians clear left and right first, then him come through, escort the women and children and move quickly.
"Three, two, one, now!" he kicks the door, knocking it off of it's hinges, breaking away from the sheer mass of the kick from the augmented super soldier. The two contractors move through the doorway, clear left and right, and the Spartan enters through the middle, the civilians following him. "Stay with them. I'm gonna check ahead." he declares to the men. He moves towards the end of the block, and decides it's all clear. He motions for them to get over to where he is, with haste. They run over to where he is, and regroup. "We have 10 minutes to reach that base. They're getting hit hard. Let's get to work guys." he yells. They run across the street, dodging an enemy wraith heading for the base, avoiding multiple patrols. They reach 200 meters from the base when Alice interrupts. "Jack, Operational strength is down to 5%. Last transport is being loaded. We need to hurry." she exclaims. "Roger." he responds, with a tired out voice.
"Titan, Titan, this is Sierra 260. I have seven civilians being escorted by myself towards your position. Hold your fire to the east, we are coming to you." he sends to the base, hoping that they respond. "Spartan, this is Major Douglas. You need to get your civilians here within 15 seconds. We're taking too much fire from Covenant forces and we need to get this transport off planet now!" responds the base. "Come on! We have to move." he yells at the civilians. They turn a corner, and run face to face with the same Jackal that he encountered before. "Not this time." he exclaims, pulling his M6 and firing two center mass shots into the alien, dropping it almost instantly, a needle round fired from the Jackal hitting him in the torso. He turns to the men, women, and children, and pushes them towards the transport. "Major! We're here!" the Spartan yells, pulling out the needle round, unaware of the inbound Covenant Corvette. "Lieutenant, They'll have to stand." the Major exclaims from the opening of the transport. "We can't risk the Covenant seeing a Spartan entering this aircraft. You'll need to find your own transport." he continues. "I'll find my own way sir!" responds the Spartan. "Spartan, there's a Warthog in the garage, I think there's a frigate still planet side. Get to her." yells a Sergeant from the doorway. The Spartan moves to the Warthog, with the family watching from the inside of the aircraft.
He enters the drivers seat, and starts the engine, putting it to full throttle. He exits the base, and drives at 120 m/ph towards the ship breaking yard. "Unknown Frigate located at the Ship Breaking Yard, this is Sierra 260, requesting pickup at Platform Charlie!" "Sierra 035, this is Captain Redfield, of the UNSC Aegis Fate. We copy your last. Echo Five One is en route to you now. Get there fast Spartan, we don't have much time until that Corvette arrives, and our guns are down." "Acknowledged. I'm on my way. Alice, did the civilian transport make it?" he asks her. "It's entering slipspace now. We did a good thing today Jack." she responds, sounding as if she was sad, but happy. "Don't worry. We're almost out of here." he tells her, as to calm her down. A banshee appears behind the Warthog, and fires it's mortar, sending the Warthog flying into the admin building for the ship breaking yard. The force of the impact knocks the Spartan out cold.
"Jack? Jack can you hear me?" cries Alice, afraid that he may be unconscious. He wakes, and looks around, his reaction time slowed down, seeming like time itself had slowed down as well. Slowly, he got up, and started jogging, then running for Platform Charlie. He jumps over guard rails, dodges enemy fire, and reaches the platform. The pelican is nowhere to be seen. "Echo Five One! Where the hell are you!" he yells through the comms system. A pack of brute chieftains approach where Jack is, growling and yelling in foreign languages. He readies a plasma grenade, and his M6D. "Fuck." he whispers, accepting his fate. He aims his SOCOM at the lead chieftain, before suddenly, Echo Five One appears behind him, and fires their main gun, killing the chieftain's. Jack turns, and looks at the crew chief opening the door. He jumps, and enters the passenger bay. A grunt appears with a plasma launcher, and attempts to lock on. Before he can do so, Jack throws a plasma grenade, and detonates a group of fusion coils located near the grunt. The pelican, undamaged, flies away towards the currently moving Aegis Fate.