Chapter 3

I'll Stay in the Car

Miles we traveled in the vehicles, the three of us, Anderson, the man on the turret, and I were silent, all caught up in our own thoughts. Thinking over what had happened in the past few days was hard, as if I didn't want to remember, but it kept popping back into my head. This man, could he really trust me after what my kind did to his?

"Why did you do it?"

I perked up, startled. "What?"

Anderson had one eye on in front of us and one on me. "You know, why did you save me back there? Why didn't you just let him kill me?" He sounded uncomfortable as he said this. I could tell he was a bit nervous to be around me, even if he thought I was harmless.

"I don't know," I simply replied, turning my head away so I didn't have to face him. His eyes were the exact opposite of Kovalee's. They were calm and collected, yet fierce and determined at the same time.

"Well, you must have had a reason? It's just not normal that people of your... race... bust their butts to save Humans," remarked Anderson. By all means, he was correct. Even to myself, why I had warned him was difficult to think about. It was like I knew who he was already.

I answered without turning back.

"I don't know,"

He thanked me again, "Well, whether or not you have a reason, I owe you big time. If you hadn't warned me, I'd be in two pieces!" he laughed.

I stared into the distance. The mountains seemed to be endless around here. it was all one large cloak of snow, with no escape. I was about to close my eyes, when something got my attention. There, coming over the mountain, was a small black dot, coming closer and closer at a fast rate. FIve more came over the mountain, following up the leader.

I sat up fast. "They're here," I muttered. No sooner had I realized what the dots were, a green blast from a fuel rod cannon came sailing back at us.

It hit the snow directly in front of us, causing Anderson to make a quick jerk of the wheel , then another to get back into place, while not stopping the vehicle.

"What the Hell?" shouted the young man controlling our turret.

"Banshees! Floor it!" came a voice that seemed to be in the distance. The other two Warthogs faded away through the snow.

"Hold on, Four-Lips, I'm takin' you for a joy ride!" yelled Anderson, grinning hard, as if he had been hoping for this.

Another quick jerk of the wheel made me find myself holding onto my seat for dear life. Three more Fuel 

Rods erupted around us. The Warthog shook furiously, being damaged by the splash of the cannons into the snow. Anderson gained speed, while the Banshee's followed, swarming around us like we were dead food.

"It would be helpful if you could take out one of the goddamn Banshees, Burns!" Anderson shouted at the young man on the turret.

"Yes sir!" said Burns, followed by an uncountable amount of shot rounds coming from the gun. From every direction I could hear the sound of Plasma and Fuel Rod cannons being shot.

At this point, I would have been happy to abandon the Warthog and run for my life, but there was something about Anderson that kept me there, that made me want to stick by his side. Still gripping on to the soft leather cusion of the seat, I took a breath, and could only hope.

There was a long pause, where everything was quiet. There were no more plasma eruptions, no more snow being flung into the air, just the soft humming of the Warthog.

"Thats four. There were six," I told Anderson, knowing that we were not out of the battle yet.

"Well maybe they cut us some slack this time around,"

I shook my head, "No. They are here."

Just as I had predicted, two more Banshees swooped down from the skies, attempting to escape, knowing they couldn't stand up to Burns's turret skills.

"Burns...-"

"On it, sir!"

The Banshee's must of realized they were spotted, and took off at full speed, leaving a blue trail as they went. Burns fired again, just nicking the edges of both Banshee's sending them both whirling toward the ground.

I sat there, taking in what had happened. Had they been coming for me? But how could they know what I had done so quick?

Coming to a sudden revelation, Anderson stopped the Warthog.

"The other six... They're gone."

Anderson tried to contact them, projecting his COM system so we could hear.

"This is Sergeant William Anderson, do you read Delta Squad 13? Repeat, this is Sergeant William Anderson, do you read me Delta Squad 13?"

"Sir... Help...Please...!"

There was a horrible crying noise, then the line went dead.

"Crap! I lost 'em! Alright boys, we're heading back to base. We're not giving up on them until we see them all with sticky grenades on their faces!" he shouted, and the Warthog took off over the mountains again.

The terrain seemed to change dramaticly as we came to the top of the mountain. One side was snow, while 

the other was desert like, built on dust and sand.

And then, at random, my COM system came on. A familiar voice spoke, sounding furious.

"Major Solonee, you will not escape us after your acts of heresy!"