Eonstrike's Origin - Chapter 4 – Reactor sweep

The team ran towards the reactor chamber, eliminating any hostiles on its way. Justixn and LuWickios had switched to silenced weaponry, so Jim and John
did the same. They were still inside enemy territory, which means that they'd need to be careful and not to draw too much attention to their actions. Every
now and then they stumbled upon patrols. Some of them managed to spot them, others walked past them, as they were hiding.
''Ugh... How big is this ship?'' complained John.
''Big enough for your lazy ass, John'' responded Jim ''Let's just get it over with.''
LuWickios stopped and looked at his datapad ''We're close.''
''Only a few rooms and corridors left.'' added Justixn.
John sighed in relief ''Oh thank god...''
''Yeah, but keep in mind, once the reactor is gone, we'll have to make a run for it.'' said Jim.
''Awww... And I thought I woul...'' John spotted a strange figure up ahead in the corridor.
''Umm... You saw that too, right?'' Jim asked quietly.
''Yes, but it didn't seem like an Elite, nor does it fit to a Brute... It looked like...'' Justixn said
''Me... But how is that possible? Guys, we need to investigate!'' LuWickios took his shotgun.
The group then followed the creature into a room full of crates, but it was gone. Nobody said a word. Instead they looked around with high caution.
Then an Elite walked into their line of sight. He had an energy sword and golden armor.
''A Zealot!'' LuWickios noticed ''Concentrate fire!''
Everyone was firing at the enemy, who was frightingly close. He swung his sword, but he missed. His shields were highly resistant and some bullets
were deflected. The Elite was getting ready for another attack, until a burst of plasma downed his shields.
''Say goodbye, split-jaw!'' Justixn finished him off with a headshot from his magnum.
Everyone was aiming at the source of the plasma shots.
''Hello there'' He looked like LuWickios, but his skin seemed to be made out of thin steel plating. He was wearing white ODST armor and a comm-backpack.
''Who the heck are you?'' asked LuWickios.
''My name is Nebris.'' he said ''And you're Commander LuWickios, if I'm not mistaken?''
''Your guess is correct, who told you that?''
''I guess you haven't been told... I'm your newest member, freshly assigned by ONI.''
''I haven't heard of any assignments''
''You know ONI, they never tell you anything. Anyways, I've hacked the covies' comms.''
''Wait... You did?'' Justixn was surprised.
''I'm not a comm-specialist for no reason. I'd say we get moving, right sir?'' Nebris asked.
''You're right, let's move! We've got a reactor to destroy!'' LuWickios ordered
Everyone, including Nebris, once again started to head towards the reactor.

The reactor chamber was big. A few platforms led to the middle of the chamber, where the rather big reactor was generating energy for the entire ship.
LuWickios pointed towards it. ''Let's place the charges! Nebris, keep us informed about covenant activity!'' he ordered.
Nebris checked the comms ''Two strike teams will be here in around 7 minutes.''
''We'll be long gone when they arrive'' Justixn placed a charge ''Timer or remote control?''
''Remote control, we'll blow it up as soon the strike teams find the charges.'' Lu replied.
''Got it!'' Everyone placed the remaining charges, while Nebris was standing guard.
''They'll be here in 3 minutes, let's get the hell out of here!'' he realized.
LuWickios reacted ''Good idea. Let's go guys!'' They left the reactor room.

The reactor chamber was empty, the Spec Ops leader was looking around, accompied by Spec Ops Jackals and Grunts.
''They not here!'' One of the Grunts said.
''Where humans go?'' Another one asked.
''Silence! They've got to be here somewhere, keep looking!'' The Elite got his sword ready.
''Huh? What is this thing?'' A Grunt held up a device ''It glows, I like glow stuff.''
The Elite quickly realized ''You fool! That's a charge! Deacti-''
His sentence was cut by several explosions, ending his and his squad's lives.

The ship was shook by a big explosion.
''Haha! This is so much fun!'' John cheered.
''What the heck, weren't you complaining just a couple minutes ago?'' Jim wondered.
''But at that time, there weren't any explosions! Woooooooohooooo!''
Justixn looked at LuWickios ''He kinda reminds me of a certain someone.''
''He very much does, yeah.'' he replied with a chuckle.
Another explosion shook the ship. This time everyone was surprised.
''Wait... that one didn't come from the reactor.'' Jim realized. ''Did it come from the hangar?''
''Oh no... Not again'' LuWickios ran faster.
''Not again? What do you mean by that?'' John looked puzzled.
Justixn slowed down to reply ''Let's just say... We had a little accident on one of our ships''
''An accident? Oh god... I've got a bad feeling about that...'' Jim knew.
''Well... it had to do with Buildsth, a Scorpion-class tank and the ship's main hangar...'' Justixn ran faster again.
''My bad feeling just turned into pure hurror...'' Jim said to John.
''Ha, probably not that bad! Let's check it out first!'' he replied.
Both of them accelerated their running speed.

The hangar looked like a battlefield. Crashed Phantoms, torn walls, destroyed Wraiths and one single Phantom that wasn't damaged yet. And one of the Wraiths
was shooting at nearby covenant infantry.
''I knew it!'' Jim pointed out ''It's even worse than I expected!''
LuWickios sighed ''He did it again...''
A big hole has been blown into the hull of the ship.
''At least we're still inside of the planet's atmosphere...'' Justixn added ''And it's not our ship this time.''
Mengur waved towards the group. ''Guys! Get moving! We need to get out of here fast!''
The group ran towards the hijacked Phantom. Buildsth had to abandon his new tank.
The suppressive fire of the enemy didn't stop them, as they entered the landing craft and it shot right out of the hangar. They made it.
Echo squad looked behind them and saw the hangar, which was exploding too now.
The entire ship was going down quickly.
''I really hope they were able to evacuate everyone down there...'' said Neyk.
''Everyone who didn't make it out of this sector was killed by the covies for sure'' corrected Jim.
Buildsth started ''Good point. They 'had' tanks down there.''
''Whatever'' interrupted LuWickios ''We're finished here. Good job guys! Let's get back home!''