Disclaimer: I don't own Halo. I just decided to stop the mission logs. And I would like to thank the writer of 'From Harvest to the Ark' for giving me inspiration. If I accidentally copy some of your ideas, please send me a message in my account inbox. Sniping based on Halo: Legends. Thx.

Chapter 7: Joy ride

June 1, 2756 (Military Calendar)

Carbonite, Dracopia II System

[Ethan]

Hell, it felt good to be back in the skies.

How I got assigned from Scorpion pilot to Falcon pilot, I don't know. But how I got assigned from ODST squad to Gamma Squad, consisting of Delta Team and me, Kyle, Rowan and Sam, plus two more humans, that I can tell you.

After the assault on the Spire, the ODSC Delta 6 had reported my 'outstanding performance' to FLEETCOM and the FC (Fortress Council), and they, as a reward for me, had specially promoted me to the newly invented rank of S.W.A.T. (Supreme WTF Acorn Trooper). The name's weird, to put it in plain English, it basically means I was in special ops and is authorised to help any Spartan or ODSC in combat.

Kyle and Sam manned the turrets. Rowan, along with the other two SWATs, William and Li, sat in the Falcon, chatting about their lives back on their home planets. Each of them clutched MA5Ks and AR88 DMRs. The rest of the ODSCs were driving a LAAG Warthog and Gauss Warthog. I could see them from the window and began to wonder what I had gotten myself into by joining the UPA military. Was it a life full of action, or was life about to turn into hell?

[Malcolm]

We were on the move again.

I manned the LAAG and swung it around experimentally. For the twentieth time since we set out from CF, Hope swore, saying that the swinging of the LAAG was making her dizzy. I laughed, but still stopped swinging it.

Hey, you still can't blame me, I was being shipped off to destroy an NEMNCC newly elected prophet, after receiving new orders, though the old one would still continue. My HUD showed that we were still 5 km away from the camp, so we might meet resistance.

But the resistance we met was far more dangerous than we thought.

We met an armada of Grunts, Jackals and Elites, and suddenly one of them overcharged his plasma pistol and launched. The glowing green spherical EMP struck our Falcon and the dropship crashed heavily into the ground, killing the Elite who fired the EMP. Oh, what irony.

Also, what the hell. How did those guys get so smart?

The LAAG rumbled and the shells ejected clicked on the floor of the Warthog as I continued to obliterate ground troops. Drake emptied his armour piercing MA5B clip and slammed another one in, then continued the barrage of assault rifle rounds. Driving with utmost expertise, Jaina splattered a group of Jackals and turned the Warthog around sharply. We were suddenly cornered by a pair of Hunters when Hope splattered one and Will fired a barrage of rockets into the other NEMNCC warrior. Amy then picked off a Brute who was about to hijack us from the front.

"If this is part of the NEMNCC armada, then what is the rest of it? How big is it going to get?" Drake yelled over the COM amidst the battle.

Just then, our downed Falcon regained its power and ODST Ethan lifted it up into the air again. Turrets blazed, rockets flew, bullets whizzed past, it was absolute chaos. Typical battle. Ethan turned the Falcon around for his turreteer to take out a pack of Grunts. He gunned the machine turrets on the flying craft and eliminated a squadron of Elites.

The partial armada was obliterated, finally. It had been exhausting.

Our Warthogs parked beside the Falcon, which had now landed. Drake accessed and received new info on our mission.

"Delta 6 is your best shot. Only he can make the shot with accuracy. Sniping position is at the mountain cave in your vicinity."

Our team looked at me.

How embarrassing.

I swapped my Magnum with a SRS99 Anti-Matériel Sniper Rifle and we headed on by foot.

FLEETCOM's designated sniping spot was a while away on foot. There were some survivors from our initial retaliation. Our ODSTs picked them off while my team defended me from the more elite Elites. I felt like a VIP, a different experience from being a total dolt.

We arrived at the sniping spot. The ODSTs retrieved their MA5Ks and guarded the spot. I retrieved my sniper rifle and set up. Drake snaked a fibre optic probe along the outside of the mountain cliff. We saw the Phantom dropship descend out of the sky.

The Prophet floated out. There was silence. On our side, there was silence as well as I turned my sniper by a bit and waited for the Prophet's head to float by, tightening my finger on the trigger. As I did, a thousand questions floated in my mind. How do we get out alive? Will we? How hard will the Covenant fight? Will I be able to shoot the Prophet? But as that final question floated by my mind, so did the Prophets head float by my sniper reticule.

I pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The Prophet fell to the ground, dead. The NEMNCC cried out in anguish, in one voice, one mind. It freaked me out a lot.

They all turned in my direction as the trail of the sniper round faded and they all screamed and ran off.

That was when we decided to leave.

Switching back to my assault rifle, we sprinted down the mountain. The Falcon and Warthogs were still there. I jumped up and manned the LAAG. The armada was not far away by then.

Ghosts and Revenants came racing up and attacked the Falcon first. Ethan struggled as the plasma bolts impacted on the flying vehicle, but luckily, only from the Ghosts, as he was skilful enough to avoid the Revenants' plasma mortars. We continued retreating.

I roared, and blew a Ghost to pieces with the turret. I turned on an unfortunate duo in a Revenant, blowing up the vehicle. Will launched barrages of missiles, swinging the turret around simultaneously to destroy more oncoming vehicles at one time. Explosions rocked the cliff and caused rocks to dislodge and crush even more enemy vehicles.

Will then fired a barrage at the cliff face, causing rocks to fall and block the path, buying us some time, but not a lot, because we knew that the armada would definitely have Wraiths, and rock versus Wraith is a pretty worthless battle. The Falcon was now smoking and Ethan was having a bit of trouble flying it, with it going at full speed, causing the Falcon to drop now and then.

Nevertheless, it was a major victory, and we were the victors. The sweet taste remained inside us as we took the drive back to base.

What a joy ride.