Chapter 7: Between A Brute And A Hard Place
There was a brief moment where it seemed like time had stopped. The Pirate Troopers, summoned to repel a Covenant attack on one of Science Team's outposts, and the squad of Covenant Brutes, tasked with clearing the tunnels of the Pirates, both froze upon encountering not their hated enemies, but a handful of human soldiers. They weren't alone, however. The Brute commander spotted a figure in green and his blood began to boil. Orange met the Pirate captain's eyes and his fangs ground into a sneer.
"The Demon…"
"The Hunter…"
"KILL THEM!"
And all at once, everyone went into motion and the small room descended into chaos. The marines still near the rear entrance scrambled away from Pirate Trooper wrist blades. Despite being only a few feet away from the front entrance, Johnson whipped out his sniper rifle and sent a bullet through the brain of the first Brute through the door. Surprising both of them, Master Chief turned to face the incoming Pirates while Samus took aim against the approaching Brutes.
The next Brutes through the door managed to shrug off more than two charged shots each before hitting the floor, and the sixth in line roared as he vaulted over his companions' corpses. The Brute Shot at his side forgotten, the beast flailed his massive fists towards the foreign bounty hunter. The Chief had claimed a solid dozen victims with his Battle Rifle when he saw Samus flying past him towards the opposite wall with a charging Brute close behind her. She hit the wall hard, the impact dulling her vision even through the Power Suit's padding and shielding. Samus looked up to see the Brute bearing down on her, and quickly switched to her Plasma Beam and clenched the fist of her free hand. She socked the Brute in the face hard enough to make it flinch, providing her enough time to give her arm cannon a short charge, blast the alien in the chest with the vicious Plasma Beam and send it sailing back in the opposite direction.
"*sniff* Ugh, hate the smell of burnin' fur…" Chief could hear Johnson mutter as he pulled his sniper rifle away from a Pirate that was trying to wrestle it from his grip and butt it in the face with the weapon's stock. Cortana alerted him to a Brute coming up from behind, prompting the Spartan to snatch a plasma grenade from a fallen Brute, throw the explosive into the attacking Brute's face, then kick it away as its upper half became a flash-fried mess.
Samus, suddenly within arm's reach of the Pirate entrance, took a few steps back as she locked onto the Pirates advancing on her with her Seeker Missiles, then released the barrage and blasting her attackers off their feet. She grabbed a wounded marine and carried him to the center of the room, where her allies were grouped together. The remaining Pirates and Brutes had finished filing into the room and had spread out along either wall, torn between advancing on the humans and the knowledge that if they did so, it would leave them vulnerable to their rivals.
As she got close, the Master Chief leaned close to Samus and said "You alright? That was a pretty hard hit you took."
"I'm fine, I've had worse."
And as much as I'm enjoying this little tribute to your Spartan namesakes, we've got a job to do. You know, the Library? The Index? Ringing any bells?
Chief scoffed. "You're always ruining my fun."
"As much as I agree," Samus responded "how exactly do you propose we get out of here?"
We go with what we know works; you and Chief hit those Brutes hard. The marines can make a break for it, and then-
"And then both of these guys tear us to shreds? Good plan, Cortana."
…If you'd let me FINISH, Chief, we could then follow them out as soon as we get the Brutes out of the way.
While listening and feeling little confidence in the current plan, Samus glanced over to the side door they had used to enter earlier. There was only one Brute standing near it, as opposed to the three or four blocking the main entrance.
"I have another idea. Get everyone over to that door over there and I'll cover us. I need to pay those monkeys back for that hit earlier."
Understanding what she was getting at, Chief tipped Johnson off first and then sped towards the Brute obstructing their path. The massive warrior fired his Brute Shot at the Spartan, but he nimbly stepped out of the way and peppered the Brute with an SMG while charging a Plasma Pistol he'd snagged. The hail of bullets enraged the Brute, who dropped his weapon and charged straight for the approaching soldier. Exactly as intended, the fully charged Pistol erupted in the Brute's face, and it sailed limply past the Master Chief. As he reached the door, he turned around. The remaining marines were hot on his tail, herded forward by Sergeant Johnson, with Samus still in the middle of the room, a stream of billowing flames pouring from her arm cannon. She swung her weapon in every direction, spraying both Pirates and Covenant in the orange flames. Her Plasma Beam's Flamethrower traded intensity for this continuous attack, and the flames were causing little damage to their targets. But the important thing is that they were holding the aliens at bay, giving the marines enough time to escape. Chief knew she couldn't keep this up forever though, and as soon as she tired, she would be smothered by Pirates and Brutes both incredibly annoyed by her irritating attack and unable to defend herself. He wasn't the only one who noticed.
Chief…!
"I know. Johnson!"
"What's up, kid?"
"I could use a hand." He said, using both hands to pull all the frag grenades he had left. Johnson took his cue and did the same. As the last marines passed through the door and bolted down the tunnel, the Chief shouted. "Samus!" The bounty hunter away from the center of the door just as both Pirates and Covenant dove towards that spot, and the two soldiers hurled their collective half-dozen grenades. The built-up explosion filled the room and propelled Samus towards the door. She landed with a roll, and gave the two a quick "Thanks" before all three of them took off at full speed through the tunnel and back towards the open air.
