Chapter 7.

Soren smirked as Forge tossed him the keys to his personal Warthog. Soren had landed his team as Forge's escort. Him and Rebecca in the Gauss Hog, and Tucker, Simmons and Cyrus in Hornets accompanied by three other ODSTs piloting three other Hornets.

They were tasked with evacuating civies and defending the transports. He looked at his personal vehicle, an M808B Grizzly painted silver and equipped with prototype energy shields and active camouflage.

"Not this time old gal." He petted the side lovingly as he donned his helmet.

"Hey, don't openly cheat on me with your tank. It's not right." Rebecca scolded him. He flashed her the Spartan smile.

"Never baby, just sayin bye to our beautiful daughter. She gets so lonely in here with out her parents."

"You do realize that it's just a tank?" She asked, Soren gasped and clutched his chest.

"How can you say something like that in front of her?! I swear, it's like you don't love her." He quickly hugged the tank. "Your mommy loves you very much baby, don't listen to her."

"Soren, honey, once it calls me mommy, then we both need psyche evals." She put her hand on his shoulder and laughed.

Soren smirked as he climbed in and inserted Spotter's chip. A young girl's voice filtered through the speakers.

"I love you Mommy." The AI said before returning to its normal voice, laughing. Rebecca climbed in next to the laughing Spartan, removed the AI's chip and growled.

"I'm gonna give you a choice. Either you get punished now or when we get back." She told the seven foot tall man with a smirk.

"Alright, it's time to kick it into high gear. Teams check in!" Forge called into the comm, effectively cutting them off before they could get any further.

"Raven One check!" Simmons.

"Raven Two check!" Tucker.

"Raven Three check!" Cyrus.

"Raven Four check!"

"Raven Five check!"

"Raven Six check!" The ODSTs reported.

"Wolf Actual check." Soren said as he climbed into the Hog. Forge nodded and they pulled out of the garage and the Pelican picked them up. They flew into Arcadia and were greeted by a grisly sight.

Elites, Jackals, and Grunts were swarming the escaping civilians. Ripping them apart with plasma rounds, energy swords, and Jackals were openly feasting on living humans. And there wasn't much resistance. The local PD was being overwhelmed. They touched down and They heard the Arcadian Patrol coms.

"Spirit of Fire, this is Arcadian patrol, civilians entering the city are being blocked by hostile forces. We need to clear that area, can you assist?" Forge responded.

"Arcadia ground control, this is Forge. We're inbound to aid in evacuation efforts, help is on the way!" Arcadian Patrol commented over the sound of gunfire.

"It's a blood bath here! We need some cover now!" Soren punched the gas and drove through the city, crushing infantry left and right, Spotter making adjustments in his directions to keep the flip-prone vehicle stable. Forge picked off troops with the Gauss cannon and Rebecca used her Grenade Launcher to break apart the enemy lances, splattering bits of alien corpses everywhere. Soren drew his sidearm and plastered brain matter along the asphalt as he drove towards the barricade.

"Hey. Is that our UNSC back up?" One officer asked. Another looked and shook his head.

"Can't be, it's just one Hog." He then laughed. "Nevermind, they've got one of them Spartans you hear about." Rebecca spoke up.

"Let's hurry up and clean these xeno bastards from these streets!" The remaining forces nodded and continued to help evacuate the fleeing civilians. Soon they heard the patrol officer through the com.

"This is Ground control, Covenant are closing in, prepare emergency launch protocols, mark." The three evac shuttles were beginning their launch protocols and they needed cover. Rebecca ordered her ODSTs.

"Ravens One and four, cover Cargo One! Two and Five, Cargo two! Three and six, handle Cargo Three, there's t-minus three minutes to launch people move it!" She received confirmation from them and each pair went to cover their respective shuttle.

For awhile it seemed to be going well, then all hell broke loose. Cargo Three's pilot came on the com. "Cargo Three, we're all alone out here! Can't you guys hurry up?"

The UNSC forces assist the best they can, clearing some of the hostiles, but more Covenant assault the transport. After a while they hear Cargo Three's pilot came back on.

"Cargo Three, I've gotta get this bird in the air soon, we're dead down here."

The UNSC forces continue to fight the attacking Covenant. Soren clears his head of the screams of the wounded, alien and human alike. Suddenly, he hears what he hoped wouldn't Three's Pilot screams into the com.

"Cargo Three under fire! Screw the evac, proceeding with emergency launch." They watch as Cargo Three lifts off, leaving some civilians behind, and almost immediately hit by Banshee fire.

"We're hit! We're hit! Somebody help! Plea-" Cargo Three's middle section explodes, and they watched the debris hit the ground, silencing the pilot.

"God, no. Please no." Rebecca breathed, having never personally experienced the Covenant's brutality to civilians first hand. Soren just blocked it out and Forge swore loudly.

"Those bastards!" Soren opened his com.

"Ravens Three and Six come in! What the hell happened?!"

"Too many of them sir!" Cyrus responded. "They killed the infantry we were supporting and overwhelmed us!" Soren hit the steering wheel with his free hand.

"Goddammit! Fine, Raven Three, support Cargo One. Raven Six, Cargo Two." He ordered, Rebecca nodding her confirmation.

"Yes sir, heading there now." Was the reply and Soren nodded. He gunned the 'hog into a Sangheili's side and smirked slightly at the purple blood staining the windshield. Forge hit a Kig-yar sniper from its post and Rebecca launched a grenade at a fast-approaching Ghost, the resulting shrapnel to flew over Forges head, causing him to duck with a loud swear. Not even five minutes after the destruction of Cargo Three, a familiar voice filtered through the coms. Jerome-092.

"Spirit of Fire, Red Team. the Covenant are getting control of the city fast, suggest setting up new ground operations." Forge responded almost instantly, gunning down more Covenant.

"Spirit, Forge here, I agree. We got room to get a base up and running?" Serina did a quick but accurate survey of the battlefield.

"I've mapped some locations suitable for base deployment, make sure the area is clear." Forge and the others made their way to one of the base locations, engaging various Covenant forces along the way, and the base was soon constructed and running efficiently enough for reinforcements and soon enough the tide was beginning to turn, three Scorpions, five Warthogs and a two Wolverines and Cobras soon had the area around the transports locked down and a safe path for the fleeing civilians.

Forge took the time to remind everyone what they were here for. "We're here to save as many civilians as we can, but there is no way we can save them all. Just try to get as many to ships alive as possible."

The UNSC forces continue to defend the transports, when there were two minutes to launch, Ground Control broke the silence.

"Ground control, t-minus two minutes, over." Then Serina piped up.

"Covenant Battlenet chat suggests heavy turrets are coming online." Forge and his group began hunting them down. Soon they heard.

"T-minus sixty seconds." And after what seemed like an eternity relief flooded through them.

"T-minus five, four, three, two, launch! All systems green, clearing launch platform. Good luck down there."

"Thanks, take care." Forge replied as they started to pull back out of the city. Forge relayed the information to Captain Cutter and Soren looked at Rebecca.

"I think it's time we took our leave." She nodded in agreement and they bid Forge good luck as Simmons descended and picked them up. Soren looked around the retreating forces and noticed three green giants in the group all watching him, seeing the 066 on his breast. He removed his helmet and waved once. Spotter commented in the back of his head.

"That was unwise." He chuckled.

"Just what are those Spooks gonna do? Kill me? They already did that when they stole me from my siblings." Spotter was quiet for a while, which was never a good thing, but his next words were what scared Soren more than anything.

"Not you but those close to you." The AI sounded ominous. Soren grit his teeth.

"Let them try."