DISCLAIMER: I do not own A Certain Scientific Railgun or Halo

Battalion Headquarters
October 6th (Noon)

Lieutenant Saionji looked at the three army troopers standing in front of him, three of the four left alive from the initial attack on the city and its army base. "Staff Sergeant Duran R. Crater." He said, and the oldest of the three saluted.

"Reporting for duty, sir!" Crater said, the hard look of someone who's tired of this war in his eyes. He had the look of someone who was pushing himself to keep on going, despite everything he had to face.

Saionji moved on to the next trooper. "Lance Corporal Kina Malcolm."
"Reporting for duty, sir!" The young woman snapped a salute. Her eyes shone with a steadfast determination, and he could tell she's a soldier through and through.

Finally, it was the youngest of the three's turn. "Private First Class Jeremiah D. Clark."
"Reporting for duty, sir." The boy wasn't as tense as the other two, and his salute was more relaxed. From the youthful look in his eyes, Saionji could tell that the war hadn't gotten to him yet, despite being having lost his entire company.

Saionji stepped back and studied the three troopers from head-to-toe. Sergeant Crater was of average height, standing at 5'8 with an average build. His dark brown hair was in the standard short cut, but he sported a small goatee on his face. His hardened eyes were a deep blue, like the night sky.

Corporal Malcolm stood taller than Crater at 5'10 with a slightly broader figure than most women. Her brown hair was cut even shorter than the sergeant's in a buzz cut, and her brown eyes were studying the lieutenant himself. Or, rather, his battle-scarred armor.

Private Clark was the shortest of the three, standing at 5'7 with a lean figure. His sand-blonde hair was the longest, coming down over his ears. His face was cleanly shaven, and his sky-blue eyes still held some resemblance of the innocence of a child in them.

"You're probably wondering why I called you here." Saionji began, seeing Malcolm and Clark immediately straighten up. Apparently, they hadn't bothered to wonder why they were here.

"Yes sir." Crater answered for the three of them, though it was really only for him.
Saionji let it go and got straight to the point. "You're being reassigned to a new unit."
"...Marines?" Malcolm asked, frowning.
He shook his head. "I suppose you're aware of the four additions from a week ago?"

"The espers?" Crater asked.
"Yes. We're forming a special support unit for them, and the three of you will be joining them. Railgun, Judgment, and Zero. Sergeant, you'll be in charge of the unit, and in charge of teaching them the basics. Flowers will be under Major Tachibana's wing, so you don't have to worry about her."
"I understand, sir. Just got to get a few girls battle ready in a few days. Piece of cake." The sergeant was rather open about his feelings.
"Starting with terms, hand signals, and hand-to-hand combat." Saionji told him.

"Question, sir." Malcolm spoke up.
"Go ahead."
"Zero doesn't speak English, and we don't speak Japanese, right?" He nodded. "So, how do we communicate with her?"
"With these."

With that, Saionji reached into one of his belts' pouches and pulled out two small earpieces. "These are Japanese-to-English translators that will provide you with a simultaneous translation in a voice similar to the original." He held out a third one. "This one is English-to-Japanese. Sergeant, I trust you will give this to Zero."
"Yes sir." Crater said, taking that one and one of the other two.
Malcolm took the other one, and frowned. "There's only two, sir?"
Instead of answering her, he looked at Clark. "Private Clark, step forward and come to attention!" Saionji sharply ordered in Japanese.

Clark snapped to, stepping forward immediately and clasping his hands behind his back. "Yes sir!" He said out of instinct, and that's when he noticed Crater and Malcolm looking at him strangely. He awkwardly smiled and looked at the lieutenant. "Sir, you could have just asked."
"You should have spoken up."

"Clark, you... know Japanese?" Malcolm asked, not having known that about her squadmate.
"He got a major in both English and Japanese before he enlisted." Saionji answered for him.
"You mean... he's a teacher!?" Malcolm exclaimed, taken aback.
"Well, I haven't taught a class yet..." Clark softly said.

"Attention!" The three troopers straightened up before they could keep chattering. "Private, you'll be in charge of teaching Zero the words she will need to know. I don't want her to rely on that translator." Saionji told him.
"Yes sir!" Clark answered enthusiastically. He was going to have his first student!

The lieutenant then turned back to Crater. "Sergeant, you'll meet up with the girls later today after I've briefed them. At the moment they're preoccupied, so in the meantime assist the ODSTs with loading up." The rest of Saionji's company had been dropped off yesterday, and they would be leading the attack tomorrow against the remaining Covenant forces in the area.

"Preoccupied, sir?" Crater asked.

In response to that, Saionji turned his head a little and placed his hand on the lower-back of his head. "Can't have friendly fire out there, now can we?" The sergeant nodded in understanding. "That'll be all, you're dismissed."

The troopers saluted once more before turning to leave as Saionji called out to a man waiting in the shadows of the room. "Barber!" The man stepped forward, and Clark found himself looking up at the biggest, broadest man he'd ever seen.

"Whoa..." Clark muttered.

The three troopers were staring up at the man who they've only heard about, so Saionji took it upon himself to introduce him. "Sergeant Major Grade A. Butcher, the resident barber." The troopers kept staring. "You're dismissed." He reminded them, and they finally moved on, but not without one last look.

The marine walked forward, snapping off a salute. "Reporting for duty, sir." He said, his voice deep and serious.
Saionji's eyes showed a little sadness in them. "You know what to do."
Barber nodded, and then cocked his head slightly to the side. "And Zero?"
Saionji shook his head. "Just Judgment."
The man gave a quiet snort.
"I know. But despite Cole placing them in the database, they're not actual UNSC personnel. If she comes to you and wants it done, then do it."

That's when Cole appeared on the nearby pedestal. "Lieutenant Saionji, Captain Prock wants to see you immediately to discuss the operation tomorrow. She wants to know if-"
"Shirai. Misaka lacks the necessary training." Though, really, Shirai wasn't much better off. But those three girls haven't just been sitting around for the past week.
"Understood, but she still needs you for-"
"I'm on my way."

Saionji nodded towards Barber, dismissing him before he headed for the command center. As the lieutenant left, Cole looked over at the massive man. "Don't give the poor girl PTSD, sergeant. We need her."
The man grinned.

Covenant-Held City of Klaxon
October 7th (Morning)

Up on top of a building near the center of Klaxon, Jackals stood on the corners of the roof with carbines and beam rifles, guarding the large, city-wide jamming tower that prevented any UNSC signals from getting in or out. They looked down into the roads, to the rooftops of other buildings, and even around the roof they were standing on, but it was not often that they glanced over at the jamming tower itself. Even if they were to glance at it, they would have to look even closer to see the UNSC-grade explosives suddenly appearing on it.

Closer towards the edge of the city, but more towards the center than the edge, was a half-destroyed arsenal of UNSC weaponry and vehicles. Though half of the base had been destroyed, there was still one armory plus a large garage-full of Warthogs still intact. In this garage, UNSC soldiers were loading up along with two civilians. Out of the twelve hogs there, which included two gauss and two transport, all but the two transports were being loaded up. Some time later, as Gunnery Sergeant Drain was climbing into the driver seat of his hog, the third, and last, civilian came in through the door, giving him a rather energetic thumbs up before proceeding to get into the passenger seat of the last hog.

Drain turned to his men. "Platoon, we're getting out of this city! Let's show these covvies that just because the Special One bit the dust doesn't mean that her crew bit it along with her!"
"Oorah!" His men shouted back, ready to get back into the action.

The garage door started opening, revealing the sunlit dawn that was springing up over the city. "On my mark in 3..." The engines roared to life. "2..." Marines in passenger seats shouldered their rocket launchers. "1..." Drain grinned bigger as he pressed the detonator. "Mark!" All ten Warthogs sped out of the garage, taking a sharp turn as a loud explosion boomed out over the city, the upper part of a tower falling stories down from a building and right on top of a Wraith.

With the jamming tower now destroyed, Drain attempted to contact Admiral Standingwater as they headed down the road, gunners keeping a lookout for snipers as they made their way to the first of three checkpoints. "Admiral, this is the surviving crew of the UNSC Special One. We are currently making our way out of Klaxon on the main road. Requesting immediate evacuation for when we get out!" There was no response at first as they continued down the road, not yet coming into sight of the Covenant.

Finally, just as Drain was about to try it again, a voice came over the radio. "Soldier, this is Admiral Standingwater, we read you; however, the enemy presence there is too-"
"Sir, we've got a Spartan."

Just as he said that, the figure behind him grabbed her pistol, and dropped two Jackal snipers on a roof up ahead on an intersection. In the distance, beyond where the Jackals were killed, Drain could see the Covenant checkpoint coming into view. "...Understood. You'll have your extraction, soldier." The admiral said.

"Thank you, sir." With that, Drain turned his attention back onto driving as the turret opened up behind him along with the turrets of every other Warthog, a hail of bullets raining down on top of the Covenant as their mortar tanks turned around. One supersonic slug found the weakspot of one Wraith, taking it down as two rockets slammed into the side of the second Wraith, sending it up in flames. The infantry, supported by shade turrets, lifted their weapons and started pouring into them.

They kept going, sending a hailstorm of bullets into the Covenant position as Drain slammed right through a shade turret, the debris flying off to the sides as he just kept on going. A grunt lifted up an overcharged plasma pistol to EMP one of the trailing hogs, but a ball of fire slammed into it, setting it ablaze and forcing its shot to go up high. Ryouta, in one of the trailing hogs, narrowed his eyes as he set another fireball towards one of the elites before they left the checkpoint behind.

"First checkpoint down! Anyone injured?" Drain called out to his marines, receiving answers from each and every one of them. "Good! We're approaching Checkpoint B, lock and lo- Up high, mortars!" Plasma was soaring up into the air from three different directions, all six rounds heading down towards their path. "Break off and engage!" He cried out, increasing the speed as the eight other Warthogs besides his and the other Gauss split into two groups of four, each turning at the next intersection.

Drain pressed forward, dodging the mortar fire that came down all around them as the Spartan opened fire, hitting the driver area of one Wraith far up ahead. The second Warthog opened up also, but at this distance the gunner only managed to hit near the driver area. The Wraiths opened fire once more, only two rounds this time heading towards them as the other teams engaged their tanks. The Spartan fired again, the slug penetrating the driver's cover and killing the unfortunate elite, dropping the Wraith to the ground.

Meanwhile, on the street left of the main road, a large fireball covered one of the two Wraiths as bullets slammed around the gun on the second Wraith. Just as that Wraith was opening fire, the bullets managed to tear a section in the gun and drop its aim, the mortar round slamming into the Wraith itself as the driver of the burning Wraith bolted. However, on the right street to the main road, the third team was having a much more difficult time with their two Wraiths. A mortar round slammed into one of the Warthogs and in return a marine sent two rockets into the front of the tank. The Wraith didn't go down with that, but a short volley of .50 caliber bullets finished it off. The second Wraith boosted forward as the Warthogs were forced to turn around to keep away from it, and the enemy tank pursued them.

On the main road, a slug pierced through the center of a Wraith's plasma cannon right before a rocket slammed down into the gun carriage, causing an explosion in the back of the Wraith that rendered it useless. With their two Wraiths down, Drain sped forward into their lines, slamming into an elite and watching with satisfaction as its body went flying off of the hood and as the Spartan fired at a sniper tower, knocking it off course of its gravity mechanism and forcing it down onto the ground right into some plasma batteries. Drain ducked when plasma bolts started slamming against the Warthog, the number of bolts instantly decreasing when he heard the sound of the chief's magnum going off until it ran empty, though he never caught a click. "Kaiser, we're swinging around to assist! Hold on!" He cried out to the third team, turning to the right and going through the Covenant ranks as the second team sped past their destroyed Wraiths and continued on past the barricades.

As soon as they came into sight of the remaining Wraith, both the Spartan manning the gun and Gilbert in the passenger seat opened up with their weapons, first the slug slamming into the exposed backside and then the rocket, and the enemy tank instantly went up in a dazzling, blue explosion. "Wraiths are down! Let's go!" Drain called out over the radio, the third team joining him as they continued on through the remaining lines of the Covenant checkpoint. As they exited the alien-filled street, shade fire caught Abel in the passenger seat of the second Gauss hog and sniper fire got Martinez on the gun of one of the two other Warthogs before the chief took the snipers out.

Fortunately, that was the extent of their casualties. They got out of range of the checkpoint and joined up with the second team on the main road, no casualties on their side. Drain's face paled when he heard the unmistakable sound of Banshees. "Up high! Enemy air!"

The chief petty officer in the back turned the gauss cannon towards the sky, firing as soon as she caught sight of four Banshees rounding a building. The first craft went down, its demise giving enough time for the pilots of the other three to make elaborate evasive maneuvers. The gunner of the second Gauss fired time and time again but couldn't get a shot while the chief waited for a few moments, analyzing their patterns and calculating one's expected route before opening fire, catching it in the middle of a spiraling barrel roll.

The two remaining Banshees boosted forward, the lead one coming down on top of the second Gauss hog with its fuel rod cannon firing and setting it ablaze. The pilot wasn't careful, though, and ended up getting shot down by Drain's hog as he attempted to break off. The last Banshee attempted to take the sergeant out, but quick thinking led to the fuel rod barely missing them. This pilot wasn't as reckless as the other and was swiftly dodging any attempt for the chief to take it down as it started to swing around, using the buildings as cover.

"Jackals!" Gilbert cried out when he caught sight of a squad of them up ahead. Before he could take aim and get them with his rocket launcher, the Spartan spoke up.

"Sir, I need one of their pistols."
"Gilbert, hold your fire!" Drain said before the marine could fire.

Gilbert muttered something and hunkered down in his seat as Drain moved the hog closer to the right side of the street, the jackals opening up on them as they stayed behind their protective shields which were useless when the chief took out her assault rifle and opened up with short-fire bursts, hitting the spots that the shields didn't cover. As one jackal fell over, its pistol went flying up into the air, the Spartan catching it as Drain drove past. At that moment, the Banshee came swooping down on them from above, about to open fire only to be stopped when an overcharged ball of plasma slammed into it, momentarily knocking it out.

The pilot franticly tried everything to prevent the Banshee from slamming full speed into the ground and he just barely managed to pull upwards in time when the systems came back online. However, he soon found himself being hijacked by the demon who had just shot him. The elite's body went flying into the ground as the Spartan took control of the Banshee, gaining altitude as she brought it over the rooftops. "Sir, I'll clear a path through the final checkpoint."

"We'll keep your gunner seat open for you."
"Yes sir."

The Banshee's boosters activated, propelling it forward at incredible speeds as the Spartan took the wheel, the craft soon getting out of sight of the surviving members of the platoon. "Keep forward! We're going to be cutting a straight line out of here! I'll take the lead; get those civvies in the middle!" Drain called out to his platoon.

A fair ways up ahead, out of sight of the Warthogs, sat a long line of Covenant barricades facing out from the city with four sniper towers set up along the line. Two Locusts guarded the main road while a large number of Wraiths were spread out amongst the Infantry that were mixed in with the vehicles and emplacements. Shade turrets reinforced the position along with sets of Hunters while a Covenant Assault Carrier was in the distance over the city with a CCS-Class Battlecruiser hanging up in orbit.

Despite all of the barricades facing out from the city, the Covenant were looking into the city instead, on edge as they had received reports of a human convoy heading their way made up of 'Warthogs'. Along with reports of the convoy came reports of a demon, something that had many grunts trembling with fear and many Sangheili anxious to fight. However, instead of a procession of fast-moving Warthogs, the assembled aliens were met with a lone Banshee; and, before they could realize that it was hostile, a Locust was already under fire. Confusion broke out amongst their ranks, but it was suppressed by the roars of the Sangheili as they quickly caught on to what was truly going on: the demon had commandeered one of their own vehicles.

The Locust's main gun activated, shooting a beam straight at the Banshee which barrel-rolled to the side and continued to pour into the shield, dropping it before unleashing a fuel rod which slammed into the weak armor of the Locust. The aircraft screeched past overhead, gaining altitude as the Locust came crashing down into their lines. Plasma, needles, and particles flew up into the air in an attempt to take the Banshee down, but the craft was far too nimble and swift and the pilot too skilled. It came down upon them again, dodging the second Locust's cannon as it sent a Wraith up in flames before sweeping low, catching grunts and jackals on its wings before it went back up into the sky, missing a mortar round that engulfed a squad of infantry instead.

As the Locust continued to fire, the Spartan used the operator's single-minded focus on her to her advantage, and she flew over the barricades at an angle that made the Locust catch the two sniper towers close to the main road with its beam, destroying them and killing the snipers that had manned them. With the towers down she shot up into the air behind a building, flying high before making way for the Locust, coming down upon it quickly with plasma bolts firing followed by a fuel rod which took down the shields as she flew by. She lifted the Banshee up and around, not waiting to straighten out before unleashing a volley at the Locust. Something vital was hit and an explosion tore a hole in it before it dropped down on top of the roof of the building it had been standing on.

The Spartan barrel-rolled out of the way of a mortar round that melted into the side of the building, firing the fuel rod down into the Wraith before shifting off to fly out to the front of the barricade line. She started tearing into the shade turrets, aiming for the gunners as they returned fire. Plasma burned into the Banshee as the fire was too heavy to avoid it all, but the craft wasn't down yet as she shifted away from the Shades and lit up a Revenant before coming around once more. Before she could open up on the Ghosts she had sighted moving through the line, fuel rod shots erupted all around her as the Sangheili took it upon themselves to take her down. One such shot exploded right up against her, knocking her off balance as stray small-arms fire started to hit the now unstable craft.

Knowing that the Banshee didn't have long, the Spartan was glad to see the platoon in the distance, not yet spotted by the Covenant line who had their entire attention on her. As part of her wing went flying, she steered the Banshee around, activating the boosters and flying down the line, keeping the Covenant's attention on her long enough before zipping back into the city, swiftly evading the buildings before coming out over the main road. Sighting one more Wraith close to their path, she pushed the Banshee as fast as it could go before bailing, falling stories down as the Banshee continued its rapid descent, soon crashing into the Wraith in a brilliant explosion that engulfed both vehicles and anyone around them.

She landed hard on the ground, rolling forward and breaking out into a sprint as the Warthogs caught up with her, not slowing down as she jumped back on the Gauss cannon of Drain's hog. "Fire!" The sergeant shouted, Gilbert firing both of his rockets as the rest of the marines opened up. As some of the braver and questioningly-foolish Covenant started to move in their path, Ryouta stood up from where he was sitting and gathered together two massive fireballs. He launched them flying up into the air, faster than the Warthogs were moving; they came down on the two sides of the road in the Covenant line, but they didn't stop just where they landed. Two long lines of grass suddenly erupted in roaring flames, lashing out at nearby aliens and engulfing the grass off to the sides of the road while also keeping the Covenant back from blocking the road.

The Warthogs went blazing down the road, passing in between the walls of fire and mowing down any Covenant still standing in their way. The trailing Warthog was caught by a lucky mortar round, but the enemy force was too disrupted to take anymore victims. "We're through! We are through! Don't stop; don't slow down!" Drain yelled out as they put distance between them and Klaxon. However, just as they were getting out of there, the highway ahead of them exploded as molten hot plasma rained down upon it.

"STOOOP!" Drain cried out, slamming on the brakes as the air got hotter and hotter. The rest of his platoon did the same, the second Warthog bumping into his and nearly making them tip over before the hog came crashing back down onto the ground. As a small, scorched wasteland laid before him, the sergeant looked up into the skies, his eyes widening in fear when he caught sight of a Corvette nearing their location. He took a quick look back at the blackened ground and then shot his eyes between the Corvette and Klaxon.

They were trapped.

He slammed his fist against the dashboard before grabbing his assault rifle and climbing out of the Warthog. "I want a defensive line facing out towards Klaxon. Gunners stay, everyone else out! Civvies, behind my hog! Gilbert, take the gun; chief, you're with me!" They hurried into position, drivers moving their hogs to form a line while the marines hunkered down behind them with the civvies being placed behind the Gauss hog which stayed behind the line.

"We've got Ghosts inbound!"
"Light 'em up!"

The gunners opened up on the four Ghosts, three being targeted by two gunners each as a sniper took out the driver of the fourth. All four Ghosts were taken out, blowing up before they could ever reach the marines.

"Those were just the hurry-bodies! Don't drop your guard!"
"S-sir! We've got Bansh- B-Banshees and Phantoms inbo- There's a ton of them!"

Drain soon saw what the sniper was referring to when he caught sight of dozens upon dozens of Banshees along with a dozen or so Phantoms coming over the city from the assault carrier that was hanging back, his face going white.

"Covenant ground forces are advancing! They're pouring out from the barricade and are charging towards us! There doesn't appear to be any order!"
"Oh man, it's a mad rush!"
"What are we going to do, sarge!?"
"Even if we have a Spartan...!"

"Fire..." Drain muttered, his men looking to him as did the Spartan. "Fire... everything! We're going to take down as many of these Covenant dogs with us as we can! Fire as soon as they get into range; target whatever you can bring down!"

"Y-yes sir!"

The gunners on all seven hogs aimed up into the sky at the incoming wave as the marines on the ground shifted their sights unto the horde of Covenant infantry pouring over the land. It wasn't long before the Banshees started to enter firing range, the gunners' fingers easing down on the triggers as they prepared to light up the sky. However, before any of them could pull a trigger, and before any of the lead Banshees could fire, missiles tore into the Covenant craft, destroying them outright as missiles started ringing true throughout the Covenant air. Looking up into the sky, the marines saw Longswords whipping by overhead and into the Covenant formation, firing missiles that slammed into the Banshees and Phantoms.

As the Longswords and Banshees broke out into a hazard dogfight, Shortswords flew by overhead, sending down carpet bombs that enveloped a major part of the Covenant charge, sending blood and gore flying into the air. An ear-splitting sound then suddenly rung out over the battlefield, causing Drain to snap his eyes up into the sky to catch sight of the Covenant Corvette with a flaming hole in its side as Archer missiles slammed all along its unshielded hull. When he looked to see what had fired the Archers, he saw a frigate coming out from behind the nearby mountain, firing off bursts of fire from its 50mms as it moved in to engage.

"Reinforcements!" Someone yelled.
"We've got to hold out until EVAC!" Drain shouted to every one of his men.
"Phantoms closing in!"
"Lock and load!"

As a Shortsword took a fatal shot to its wing and deliberately flew straight into a Phantom, blowing them both up in the process, Drain received a transmission over the comms. "Sergeant, this is the Waysider. We're sending in Pelicans to pick you up and get you out of here; I repeat, Pelicans are inbound. We'll hold the Covenant off for as long as we can!"

"Understood, Waysider!" Drain exclaimed as his marines opened fire on landing Covenant troops, the Spartan firing off short and accurate bursts of fire that fell an entire squad of Grunts as Copperfield, the sniper, took out the elite Major. A cry sounded out as one of the marines, Ramirez, took a carbine round to the chest, dead before she even hit the ground.

Another Phantom turned so that its side was facing them, dropping off two squads of jackals that hefted their shields up and let the bullets soak into them as they returned fire, one of the gunners, Remington, got caught with a bolt to his helmet that went flying. Part of his head was burning, but he didn't stop shooting. The chief threw a grenade up high into the air, flying fast and exploding right as it reached the two squads. Their formation was disrupted, allowing the marines to start tearing them apart. Copperfield took out the two elites commanding them with the last two rounds in his clip. Before he could start to reload, he caught sight of a distant Jackal sniper aiming right next to him, right at the Spartan.

"Chief!" He cried out, slamming his full weight into the Spartan's side just as the jackal fired, the particle beam passing right through his heart as the chief's eyes widened.

Flashback

A marine and a Spartan were running down the bridge as their EVAC Pelican was touching down in the hot LZ, its gun going off crazy as elites poured into it. The marine nearly stumbled but didn't slow down as his eyes stayed on the Pelican; then, all of a sudden, he caught sight of an elite popping out from behind a rock, aiming straight at him. His eyes widened as time seemed to slow down; then, as he started to feel a hand going up against him, he saw the Spartan pushing him out of the way out of the corner of his eye.

For a reason he could not fully understand, he just couldn't let things end this way. Instead of allowing himself to be thrown out of the way, he threw himself in the direct line of fire, needler rounds slamming into his chest immediately. As he fell back to the ground, he grabbed his magnum and shot the elite down just before the cluster of needles in his chest exploded, his life ending right then and there as blood and gore splashed onto the ground and the Spartan herself. She didn't hesitate to start sprinting towards the Pelican, but not before swiping the dead sergeant's dog-tags. Once she was onboard, the pilot didn't waste any time to pull out; the dropship rising up into the air as she fired into the Covenant through the closing bay door, her eyes drifting back towards the sergeant's body one last time before it closed and they were on their way back to the Spirit of Fire.

Now, another Marine had died to save her.

Faster than any regular human could hope to achieve, she was tearing out a clip for the rifle from Copperfield's pouch as she swiped the rifle from his hands, dumping the empty clip and slamming in the fresh one before sighting the jackal sniper and taking it down. Before she could switch to another target, drop pods came flying out of the sky, landing three hundred meters away from their position; and they weren't ODSTs. Six squads of elites exited the pods, each squad led by an Ultra. Even an elite general emerged from one of the pods, making a total of twenty-five elites, seven of which wielded energy swords. The other eighteen were majors and minors, armed with a variety of weapons. The general pointed its sword straight at her, and they all charged.

"Elites! A lot of 'em!"
"S-sir!"
"Keep firing! Just keep firing!"
"There's too many!"

They'll overtake our position like this. I can't let them! She calmly thought.

The Spartan placed one hand on the hood of the Warthog and lifted herself over it, sighting the general as she landed on the ground and fired off the last three shots. The first two shots took out its shields and the third went straight through its skull, dropping the general before it could even join in on the charge. She didn't stop there; she launched herself towards the charging elites, sprinted the two hundred and fifty meters in a flash right before swinging the sniper rifle like a bat into the lead Ultra with enough force that sent both its helmet flying and half of her rifle. The next instant saw her combat knife embedded in the elite's neck and its energy sword missing from its hand.

She turned her attention onto his squad, lunging at a major before he could fire, the sword going through his chest as the second major opened up on her. She used the corpse as a shield and pushed it into the major, off-balancing him. Before she could finish him, the minor charged her, his dagger slamming against her sword before she sent a swift punch into his gut, knocking his shields out and forcing him back. A quick slash with the sword across his torso ended him, and she went back to the major, several bolts slamming into her shield as he reeled back firing, but she was too quick for him, and his corpse fell to the ground, missing its head.

By this time the remaining Ultras started sprinting for her, ordering their squads to keep charging towards the defensive line. One of the Ultras was quicker and closer than the others, and he attacked her, but he was by himself. She sidestepped his thrust and made a slash for his body, but he leaped back in the nick of time, the sword knocking his shields off. He lunged, but she grabbed her M6D and sent two rounds into his neck.

The chief shifted aim to the next Ultra, pouring the rest of the clip into him. His shield went down quickly, but he shielded his head with his arm, the rest of the bullets hitting his armor, but one caught him in a weak spot and the elite immediately slowed. He roared in anger and pain, and sprinted forward, slashing above her head as she ducked and made a stab for his chest. He twisted his body out of the way and slammed his foot into her body.

Her shields were instantly taken out, and only by backing up at the last second did she save her armor from being dented. She hit the ground hard, but did a backflip back up onto her feet, holstering her magnum and rolling under the Ultra's next slash. She slammed her shoulder into his torso, messing up his footwork, and sent her sword tearing through his chest, killing him.

Quickly, she swiped a grenade from his belt and jumped back as two other Ultras reached her, one cutting through the air right where she'd been crouching. She activated the grenade and threw it at him, he panicked and thrust his arm up, the grenade sticking to it. Before she could count him off as finished, the second Ultra's sword cut through his arm and the elite pushed him away before dodging the blast himself. His friend roared in agony, looking down at the cauterized stump. But his agony turned into rage and both elites rushed her.

The chief raised her sword, blocking both of theirs, but the force of the combined blows forced her back. They jumped back, and the two-armed elite lunged forward, forcing her to block another strike before he ducked down low and quick, his sword slashing through her shields and biting through her armor, cutting an inch into her side. The pain didn't slow her, and she kicked the elite right in the head, knocking his helmet off and dazing him.

Before she could continue, the second Ultra lunged forward to protect his comrade, forcing her away from him. He attacked wildly, the Spartan blocking slash after slash, but she caught an opening and moved to take it. Adding injury to injury, his last hand flew up into the air, the elite's eyes widening in shock.

He had no hands left.

He was helpless.

Rather than finish him off, the chief lightly kicked him to the ground as he stood there. He looked up at her, and roared with all of his strength. She ignored him, shifting her attention to the other elite. This one glared at her, before walking over to his friend, keeping his eyes on her. She stepped back, watching him. His friend looked up at him, said something, and closed his eyes, laying his head back.

The elite above him rammed his sword into his friend's chest, instantly ending his life. With that done, he looked back at the chief, only to see her magnum aimed at his bare head.

His shields had yet to recharge.

"Demon, you have no-!" He started, but, just as his shields started to come back, she shot him. His body fell down next to the other's.

That made five Ultras.

She looked up for the last one, and saw seven elites standing across from her, including the last Ultra who aimed dual plasma rifles at her. Her eyes widened, but before they could open fire, high caliber rounds tore their bodies apart. She looked up and saw a Pelican opening fire with its chain gun. Taking a look around, she saw that the marines had held off the rest of the elites and that Pelicans were mopping the infantry up, firing missiles that slammed into entire squads.

The chief tossed her sword aside and started back slowly towards the defensive line, picking off stragglers with her magnum. Eventually, she heard Sergeant Drain calling her to get straight back there immediately for EVAC. She turned around and broke into a sprint; and just as she did that, a Banshee broke off from the ongoing dogfight and powered up its fuel rod cannon. The chief looked up towards it, raising her pistol as she went into what was called 'Spartan Time'; before she could attempt anything though, a Longsword went flying straight into the Banshee as it started to fire, the fuel rod heavily damaging the wing and causing the fighter to go crashing down into the ground.

The chief sent a silent 'thank you' to the pilot before turning her attention back onto the defensive line and the Pelicans right behind it. One of the transport hogs was overturned and Remington was slumped over the turret, his dog-tags missing and most likely in the hands of one of the marines. The Gauss hog was in flames and she spotted Gilbert on the ground away from it, half of his body covered in third-degree burns and his likely half-melted dog-tags missing as well.

Aside from Ramirez, Copperfield, Remington, and Gilbert, she saw three others who had been killed. Gomez, Abrams, and Kaminski. She stepped past their bodies and climbed onboard the center Pelican as the other two lifted off, and as Drain helped her up (through the gesture was more good-willed), she could see that Kaiser was getting treated by a corpsman. Who she saw next instantly made her snap to salute. "Colonel!"

Lieutenant Colonel Douglas of the 90th Marines Division stood before her, a battle rifle being held in his left hand as he looked her over before smiling. "Skip the formalities, chief." He walked up to her and held out his hand. "It's good to have you here, ma'am."

"Spartan-023 reporting for duty, sir." She told him, taking his hand.
He turned back towards the front of the Pelican, looking through the open door. "Pilot, get us home!"

"Yes sir!" Came the pilot's voice as he lifted off, opening up a channel to the Waysider at the same time. "Waysider, this is Bravo-329, we've got the cargo. You are cleared to disengage!"

Though a slightly static-filled, yet audible, channel, the Waysider came back. "Bravo-329, it's a little late for that."

The pilot was confused by that until his co-pilot pointed out towards the left just as they rose up over Bravo-400. The Covenant Corvette had a flaming hole in the front of it along with two smoking engines in the back with multiple other breaches as it descended down towards the ground in what could only be a crash landing.

"We've sustained heavy damage but will attempt to lead off the remaining Ban- Negative! That's a negative!"

There was a flash of a plasma beam coming down from the heavens right near the Waysider which was now turning and going full-speed away from Klaxon, pressing its engines to the breaking point as it flew away. "Prep for a bumpy ride, ladies and gentleman!" He switched over to a channel connecting him to the current leader of the Longswords, the Shortswords already having pulled away. "Shana, you there?" Static. "Shana?" There was only more static; he growled and switched to the entire wing's channel. "Whoever is in charge, we're counting on you to get our Spartan and the rest of us out of here safely! Got that!?"

"Understood Bravo-329, we'll keep those Banshees off your tail."
"How'd Shana go down?" The pilot, a man in his mid-twenties by the name of Bryan Stockfield, asked as they passed by one of the many mountains near Klaxon and on their way to the 90th.
"Colonel Bane kept the Spartan safe, sir."
"...Understood."

The three pelicans, along with the remaining Longswords (and the Banshees that were still giving chase), continued on; and as they did so, one Okahara Ryouta was speaking to Douglas from his seat next to a device that he and his two remaining friends, Yuki and Shinobu, had carried onboard themselves. However, his thoughts were far from getting the Electromaster who was on the other side of the planet to use her power to send them home. To be honest, his thoughts weren't even about home; no, they were about something far more important. Something that even he would brave this deadly world for and risk his life for.