(10)

I dropped into armor lock. Norman threw down a bubble shield. The falling gravity hammer destroyed our hay bale, but bounced off of me like a piece of wood striking rubber and sailed back in almost the same trajectory it had come, taking the stubborn Brute Chieftain with it as he refused to let go. Norman's bubble shield expanded to full size and absorbed the thumping explosions from each lime green fuel rod. I stood up out of armor lock a little too fast and fell back-to-back with my squad leader, who's bubble shield collapsed with the third fuel rod detonation.

"Two on two, eh?" I heard him say though the haze.

I focused on trying to clear my head, but nonetheless replied, "I'll take those odds."

Craning my head around, I, over Norman's shoulder, saw the Elite General fling the empty fuel rod gun off the roof in disgust. It self-destructed mid-air. Facing forward again, I was met with the growling, rather frustrated Brute Chieftain lumbering towards me. I made the first move by raising my trusty MG6 and emptying the entire magazine into his face. Everything kicked off from there.

From what he's told me, Norman charged the General, who'd apparently flicked out an energy sword and leapt off the roof. Meanwhile, four of my slugs ricocheted off of the Chieftain's ornate helmet. The whole time he kept coming at me, but I stood my ground and kept firing. Luckily for me, the fifth slug embedded into the helmet and probably dented in where it struck, because the Chieftain's murderous growl suddenly rose to an angry, bloodthirsty roar. He promptly yanked the helmet off and hurled it in my direction, then took a lunging step forward as I was busy dodging and swung for the fences.

My last module had to be used at the very start of the fight, and I struggled to reload that M6G. The Chieftain's hammer missed by literal inches as I dived straight onto my back and slid in a fresh mag. But I had to give my opponent his due. He knew what he was doing with that thing. Instead of wasting time and momentum rearing back for another swing, he followed all the way through with the first one, spun in a circle whilst stepping towards me, then brought the gravity hammer down overhand to smash me like a cockroach.

I rolled to the side and to my feet, although I nearly got knocked right back down by the gravitational shockwave. A small, desperate voice in my head pleaded for me to end this fight as quick as possible. Go for the headshot. The closer the better. It might have been wise for me not to listen to that voice, but I didn't even think as I leveled the barrel of my bulky M6G with the Chieftain's scarred, gray, bald head.

Again, he surprised me by being smarter than the average space bear. He brought the hammer back up in a rising, backhanded uppercut and knocked the MG6 right out of my hands before I could get a single shot off. The next swing was aimed for my head. Ducking under it just in time, I plowed into Chieftain with all my weight and drove him to the ground and served him a heavy right hook to the jaw. I thought he would be out for the count after a punch like that, but he only spit out a broken tooth and growled with burning, hate-filled rage. His lips were pulled back, showing me that he had more than enough teeth if he needed to use them. I was afraid he might. Brutes take chunks out of ODSTs and make meals out of Marines all the time. I punched him again.

Just then, I heard Norman call out, "In trouble! Switch!"

I practically flew to my feet. Norman backpedaled past me and away from the General, who saw me step forward and pointed his energy sword at me. It seemed customary, so I pulled out Edgar's katana did the same to him. He spoke to me in his native tongue and my helmet's language translation software deciphered the message: "You are no match for an Elite."

We'll have to see about that.

Again, I struck first. Unfortunately it wasn't a kill shot, just a glancing blow off his bronze armor. As an Elite General, my foe was equipped with one of the most advanced shielding systems to date. I'm sure he'd be able to walk away from a direct SPNKr rocket or even blast from a gauss cannon. However, the shielding systems bestowed upon Elites weren't designed to combat slow kinetic energy, only high velocity projectiles. Which is why weapons of melee such as blades, clubs, and even fists are so effective against those overgrown lizards.

In response, the Elite General slashed at me with the energy sword. I turned my body to one side and barely leaned out of the way of the first slash, then hopped back to dodge the second. The General was bringing the sword back up for another slash when I stepped forward and stung him with a right cross. He wasn't ready for that. I doubt anyone had ever stung him like that before. As his head rocked back, I swung as hard as I could to try and take it clean off, but I missed his neck and the katana clanged hard off his helmet, making him stumble.

"Oz!"

I spun around just as Norman shoved the battered Brute Chieftain in my direction. I raised my knee and lashed out with a kick to the abdomen just to get a little room, then came around with the katana and sliced the Chieftain horizontally across the torso.

"Switch!" I called out, even though Norman was already moving to deal with the dazed Elite General behind me.

I passed him Edgar's katana and prepared to finish off the Brute, who was already out on his feet. However, he had a little more fight left in him than I'd anticipated. Luckily, the Chieftain lost possession of his hammer facing off against Norman. It was on the ground off to my left, about halfway between us. The Chieftain stared at me a moment, then glanced over to the hammer, and back to me. Behind my already intimidating EOD face mask, my eyes narrowed. No way I was letting him get to that thing.

He sprang for the gravity hammer. I sprang at him. Like an animal. The instant he grabbed hold of the handle, I clocked him in the face with a wild, flying haymaker that would have easily killed one of the smaller Covenant species. This Chieftain was too tough for its own good. I walked over and picked up the gravity hammer. He was too bruised and beaten to try and brace for impact. Not that it would have helped. With one heroic golf swing, the hammer's stone head hit him square in the chest and launched him. His flailing body turned flips through the air as it flew high and far over the fence.

I turned to assist my teammate well before the Brute Chieftain hit the ground. Norman and the Elite General were both struggling for control of the energy sword. Somehow, their fight had traveled all the way over to the barn entrance. I broke into a sprint, but never made it in time. I was still running towards them when, in one swift movement, the General broke Norman's grip on the weapon and lashed out with the sword. I watched in horror as my friend fell to the ground minus an arm.