Sorry it has been awhile. I hope to appease you with a longer chapter that goes a little against my normal writing style. Hope you enjoy!
Halo and Avatar are still not my intellectual property.
Chapter 10
As the sun set off to the East, a Pelican touched down in the center of Zaofu, a detachment of Metal Benders surrounded it, ready to attack whatever came out. Korra ran into the courtyard as the back ramp eased onto the ground. "Roland?" She hollered, slightly out of breath from running as quickly as she could.
A trio of ODST's were the first off, followed by Mako, Bolin, and the other benders, before finally Roland, Captain Wayne, and the remaining shock troopers made their way down the ramp.
Korra threw her arms around Roland's armored chest to hug him, which he quickly returned. "I'm so glad you're safe." Korra sighed. "Did you get Unalaq?"
Roland eased out of her embrace. "Unfortunately, no. They managed to escape with the last of the captives they were freeing."
"Back to Chin?" General Iroh asked.
Roland shrugged "I can only assume so. We killed quite a few of them, and managed to take this Pelican as well."
"How are my men and how is the weapons manufacturing going?" Captain Wayne asked Iroh.
"Your men are doing a tremendous job, Captain. I can only assume it is from their extensive training."
"They've seen a good bit of the real deal as well."
"Indeed. As for the weapons, please, follow me." Iroh turned and started up a flight of stairs with Roland, Korra, and Captain Wayne behind him.
"It took the Metal Benders a few tries to get it right." Korra chatted as they walked. The group turned at the top of the stairs and continued down the hallway towards the main hall. "Although once they got the system down, it has been amazing."
They opened a large double door, and before them laid hundreds of MA5B's. Metal Benders were at the far end of the room continuing to produce more and more of the rifles as assistants neatly stacked the rifles in piles of fifty. "Amazing…" Roland muttered as he picked up and cleared one of the rifles. "It feels just like it come off one of our assembly lines."
"What about magazines and ammunition?" Wayne inquired.
General Iroh stepped over one of the stacks and opened a smaller door. Inside, more metal benders sat with huge bins beside them, filled nearly to the top with ammunition.
"Good." Wayne ran his fingers through the casings. "I guess tomorrow we can start training on weapons. Hopefully it will be enough in time."
"Most of the candidates are already in their temporary courters, and I believe your men are standing by to see you." Iroh informed Captain Wayne.
"Very well. Spartan, it was a pleasure fighting with you today." He placed his hand on Roland's shoulder. "Enjoy tonight, because we don't know how many more we'll have."
Roland nodded. "I'm sorry for the loss of your trooper." He added solemnly.
Wayne shook his head. "It is always tough to lose a man, but he died doing what he knew best. Now we have to honor his memory by getting these Innies off this planet."
Roland smirked. "Indeed. Good night, sir."
As Iroh and Wayne rounded the corner, Korra grabbed Roland's chest plate and pulled him down into a kiss. "You heard the Captain" She muttered with her lips nearly pressed against his. "Better enjoy tonight." She grinned slyly and turned to walk towards her room. Roland shook his head as he felt his armor tighten slightly in a certain region, before smirking and following her into the bedroom.
She had been a few steps ahead of him, and when he entered the dark room, he felt her snake her arms around his neck. "You should take this suit off." She whispered into his ear.
As he dropped his helmet the two locked lips once more, and within moments, Roland had detached his chest armor and eased it to the floor. Korra helped him remove the armor on his arms and legs, and it gave her a slight flash back to the first night they'd met, when she had to remove his armor to see if he was even human. "What is this from?" She asked as her fingers ran across the chard metal where P'Li nearly vaporized Roland.
"It was just a close call." Roland grinned before he kissed her again. He drew his pistol and laid it on the night stand as was his evening ritual.
It wasn't long before armor sections were scattered across the floor and the two lovers were in her bed, entangled in each other's arms. Kissing each other, and holding on tightly. The scant sunlight remaining from the sunset was all the light that made its way into the room and before long, that too was gone. As they kissed, their lips slid apart, causing an audible popping noise, that made Korra giggle softly, and it wasn't long before Roland's tongue started to probe her mouth and moments later, Korra had done the same. The two lovers laid there in the darkness exploring one another and simply enjoying the time together.
As they kissed, Korra slid her hand into the chest section of Roland's body suit and eased off a section. The Spartan rolled on top of her and looked into her deep blue eyes. "Korra, are you sure?" He asked earnestly. "I thought you wanted to follow your tribe's traditions and wait until marriage?"
Korra craned her neck and kissed him passionately as she eased away another section of his suit. "I know." She whispered, tossing the under suit section off the bed. "But for all we know tomorrow might not even come, they have more weapons and men than we can amass, and for some reason my own uncle is after me… I don't even know what to think anymore with this world, but I know what I want tonight to be."
Roland kissed her tenderly as she finished. "You're positive?"
"We should have been married already." Korra whispered as she reached down and gingerly grabbed the firm lump in his lower region in response before kissing him.
As clothes were thrown to the floor and bodies intertwined, neither of the two could realize the danger that loomed on the horizon.
Nearly invisible to the naked eye from amongst the stars, the light from several pairs of engines drew closer to the Metal Clan.
As Roland and Korra explored each other's bodies in ways neither had ever experienced, dozens of Insurrectionist troops disembarked a kilometer away from the town, being led by Unalaq and the Red Lotus.
"I need the Avatar alive." Unalaq hissed over a borrowed intercom. "Everyone else is nothing to me."
"Yeah, we got it." Carr hissed over the mic. "This is only the fourth time you have reminded us you want her alive." He knew it was unprofessional to show emotion like this, but he didn't trust the chieftain at all, so he could care less.
Zaheer grasped Carr's shoulder to gain his attention. "Unalaq can be infuriating at times, but we must put up with him."
Carr shrugged. "He still got nine of my men killed."
"I am sorry for their loss, but let us press onward." Zaheer turned to walk away. "Please remind your men to hold their fire until they see us returning with the Avatar."
Carr keyed his mic. "Make sure you don't open up until we have positive confirmation of the Avatar."
Zaheer strolled over to the other members of the Red Lotus. "My friend, I have a two suggestions for you to heed." He said to Unalaq.
The chieftain turned and chuckled haughtily. "And what might that be?"
"First, the lesser, the warrior down there is better than any I have ever fought, as we enter the city, we must be vigilant for his presence and attempt to avoid him."
"You don't think the five of us can take him?" P'Li piped up.
Zaheer paused to choose his words. "While I do not doubt our fighting abilities in any way, I assure you, it would be most beneficial for us to avoid the Spartan during our infiltration."
"I don't think he will be a problem." Unalaq confidently crowed "But we shall remain alert for him. What of your second suggestion?"
Zaheer pointed towards the town. "The sun has just barely set, people are still awake and the sentries are vigilant. It is far too early for us to attempt to move in. I suggest we wait a few hours before continuing." Unalaq was about to respond, but Zaheer cut him off. "I know you desire to have the Avatar in your possession as soon as possible, but I do not think waiting a few hours to safeguard our success would be wasted."
"Very well." Unalaq conceded. "Pass the word for everyone to hold fast. We'll wait for a few hours…"
Back down below, Asami strolled towards Korra's room the show the Avatar a new idea she had for weapons in the future. As she neared the door, a few discreet moans and grunts were all that could be heard from the Korra's bed room. Blushing slightly because of what she almost walked in on, Asami turned and left, confident she could show the Avatar in the morning.
After nearly an hour, all was silent, individuals started to return to their guest rooms from a day of work. As the normal sounds of people preparing for bed echoed throughout the section of the home, Korra laid in Roland's arms, running her fingers over a pale scar on his forearm. "Where'd this come from?" She asked.
Roland cracked his eyes open and glanced at where she was touching. "Training accident I think." He said as he kissed the top of her head.
"And this one?" Korra rubbed a small burn on his abdomen. "That looks like it healed kinda funny."
Roland took her hand and held it in his own. "I think that was from a plasma grenade. It went off near me and burned away a good bit of my armor, but I guess the stuff works." As she caressed his hand, she felt the long thin scar on his shoulder. "You already know about that one." Roland sighed. "You sorta healed it yourself."
"I know…" Korra propped herself on her arms and kissed Roland delicately. Her blues eyes reflected the moon light as she broke the kiss and looked down at him. "Don't die anytime soon."
Roland wrapped his arms around her bare core. They were still naked from earlier, merely enjoying each other's touch. "I don't plan on it." He pulled her in tightly and held her close. "Stop worrying about me." He sighed.
"You've been too close to death to many times." Korra whispered in his ear. "I just don't want to lose you."
Roland kissed her lustfully, causing a soft moan to come from her lips. His hands trailed down her back, and soon the two lovers started for the second time that night.
Unalaq grew more and more impatient watching the town from above. "It has been over two hours since sundown." He huffed impatiently. "We are going now."
The Red Lotus fell in behind him and made their way down into the valley. It took nearly thirty minutes to close almost to the edge of the town. It was difficult to call Zafou a town. It was made up of several circular areas, each with a metal wall that could be closed to prevent access. Locking down each area, but also preventing the others from helping. Each night the walls were sealed, but the Red Lotus had a man on the inside, to allow them access.
The five of them slipped undetected into the walls of the city. Aiwei, one of the noble advisors of the city was secretly a member of the Red Lotus, he had arranged their access after being informed of the plan mere hours before by messenger hawk.
"Unalaq, I am glad you made it so quickly." Aiwei whispered. Even though they were within his quarters, it still paid to be cautious.
Unalaq clasped Aiwei's hand. "Thank you for your assistance my brother, have you completed the other task?"
Aiwei nodded. "Here is a simple diagram of the building the Avatar is in." He handed a map to Unalaq, which he then passed off to Zaheer. "She is in this room here."
"Everything seems well planned out." Ghazan motioned to the map. "What about the wall system?"
"I will be leading you there myself." Aiwei said. "You, Ming Hua and I will be able to kill off the guards and disable the walls." He glanced at Unalaq. "I presume you have an escape plan?"
"Indeed, but that will come when needed." Unalaq stood and motioned for Zaheer and P'Li to come with him. "Give us seven minutes, then lower the walls."
Ghazan nodded. "Good luck."
P'Li opened the front door silently and glanced around. Satisfied no one was watching, the two groups slid out and quickly made their way to their positions.
Ghazan, Ming Hua, and Aiwei followed a pathway to a door guarded by a single metal bender. "Aiwei, what can I do for you, sir?" The guard asked as he bowed slightly. Ming Hua flowed around the other two and smacked the man with a water whip, knocking him to the ground unconscious and shattering his jaw. As Ghazan opened the door, Aiwei dragged the guard inside so Ming Hua could freeze him out of sight. Aiwei the metal bent the lock on the door to slow anyone from getting in. They jogged down a flight of stairs into the inner workings for the town.
Almost everyone had already left for the night, so the trio was able to move to the guard hit without incident. The small guard hut was located next to the massive gears that opened and closed the walls for the town. It was their job to open the walls at dawn, and then they would be replaced by another shift. Because it was inside of the heart of the town, it was considered one of the easiest guard posts, and was often fought and traded over.
The three male and two female guards inside had no idea what was happening as a thick for rolled into the room. The door latch clanked as it opened, and a furry or small pebbles was launched in at face level, killing two of the guards and destroying the radio before it could be used.
The three remaining guards jumped up from a game of Pai Sho, dazed and confused by the fog. Suddenly the fog dropped and they faced three very sinister looking individuals. Ghazan was holding a molten rock in his hand, and as the first guard made a move, he thrust it at his chest, burning through the breast plate and cooking his insides.
Over the death cries of their friend, the other two guards threw up the metal table as a shield, as a water whip from Ming Hua lashed out at them. Just as one of them prepared to fight back, the table was cast aside by Aiwei and Ming Hua froze their feet in place. Aiwei raised his open palm, and clenched his fist, crushing both guards helmets with their heads inside, causing their bodies to awkwardly fall to the floor, as warm blood started to melt the ice.
"Alright, how much longer do we have?" Ming Hua asked Ghazan.
He shrugged. "I'd say about three minutes. Then we go back the way we came."
At the same time, Unalaq, Zaheer, and P'Li were moving through a garden just outside of Korra's building. "There. That's the one Aiwei said." Zaheer pointed to a window. From the concealment of the bushes, he peered inside. Korra and Roland were in each other's arms kissing with just a sheet over them.
P'Li chuckled. "If there was a better time to catch the Avatar off guard, I can't think of one."
Unalaq shrugged. "Zaheer, ready the darts."
The martial arts master nodded as he pulled a short bamboo rod from his sash and inserted a tiny needle. He held a second dart between his fingers, ready to stun the man with the Avatar as well. A soft moan wafted out of the window as he raised his blow gun. It was a difficult shot with them lying down, but he had a solution.
Korra caressed Roland's cheek as they lay there. "That was even better the second time." She sighed.
Roland kissed her forehead. "I love you." He whispered.
Korra's smile beamed in the darkness. "I love you too." She murmured, half asleep already.
Outside the window, a branch broke. Roland sat up a bit, but was held down by Korra. "Did you hear that?" He hissed.
Korra yawned. "It was probably someone spying on us." She joked. "Just go to sleep with me."
Zaheer could see the man now, but could only make out the Avatar's head, so he went took the shot.
"Ow." Roland's hand shot up to his neck and pulled out a small dart.
"What's wrong?" Korra asked. A wave of nausea washed over Roland as he muttered something incoherent before collapsing halfway off of the bed. "Roland?!" She sat up and noticed the dart in his hand. "No!" She shouted, about to airbend the window closed, but it was too late. As she sent the gust of air, she felt a prick in her neck and a moment later felt sick before falling back into the bed asleep.
"Good shooting." P'Li congratulated Zaheer as they entered the room. She kicked a few armor plates out of the way before glancing at the two unconscious victims. "Looks like they were having fun."
Unalaq shook his head. "Cover her with something and let's get out of here." P'Li grabbed Korra's blue shirt and slid it over her head and then quickly slid her pants up her legs before grabbing her arm and hauling her upright. It had been less than two minutes.
Zaheer was squatting, looking over Roland's unconscious body. "Well, I'm not gonna carry her." P'Li whispered harshly to Zaheer.
He nodded silently and shouldered the Avatar as if she was a sandbag. "I don't know who that man is, but he has seen a few fights." Zaheer whispered as he stepped across the windowsill.
At the same time, Roland's body was in an overdrive. His heart rate was already elevated from the evening's activities, and his body had managed to inject a small amount of adrenaline into his blood before succumbing to the near instant effects of the poison. The darts were made to keep a normal man unconscious for over an hour, but Roland's body groggily fought itself awake. His eyes were cloudy as he saw the first form going out the window carrying someone over their shoulder. He was slumped halfway off the bed, but his had reached out for his M6C on the night stand. The night sights were blurry, but out of instinct, he raised the pistol and clicked off the safety.
Unalaq turned as he heard metal scrapping across the wooden nightstand. The safety on Roland's pistol clicked off loudly as Unalaq muttered "Impossible" under his breath. The first shot caught him in the left shoulder, causing him to stumble backwards as blood poured from the wound.
He stumbled out the window as a pair of follow up shots thumped into the wall behind him. P'Li turned to help him, but instead he simply hiss "GO!" to her, and they were off, jogging towards Aiwei's house.
Roland tried to sit up, but he simply fell off the other side of the bed, smashing his head against his chest plate. He fumbled around for his MP7, and as soon as he felt the familiar frame in his hand, pulled it close and used the quick release to slide the suppressor off. Pointing it one handed at the window, he fired off a ten round burst into the garden.
"What was that?" Zaheer spun around to look in the direction of the gunfire. Lights started coming on and people were moving around.
P'Li shoved him gently. "We need to hurry…"
Roland dropped the submachine gun and started putting his bodysuit and armor back on. He had done it so many times that his body ran through the motions on autopilot. After a few moments, a groggy Mako pounded on the door. "Roland, what's going on in there?" He muttered.
"Thefv got Torra!" Roland shouted, just now realizing his mouth was numb from the poison as well.
Mako took off down the hallway. "Get up, we're under attack!" He shouted as he pounded on doorways.
Somewhere an alarm klaxon blared sending the guards to full alert. From tower near Aiwei's house, a metal bender saw three people carrying something and relayed the word. In seconds, Metal Benders descended on Zaheer, P'Li, and Unalaq.
P'Li looked irritated at the dozen or so guards in front of her. "Stand down!" one of the guards shouted.
The combustion bender shrugged before she fired a blast into a tightly packed trio of guards, killing two of them and knocking the others to the ground.
Under the city, Ghazan felt the vibration from the explosion. "I guess it's time." Ming Hua smirked as she formed an ice rod and shoved it into the lock holding the gear back. With a loud clang, the metal broke free and the gears started spinning.
"Come, we must get above ground." Aiwei shouted.
The group ran back the way they came, and emerged to see the massive walls of the city falling down above them, and Zaheer, Unalaq, and P'Li in a fight with the remaining Metal Benders. Ghazan sent a wall of Lava at the benders from behind, and they never even saw it coming.
As the two groups rallied Unalaq grabbed P'Li's shoulder. "We're too exposed… Send the signal for the secondary extract."
The firebender looked to the sky and sent a huge fireball towards the heavens. From the hillside nearby, Carr clicked off his safety. "Get those gunships in the air." He shouted into his mic. "Start the Hog's and get ready to rock!"
Moments after the fireball was seen, all hell broke loose upon the Zafou. Pelicans orbited overhead, using their sensors to distinguish who was friend, and firing to keep the additional metal benders back from the group.
Captain Wayne ran into the courtyard in full kit just in time to see a few of his Hell Jumpers doing the same. "Let's move!" He shouted as they took off in a sprint towards Unalaq's group.
Roland had finally managed to stand up, and was slowly making his way out the window when he'd seen the dark figures go. His heart was pounding in his ears, and he felt like vomiting, but he knew Korra need him now. Forcing his body into a painful jog, he heard the Pelican's overhead firing down.
Warthog engines roared above the noise outside the low outer wall. "Get clear!" Someone shouted before a block of C12 detonated, sending chunks of rock skyward and opening a hole for the Warthogs to get in.
As soon as the first vehicle saw a moving target, the Insurrectionist on the turret opened fire, cutting the metal bender in two before he could react. Half a dozen Warthogs poured through the hole and sped towards Unalaq's position, firing at everything as they went.
At the same time, General Iroh was grabbing an MA5B for the first time. "Sir, we don't even know how to use these…" One of his soldiers spoke up.
Iroh flashed a smile at the young troop. "No time to learn like the present!" He shouted before he chambered a round and jogged towards the gunfire.
Once the Warthogs made it to Unalaq's position, they formed a hasty perimeter established fire superiority with there M41 LAAG's. "Get the Avatar on the vehicle!" Unalaq shouted to Zaheer over the roar of gunfire. The Pelicans had pulled off to prepare to extract the Warthogs, so the ground forces were all the support they had.
On the other side of a building, Captain Wayne was establishing his ODST's and the handful of Iroh's troops to prepare for a counter attack. "Earth benders, I'll need some cover in the open right away. Aim for the men on the turrets, and then start pushing up from there."
A brief lull occurred in the fire as the Insurrectionists looked for targets, and suddenly men appeared from every corner, pouring rifle fire onto the exposed trucks. "Push forward!" Wayne shouted.
He received an "ARRUA!" from his ODST's as the rounded their personal corners and advanced, all the while pouring deadly accurate rifle fire onto the hogs. The Insurrectionists' tried to return fire, but the sight of nearly thirty black clad hell jumpers advancing towards them caused mild panic in their ranks.
Rounds peppered the windscreen and sides of a Warthog. "We gotta go now!" one of the drivers shouted as he gunned his engine. As those words left his mouth, a pair of bullets hammered into his thigh. His buddy was trying to tie on a tourniquet, but was shot in the back by an ODST and slumped over.
Carr knew if they didn't evac soon, it would be too late. He had plenty of wounded, and a few dead already, and he didn't like the idea of getting everyone wiped out for this stupid girl. "Go now!" He shouted into his radio.
The first vehicle was carrying a trio of Insurrectionist's and Aiwei to show the direction out, but as soon as it had covered ten feet, a small detonation occurred under it, tipping the Warthog and igniting the fuel tank. Aiwei was thrown from the vehicle and was cut down by rounds from some unseen foe.
"Keeping moving!" Carr shouted into the radio. "Back the way we came!"
The number two vehicle carrying Unalaq, Zaheer, P'Li, and an unconscious Korra zipped passed the wreckage. The young drive had been paying attention on the way in, and knew where he was headed.
As the third vehicle passed the wreckage, it shook slightly. "What was that?" Ming Hua asked the driver from the passenger seat. He looked passed her and turned ghostly white with fear.
"Ugh…." Was all he could stammer as Ming Hua turned to look. A gloved hand materialized from nothing grabbed her by the throat and violently threw her from the vehicle. Roland raised his M6C and shot the gunner on the LAAG in the face before shooting the two passengers seated on the deck firing back at the ODST's.
With his eyes fearfully fixed on the Spartan, the Insurrectionist driver wasn't paying attention and slammed the Warthog into a metal house, sending himself flying through the windscreen to his own death. Roland smashed into the house, but stood and shook himself off before jumping into the driver seat of the Warthog. The last vehicle sped past him towards the column, having slowed to pick up Ming Hua.
"Go!" Some of the ODST's nearby shouted and waved to Roland before firing towards the column.
The Spartan threw the shifter into gear and smashed the peddle into the floor board. "Wait!" A voice shouted. Roland threw the vehicle into drive and glanced over his shoulder as a pair of ODST's jumped on board. He recognized them as Corporal Anders, and Lance Corporal Bronson.
Anders racked the LAAG. He had carved a small crooked smile into the front of his faceplate, and it fit perfectly with the moment. Roland smashed the peddle to the floor and the Warthog took off after the others.
Once they cleared the town, the Insurrectionist column slowed enough to allow the other vehicles to catch up. "Number three is coming up fast!" One of the troops shouted into his radio. It echoed from the radio in Roland's Warthog. "Good" Another voice on the radio. "Three, fall in a the back of the column and prepare for extract." Without hesitation, Roland saw his chance. He flashed his headlights in response, allowing the darkness to camouflage himself and the ODST's.
"Hold your fire, and get off the gun." Roland said as he tugged at Anders ankle. "We're going after them in a different way." The ODST sat down and readied his MA5B, still tense and ready to jump on the gun if something happened. Roland cautiously fell in the back of the column, being careful to keep enough distance from the next vehicle to prevent them from noticing the Warthog was full of Insurrectionists worst nightmares.
The column neared a large open field about six kilometers from Zafou. Pelicans hovered a few feet off the ground with guide wires lowered, ready to be hooked into the Warthogs. As Roland slid under a Warthog, Bronson and Anders hooked the lines into place. As the first Pelican lifted off, the Pelican dropped a ladder down from the hell hole to allow what the pilot thought were friendly forces inside.
Roland scaled the ladder and motioned for the two ODST's to follow him up. As he neared the top, he initiated his active camouflage and silently slid into the bird. The pilots left the door to the cockpit open. "How'd it go?" One of them shouted back into the troop bay.
Roland paused long enough to ensure they weren't receiving any radio transmissions before he shot them both in the back of the head in rapid succession. Grabbing the stick from the pilot, he pulled his dead body from the seat and sat down. Blood had already started pooling on the floor as the ODST's entered the cockpit. "Dang…" Bronson whispered. "You really don't waste any time, do you?"
Roland shrugged as he slid off his helmet. "Either of you know anything about these things?" He asked.
Anders sat down in the copilot seat tapped at the console as Roland picked up the pilots bloody headset and slid it on. "We're Hat Trick 2-5." The ODST said.
Roland nodded as he maneuvered the aircraft into formation. After a few minutes the radio crackled. "Listen up." It was the same voice who had been giving commands earlier. "We're heading to the South Pole. Hat Trick 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3, return to base and stand by to recover our Warthogs. 2-4, 2-5, and 2-6, drop in low and slow, get ready to jettison your cargo. We'll be linking up with Sickle 4-1 through 4-4 in 70 klick's for more support, then we'll be headed starting to these coordinates."
Anders tapped on the screen. "I got em." He murmured.
"Roger up when you're good."
"Carr, this is 2-4. We're good."
"2-6 to Carr 2-Actual, we've got it."
Roland depressed the transmit button. "This is 2-5, we're solid."
"Roger, all aircraft head in and drop your load." Bronson and Anders let out the breath they'd been holding.
Roland craned his neck back to see the two shock troopers. "Well gentleman, it looks like we are part of the Insurrection now…"
Bronson just shook his head. "Thank God for the fog of war…"
Well, there you go. Sex, a massive chaotic firefight, and a Spartan and ODST's doing their thing. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please let me know what you think in the reviews!