The chief decided that there was no time to mess around any more. He turned around and fired into the mans kneecap before he could even get a shot off. The man was screaming in agony from what had to be one of the most painful places to be shot. The chief didn't want to waste any more ammo, deciding he might need it for his next trick. He summoned up the strength he had used so many times on the battlefield to flip over vehicles that had taken a wrong turn...he could flip a 66 ton tank through the air like nothing. He brought forth this strength now, and did a simple straight punch. His fist smashed into the man's face, and his head was suddenly indented in a nearby bulkhead with blood gushing out of it. The chief turned, and ran down the corridor, heading for where he guessed the loading bay would be. After descending a ladder or two, he ended up right where he needed to be, a massive cargo hold that had two jeeps, each with parachute sleds attached. He found the controls quickly, and opened the bay. The smaller helicopters were still spitting fire, but the tide was about to turn, IF his plan worked.

For a moment, he paused, wondering what Cortana might say if she knew what he was about to attempt. He grabbed the back of one of the parachute sleds, and started pushing. Slowly, it slid forward, and soon the chief felt it tip over the edge. Then, he was falling, and his stomach leapt into his throat. Using his massive strength, he pulled himself forward, and somehow found an emergency chute release. He yanked the cord, and his motion was almost instantly redirected. His stomach left his throat, and seemed to enter his groin as inertia took its toll. But the desired effect had been achieved; one small helicopter was swooping down to investigate. The pilot wasn't too bad; he came close enough to notice John hanging onto the side, and for a brief moment, wasn't sure if he was hallucinating or not. The next thing he knew, the man in an interrogator's uniform leapt off the side of the jeep and smashed into the helicopter through the co-pilots window! He turned to look...and a boot took him squarely in the chin, with enough force to snap his spine clean through, leaving his head dangling by the skin and muscles.

The helicopter began to tumble out of control, but John grabbed the stick in front of him and mashed the pedals, slowly bringing it out of its death-spin. Finally he had control, and began ascending. Soon, he had reached the desired altitude, and dropped the helicopter into hover. The others were simply tailing along and taking potshots at the massive super-copter. It seemed to be protected by some sort of invisible screening that neither missiles nor auto targeting mini-guns could penetrate. John examined the firing controls briefly, flicked a few switches, and pushed the button down. Every single missile, rocket, and machine gun on his copter opened fire. The result was the biggest close-up, most highly explosive fireworks show he'd ever seen. The heat seeking missiles plowed into the other helicopters, and detonated instantly. The resulting explosion took about three nanoseconds to detonate the fuel cells, which resulted in secondary explosions, which tore the hulls apart from the inside until all the energy blasted the hulls outward in all directions. In short, John blew them up...gracefully.

One of the smaller choppers took a grazing hit from a rocket, and the heat seeker missed, circling around for another try. However, the pilot lost control, and his vehicle slammed into the energy screening of the super-chopper. For a few brief seconds, it was as if the vehicle had just stopped on top of nothing in midair. Then, the shielding gave way, and the burning hulk slammed into the super structure of the giant airship. Somehow, nothing exploded, or even caught on fire. Then, the heat seeker re-acquired its target, and slammed into the wreck. The resulting explosion was massive, and detonated something inside the massive airship that the chief was watching slowly head north. More secondary explosions came from within, and slowly, the vessel began to loose power. Impossibly, the forward section separated...then, something flashed out of the top of the dying section as it suddenly began to plummet...and the chief had an incoming missile.

The chief had no time to even bother trying to evade, he turned around, saw what he wanted, and grabbed it before leaping out the side of the chopper. One second after he leapt, the missile hit, and the chopper exploded...and he was falling...blackness overcame him as he tumbled out of control.

Author's Notes

Wow, I'm still alive after that BS...my porch...is gone, and I'm on a library computer which appears to be on borrowed time as it is. Sorry this couldn't be longer, but hey, still no power, much less DSL service, should be back soon tho. Goddammit!