Noble 6 was once again contacted by Carter. Evidently, the Covenant had captured the BXR mining facility, and were using it as a command outpost. The interesting part was that an Elite Zealot was commanding the Covenant forces from inside the facility. Noble 6 was now tasked with neutralizing this Zealot.
Once Kat and 6 drove out of the canyon, they spotted the facility on the other side of a small canyon, and a massive firefight occurring on the bridge spanning the chasm. Noble 6 slammed his foot on the gas, and the UNSC trooper on the M79 MLRS aimed at the primary threat: a Shade turret ripping the troopers' cover to shreds. Noble 6 gave the order, and in the blink of an eye, 6 missiles flew across the canyon and crashed into the base of the turret, blasting pieces of metal across the concrete and incinerating the Grunt that was operating the cannon. 6 and Kat hopped out of the Warthog, and proceeded into the compound, with the surviving troops following tail.
A Skirmisher was lying in wait behind a bunch of crates and wooden pallets, and it managed to lunge out at one of the Army troopers, sinking its sharp teeth into the young soldier's neck before being shot in the windpipe by Noble 6. 6's squad briefly and silently honored their fallen squadmate before pressing on towards the HVT.
After slaughtering a small group of Grunts and an Elite, the SPARTANs reached the center of the compound, and the Elite Zealot inside it. The Elite spotted the SPARTANs, and sent its Grunt guards to neutralize the threat. The Army troopers quickly shot down the Grunts with their assault rifles. The Zealot pulled out its energy sword and threw it at one of the troopers, effectively decapitating the trooper with extreme prejudice and force. The Zealot, however, failed to keep an eye on Noble 6 and Kat, who were sneaking up on the Elite. 6 grabbed the monster by the neck, and before the Zealot could react, 6 tossed the Zealot against an oil tank, and Kat instantly pulled out her sidearm. One bullet hit the tank, and the Elite was incinerated; blood and pieces of roasted Covenant armor scattering across the ground. The explosion also blasted a hole in the floor, which Kat and 6 hopped down.
At the back of the facility were a few unoccupied Covenant vehicles, probably being repaired; which was evident by a few Grunts on the ground with weird Covenant power tools. It wasn't difficult to execute them, and, lacking their Warthog, the SPARTANs commandeered one of the vehicles, a Revenant, and took off towards the next anti-aircraft gun, which could be heard- and to a degree, felt -over the next ridge.
Suddenly a loud whirring sound- that of a UNSC Falcon -filled their ears. 6 and Kat looked up to see what the commotion was about. It was a Falcon; a smoking Falcon spinning out of control while sparking and igniting. The Falcon sputtered and continued to explode, until it crashed on the other side of the hills; in close proximity to the AA gun.
Once Nobles 2 and 6 came out of the gorge, they were once again contacted by Carter, who was imploring them to eliminate the AA gun ASAP, as it was the only thing protecting their original target; the large, shielded Covenant tower codenamed "Spire One". The SPARTANs looked to see what their opposition looked like: at least three Wraith tanks, about two Jackal squads, an Elite Ultra with its Grunt bodyguards, two Hunters, a pack of about eight Skirmishers, and Yanme'e, flying insectoids commonly called Drones, and nicknamed "Buggers" by numerous UNSC personnel. The SPARTANs also noticed the smoldering, burnt wreckage of the downed Falcon. Even from this distance, it was pretty obvious that there weren't any survivors. If the crash or the explosion didn't kill the crew, the area was crawling with Covenant; and the survivors wouldn't stand a chance at all.
6 and Kat were aware that they had a captured Covenant vehicle, but unlike a small, highly exposed Ghost speeder, the Revenant was larger and more covered. Instantly, the two SPARTANs came up with a plan: they would plant two or three explosive charges on the Revenant, drive it straight into the power room of the AA gun, bail out as it zoomed into the power cell, and the cannon would explode like a firecracker.
Once the bombs were planted, 6 and Kat smoothly drove down the hill towards the cannon, knowing that if they drove too slow or too fast, they would draw attention, which would instantly result in the death of the two SPARTANs. As they moved towards the gun, the Covenant were blissfully unaware, and allowed them to pass. Aware that he now had the chance, Noble 6 nodded to Kat, and floored the Revenant, launching it towards the AA gun like a torpedo. The SPARTANs dived out of the vehicle, which sped towards the power source as predicted, and a massive explosion shook the ground, with ash and shards of burnt metal spitting out of the Tyrant. There was a quick, loud roaring noise that the SPARTANs heard earlier when they destroyed the first cannon, and the tower erupted, splitting apart and crashing to the ground with massive force.
Once the dust had settled, the SPARTANs stood up, but instantly saw that they were completely surrounded by the Ultra Elite, the Hunters, the Buggers, and one of the Wraiths. Moments before the SPARTANs were blasted to pieces, high caliber rounds came up from the sky, hitting the back of the Wraith and demolishing it. Instantly 6 recognized the sound as the chin-mounted M638 Autocannon of a Pelican gunship. The Pelican swooped in over the hillside, backed by two Falcons. While the Falcons attacked the remaining Covenant tanks, the Pelican, after killing the pair of Hunters, opened up its troop bay, and a platoon of UNSC Army troopers hopped out and immediately started attacking the Drones. 6 and Kat picked up their rifles and assisted the troopers in killing the Drones. The Elite ordered its remaining infantry to counterattack the UNSC forces, but they were quickly and swiftly cut up by the troopers. The Pelican, which was still hovering low, turned its cannon toward the Ultra and killed it. After the Covenant force was neutralized, the Pelican and one of the Falcons took off, and one of the Falcons landed, with Noble 5 aboard. While Kat volunteered to stay behind with the platoon, Noble 6 climbed aboard one of the Falcon's MG460 grenade launcher turrets, and took off towards the Spire.
The Falcons were flying up the river valley, which was surrounded by rocky cliffs, which in turn were covered in numerous Wraiths and Shade turrets. 6 opened fire on the enemy armor, but kept his finger on the trigger, as the MG460 was automatically reloaded with every shot. The grenade launcher made short work of the enemy forces, and when the armor was destroyed, the Falcon was hovering outside of the Spire's shield. "Priority One pilot; we've gotta know what's in there", Jorge ordered the pilot.
"Affirmative sir, here we go..."
The Falcon flew through the shield, but the moment the crew entered, the Falcon lost all power, and started spinning towards the ground. "LOCK YOUR ARMOR SPARTAN!", Jorge shouted to 6, who did as he was told. "Brace for a hard landing!", yelled the pilot, and the Falcon smashed down, losing one of its rotors, crashing against rocks and trees until it finally came to a rest. Jorge was relatively unharmed, and 6 got hit in the back of the head by one of the grenade turrets, but he wasn't too injured, seeing how he was wearing his helmet. Realizing that they were the only two survivors of the crash, Jorge notified 6 that they should keep moving.
Noticing a small army of Covenant forces advancing towards them, 6 and Jorge spotted a flatbed truck, like the one they used in Visegrad. Jorge hopped on the back with his heavy machinegun, and 6 plowed through the Covenant troops, driving towards the Spire. A fuel rod launched from a Fuel Rod Shade hit one of the back tires, catapulting the two SPARTANs onto the ground. Jorge volunteered to keep the Covenant at bay, and 6 went up the gravity lift to the top of the Spire to take down the shield.