Chapter 11: It Takes Two-Dozen To Tango

Over the span of a few seconds, everyone moved at once. Samus's arm cannon began to glow as it started to charge up energy, and she moved into a position to fire it without waiting for the charge to finish. The Master Chief pulled his hands out from behind his back, one hand clutching a shotgun while the other holding a frag grenade. And several Beam Troopers rushed towards them with foot-long scythes brandished and Galvanic Accelerator cannons aimed high, intending to remove the heads of both the armored warriors before them.

The Chief ducked down to avoid the sudden burst of laser fire sent in his direction and threw the grenade in an underhanded toss; the Pirates were clustered so close together, he figured he might be able to take a few of them out before they can surround the pair. The grenade exploded in their midst and caused the few directly on top of the explosion to stagger, but the remaining troopers just ignored the shrapnel flying in their faces and continued to close the distance. When Samus said they were tough, he thought she must not've been kidding.

"About how many of these things can you take?"

Samus followed the full charge of her arm cannon with a Super Missile that enveloped one of the lead Troopers in a blinding explosion that sent it flying backward, but left its comrades unfazed. "I usually have some trouble with five or six at once. There are about three times as many here. Could you watch my back?"

The Chief pumped his shotgun. "I was gonna ask you the same thing."

Before there could be any more words, the Pirates were on top of them. The first Beam Trooper to reach the Chief received a shotgun blast to the face, cracking its armor and causing it to stumble backward. The second didn't wait for the first to recover and simply shoved it out of the way, forcing the Chief to take a quick step backward, as the Trooper's scythe sliced the air his head was in a moment ago. The Chief swung the butt of his shotgun into the Pirate's face, hoping to knock it off balance long enough to blast it as well, but the Trooper caught the Spartan's arm in its offhand and raised its scythe to strike again. The Chief swung his body downward, forcing the Pirate to take his full weight, planting his foot in the Pirate's gut as the Trooper lurched forward and stunning it long enough to press his shotgun against its helmet and pull the trigger. This, finally, had the desired effect, as the Pirate bellowed and fell backwards to lie unmoving. The Master Chief didn't have long to enjoy his victory, however, as the fallen Pirate's half-dozen or so angry comrades scrambled to take its place.

Samus was faring better against the surrounding Pirates, but only just. She knew that her charged Power Beam, with its concussive effects, was highly effective against these armored elites, but the problem was keeping them out of her face long enough to complete the charge. She ducked out of the way of a slashing scythe, moving forward and allowing her momentum to carry her quickly into Morph Ball form and between the Pirate's legs; she made certain to leave a few Morph Bombs behind her as thanks, and the explosive charges knocked the Trooper off its feet. Back in human form, she leapt high into the air, a barrage of laser shots close behind her. A Missile to the face disoriented the shooter, and a Space Jump spin for additional height gave her the time she needed to manage a full charge. As she landed, she spun around and planted a charged blast into the dazed Pirate's back, hurling it forward. His fellow Troopers answered with a barrage of laser shots, and Samus' shield burned brightly with absorbed blasts as she made a few quick steps to avoid further assault.

Meanwhile, the Master Chief cursed heavily as he tried to avoid getting hit long enough to reload his shotgun. He finally found sanctuary behind a pillar and tossed out a frag grenade along with a quick burst of SMG fire to ward off his pursuers while he pulled out the next clip and frantically loaded the rounds into his shotgun. He had just started to wonder when the Pirates were going to come after him when he heard Samus call out "Chief!!"

The Pirates who had been attacking the Spartan had decided that rather than chase after their hiding prey, they would turn their attention to the Hunter, and she was now surrounded and frantically trying to force her way out, a Wavebuster beam dancing around wildly. The Chief jumped out from behind his cover and pumped his shotgun as he ran. A quick blast into the back of the nearest Pirate staggered it, and he forced it further forward with a swift kick. As it stumbled, he placed a live plasma grenade on its back and pushed his way past it. The dazed Pirate stumbled into his fellows and exploded in a burst of blue plasma and Phazite armor. The Chief slid up behind Samus to stand back-to-back with her.

"Chief! I thought you'd-!"

"I didn't." he said solemnly. "I wouldn't."

Samus didn't answer, but simply nodded.

"So" he said, loading another round into his shotgun "why don't we give this teamwork thing everyone's so keen on a try?"

"Right."

The Beam Troopers resumed their assault, but they were no longer taking advantage of a lone target. The Chief tossed his last plasma grenade over his shoulder while Samus launched a Missile in the same direction; a Pirate's death rattle told him that both explosives had found their intended target. He raised his shotgun towards the nearest Trooper, whose scythe was an inch from the Chief gut, and blasted it in the face, forcing it backward. As she fired her next Missile, Samus used her free hand to shove the Chief, and the Spartan carried the momentum with him as he swung his weapon, striking the blasted Pirate hard and sending it to the floor. Coming to a stop over the fallen Pirate, the Chief spun around and delivered another shotgun blast into the face of his floored opponent. Laser shots peppered his shields, bringing them to critical levels, but Samus dove in the way, using her own substantially more powerful shields to protect him from further attack. Firing her arm cannon rapidly, she held off the Pirates approaching from the right while the Chief, waiting on his shields to recharge, stuck his SMG out from behind his living cover and held back the Pirates approaching from the left. The two approaching from the center slashed their scythes at Samus, but before they could get second hits in, Samus back flipped over the Chief while the Spartan rolled his last frag grenade onto the floor in front of them. He ran forward right after it exploded, punching one in the face and giving the other a blast from his shotgun. A charged Power Beam blast finished off the punched Trooper, bringing the remaining Pirates down to six. The Chief cursed as he found his shotgun empty and without any extra rounds. As he threw it into the face of the nearest Pirate, Samus dashed forward in her Morph Ball form, leaving Bombs in her wake to cover their backs. In his best soccer kick, the Chief pulled his foot back and let loose, kicking the Morph Ball Samus into the same Pirate he'd thrown the shotgun at. Charging a boost as she flew, releasing the extra burst of speed just as she hit her target, hurling the battered Trooper against the wall where it lay still. Meanwhile, the Chief pulled out both his freshly loaded SMG and a Plasma Rifle he'd picked up and emptied out both onto the remaining Pirates gathered together. While their attention was focused on the Chief, Samus tapped out a few commands on her arm cannon's interface and charged up her Seeker Missile. She fired the burst of explosives, but instead of regular Missiles, Needle Missiles flew out. The barrage of sharp crystals felled most of the Troopers, and last the thing the remaining one saw was the Master Chief's fist headed straight for its face.

The last Pirate crumpled to the floor, and the two super soldiers breathed out heavily.

"Chief, you alright?"

"I'll live. You?"

"The same."

After catching his breath, the Chief remembered why they were there: "Johnson."

***

In all his years of as Monitor of Installation 06, Adjutant Reflex had never met such a mischievous creature. This Invader seemed to delight in tormenting the little robot, even as he very politely insisted that it was out of line.

"Now see here-!" The Pirate kicked it against the wall and cackled. "You have no right-!" The Pirate stamped on it with its foot, taking great pleasure in making the chatty robot frustrated. That was the last thought it had, however, as a shot rang out and the Pirate fell limply to the floor. Samus and the Chief ran over, the latter lowering his Battle Rifle.

"Oh! Reclaimer! Raptor! I am grateful for your assistance, that Invader was being most unpleasant-!"

"Johnson!" the Chief said, not waiting for it to finish. "Where's Johnson?"

"Oh my…I believe the other Reclaimer was guarding the Index. The large Invader was headed in that direction, however, and I am not sure if he is still alive."

"Large Pirate…?"

Samus pulled on the Chief's arm. "Ridley; come on!"

***

The door to the Index chamber slid open and the two super soldiers ran through into the remnants of a massacre. The floor was littered with the corpses of Pirates and the remains of broken Sentinels. At the other end of the walkway, blocking the Index with his body, was Sergeant Johnson, looking up at the massive Pirate general, Ridley.

"Well" the human said fearlessly, even as he stared into the eye of death itself. "Ain't you the ugliest mother I've EVER seen."

Ridley let out a shrieking laugh. "Now aren't you the strangest mammal I've ever met."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

As he ran forward, the Chief shouted "Johnson, DOWN!"

But he was too late; Ridley flicked the shotgun out of the Sergeant's hands, clutched the human in one massive claw and extracted the Index's container in the other. He glanced at the two approaching super soldiers, chuckled, and with a flap of his massive wings, he was gone.