Captain McCrea reached into his trouser pocket and took out a M6C magnum. He handed it to Eve.
"Kill any Covenant on your way to the escape pods," McCrea said to Eve. "Help out our soldiers in any way you can,"
Eve nodded.
"Thank you, captain," she replied.
McCrea nodded.
"Good luck," he said.
Eve nodded once more before turning round and walking back round the giant cut in half cube and out of the bridge's entrance. When she was out in the corridor again, she found the blast doors closed and a small nearby door, on the bridge's entrance side of the corridor, wide open. Eve ran down the corridor after this door. She suddenly stopped when she saw the body of a UNSC worker lying on his back, one of his hands lying outstretched across the corridor. There was blood all over his uniform, so he must have been hit a lot. Several inches from his outstretched hand was an M6C pistol. Eve picked it up and took out the ammo and loaded it into her weapon.
Suddenly, she froze. She could hear… voices? They sounded squeaky and a little high pitched. Then, she realised they were Grunts. Eve gripped the gun tighter and put a finger on the trigger. She then took two paces forward so she was at the corner of the doorway. She could see the Grunts laying against their arms which were being held up by their hands that were clenched into fists on the floor. Eve raised her weapon so it aimed at the nearest Grunt, which was a minor. Her finger tightened on the trigger.
A burst of gunfire erupted in the corridor. A yell then followed. Eve had scored a head shot on the Grunt, killing it. The other two Grunts hadn't seen where that had come from and were running down the corridor towards two closed blast doors. Eve rushed out of her corridor and raised he gun at the fleeing aliens. Two more bursts of ammo, followed by two more yells erupted from the corridor once again. Both Grunts had been hit in the back and were now lying lifeless on the floor just a few metres away.
Eve reloaded her weapon with some of the extra ammo she had collected from the dead UNSC worker in the last corridor. Then, she heard shooting coming from somewhere. Eve walked towards the bodies of the dead Grunts and heard the shooting get louder. She then stopped outside a closed door with a sign above it that said Cafeteria. Eve rested the side of her head against the door to try and listen into what was unfolding on the other side of the door. She could hear male voices, bursts of ammo which sounded like from battle rifles and pistols. Then, she could gunfire from alien weaponry. She recognized them as Plasma Rifles and, possibly, Plasma Pistols.
BANG! An explosion literally blew up the door. Smoke and dust quickly filled where Eve had been standing just mere milliseconds earlier. Thankfully, whatever exploded was a few feet from away from the door and the door had shielded most of the blast. If whatever blew up went off on the door, Eve would most certainly have been killed. It was amazing to see that she had been thrown to the ground. Her worst injury; a whack to the head from when she fell to the floor.
Eve groaned as she picked herself up. As the dust cleared, Eve saw tall, bulky figures running about in the cafeteria. Elites. Eve got up and inside the cafeteria, where she greeted by a scene of chaos.
The cafeteria was full of dead UNSC and Covenant Grunts. Just a few moments before Eve heard the shooting, two squads of Covenant Grunts, being led by Elites, broke into the cafeteria where several UNSC soldiers were keeping guard on the way to the bridge. One of the Elites fired a blast at a soldier with a battle rifle. The soldier crumpled to the floor as the blast hit him in the face. A worker, several feet behind where the soldier was standing, fired several rounds at the Elite from his M6C magnum.
Eve aimed her pistol and fired two shots at the Elite firing at the worker. The bullets bounced off the shield, making it shine, but the Elite turned to fire at Eve. Big mistake. The other soldiers saw their chance and fired at the Elite, destroying It's shield and killing it.
The other Elite, however, had ran to the other end of the cafeteria. By the time the UNSC soldiers spotted him, he was already preparing to fire again, and he wasn't alone. Two squads of Grunts, four each, and two more Elites had broken through two other doors that led into the cafeteria. They were armed with plasma rifles, plasma pistols and grenades.
The Covenant fired on their enemies, who retaliated with their own gunfire.
Eve took cover behind an overturned bench. The shooting of guns and explosion of grenades echoed around her. She even, just barely, survived a grenade explosion that erupted a few feet away on her side of the table.
Eve quickly rose up from behind the table and fired several shots at the Covenant. Two of the Grunts were hit and flipped over onto their stomachs, dead. She also managed to disable one of the Elites' shields. The Elite was then gunned down by the other UNSC soldiers.
"They got leader!" one of the Grunts yelled. "Let's get outta here!"
Instantly, the Grunts began to scatter in all directions. The other Elite tried to round up the Grunts to continue fighting, but to no avail.
Eve had an idea.
"Everyone, throw your grenades," she shouted to her comrades around the cafeteria.
The soldiers obeyed and took out their grenades. They threw them at the Covenant soldiers. At once there was a tremendous explosion. The fragmentation grenades must have caused the Covenant's grenades to go off as well. A cloud of smoke and dust rose in the cafeteria, blinding everyone.
After a few minutes, the cloud cleared. The soldiers were greeted by sight of death. All the Covenant soldiers that were in front of them just seconds earlier were dead.
"Thanks for your help, Eve," a nearby soldier said.
"My pleasure," Eve replied.
Eve ran out of one of the destroyed doors and into another wide corridor. She ran down a smaller corridor that she knew led to a nearby airlock, which was full of escape pods. She had to get on one of those escape pods and get off the ship quickly before she and the data cord were destroyed or captured.
As Eve ran into another wide corridor, she saw several dead marines and a few dead Grunts. There had been a battle. The UNSC had won because three other soldiers cautiously stepped out from behind a nearby ammo barrel, their weapons raised in case thy fought Eve was a Covenant soldier.
"Oh, Eve," one of the soldiers said, relieved. "Thank God It's you. We thought your were Covenant."
"What happened?" Eve asked.
"We were ambushed," the soldier replied. "We were guarding the airlock and a huge wave of Covenant just poured out of another nearby corridor and started blasting us. We were outnumbered, so we fled down here and managed to hold them off."
"C'mon, let's get to the airlock," Eve said.
Eve led the soldiers down the corridor. They soon came across two other UNSC soldiers standing outside a locked airlock door.
"Over here," one of them shouted.
Eve and her group of soldiers approached the two outside the door. BANG! An explosion literally ripped the door apart and sent both soldiers to the floor. Out of the airlock came a swarm of Covenant Grunts led by two Elites.
"Open fire!" Eve ordered.
At once, there was an uproar of gunfire. Eve and the UNSC soldiers' gunfire cut through the Covenant soldiers like a knife through butter. Within a few seconds, the Covenant that came out of the airlock were dead.
Eve rushed over to one of the soldiers that had been thrown to the floor by the blast from the airlock door. She put two fingers on his pulse. He was dead. She did the same with the other soldier, only to met by the same result of the explosion.
"We need to keep moving," Eve said to the soldiers behind her.
She led the group further down the corridor towards a large room. However, as they got closer, they could tell something was wrong. It became clear when they entered the room.
The room was a hexagon shape with a landing that went around the edges of the walls. There was another corridor that led off from the landing and there was a flight of stairs that led from the ground floor to the landing. What was wrong was that there was a battle going on between the Covenant, who were on the landing and UNSC soldiers, who were taking cover against the stairs or against pillars that held up the landing.
"Eve, help us out!" a soldier hiding behind a nearby pillar shouted.
Eve nodded and ran up the stairs to the landing. However, several Elites and Grunts saw her and open fired. Some of the shots hit Eve's suit. Thank God for the shield or she would be dead. However, she still had to stay behind cover. Like the generals told her, this shield would most certainly not be permanent on the battlefield. Eve reached the top of the stairs and fired at a pack of minor Grunts to her left. Two of the three Grunts flipped backwards, dead. The last one panicked and ran towards the Elite, which was a minor, like a child cowering behind It's mother. The Elite growled and fired a full burst out of It's gun at Eve, who, just barely, managed to take cover behind a railing, that was attached to the stairs, near the top of the stairs.
Eve fired a few shots from around the side of the railing at the Elite. Although they bounced off the shield like pellets being fired at an elephant, the Elite jumped behind a railing that stuck out from a blast door connected to the landing. The Grunt that fled behind the Elite was killed by gunfire from other UNSC soldiers underneath the landing.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, Eve saw something big underneath the landing move. She looked in the direction she saw whatever it was move and quickly saw what is was.
A blast door was opening. Just visible through the gap, Eve could see three Grunts and an Elite.
"Guys, look out," she shouted, pointing to the blast door.
Just in the nick of time she shouted the danger to her comrades. Just as the blast door opened, the UNSC fired at the Covenant. In a matter of seconds, the Elite and three Grunts were lying on the ground, dead.
Eve looked back over at the Elite she was firing at only to see that the blast door he was near was open and now there were two Elites and four Grunts over by the blast door.
Eve loaded another clip into her gun. She turned to fire at the Covenant when she was, suddenly, charged at by one of the Elites.
The Elite grabbed Eve round the waist, sending her flying into the railing on the stairs. The railing only just withstood the impact. The Elite then grabbed Eve's neck and began to squeeze tightly. Eve clenched her fist and punched the Elite as hard as she could in the eye. The Elite, immediately, let go of Eve and staggered back against the railing on the other side of the stairs. Eve got up and got ready to strike at the Elite again, but stopped when the Elite looked up at her and clenched his hands into fists. His mandibles were baring along with his teeth. The Elite was ready to attack Eve again.
Suddenly, a burst of ammo erupted from the bottom of the stairs. Before Eve's mind could process what had happened, the Elite grabbed his side and staggered back against the railing. Purple blood quickly seeped from the wound, despite the Elite's attempt to stop the blood with his hand. Another burst of ammo threw the Elite sideways to the ground. He was dead.
Eve was lucky. A soldier with an M90 shotgun had managed to load his gun and fire at the Elite, stopping him from killing Eve.
"Thanks," Eve said to the soldier as he walked up to the dead Elite.
"Any time," the soldier replied.
"LOOK OUT!" one of the soldiers from the ground floor yelled.
Next thing Eve knew, a blue explosion lit up the entire room. The soldier was thrown forward onto the stairs. Before he could get up, the other Elite fired at the soldier, killing him with wounds to the head.
Eve grabbed the shotgun and fired at the Elite. Like his brother before him, the Elite almost fell to the floor, if he wasn't being held up by his knee. The Elite's shield had been destroyed, which Eve could tell because there was sparks showing up over It's armour. She fired another round at the Elite, who crumpled to the floor and lay still.
"Our leader's dead!" one of the Grunts squeaked. "Lets' get outta here!"
"Eve, go on. We'll deal with 'em," one of the soldiers under the landing shouted to Eve.
Eve nodded and ran into the corridor that led from the landing. She quickly had to stop when she saw a group of Covenant Grunts up ahead with a major Elite. Eve dived behind a nearby pillar. This was going to be hard. She still had the shotgun and her pistol, but it was the Elite that was causing the problem. He was a major, not a minor Elite like Eve had come across before. Also, one of the Grunts he had in his squad was a Grunt major. That wasn't too bad, but she knew that even if the Elite was killed, the Grunt major would still lead his brothers against Eve.
Just then, there came a stroke of luck for Eve. As she looked out, from the other end of her side of the pillar, she saw one of the minor Grunts walking towards her. In one hand he had a plasma pistol. In the other, a small blue ball that had an orangey/yellow colour in the shape of a lighting bolt. Eve had seen that thing before, but where.
Of course! That was a plasma grenade! She remembered Covenant weapons training. If that grenade was thrown, it stuck to almost anything. It's explosive power was incredible, but also dangerous. Then, she had an idea. She would wait until that Grunt was near the pillar, then she would pull behind the pillar kill him, take the grenade and throw it at the Elite. If the Elite was killed by a grenade explosion, that would be enough to send the Grunts running. It was suicidal, but she couldn't stay behind the pillar forever.
The Grunt was now two feet from Eve. Eve got ready like a tiger waiting to pounce. Just as the Grunt was about to turn, Eve grabbed him.
The Grunt kicked and squirmed to break out of Eve's grip, but it was no use. Eve then grabbed her pistol and brought it down with a thump on the Grunts' head. The Grunt ceased his kicking and squirming immediately. Eve didn't kill him, just knocked him out.
Eve pushed a finger down on the lightning bolt on the grenade. At once, it lit a sky blue colour and looked like it was on fire, but Eve felt no heat or pain. She stood up and threw the grenade at the Elite and ducked down again, covering her ears.
The entire corridor echoed with the sound of an explosion. Eve heard it clearly through her hands over her ears. After a few seconds, she looked up from behind the pillar.
The Elite was lying dead on the ground. The Grunts also lay still scattered no more than a few feet away from the Elite. Her plan had worked.
Eve got up and ran past the dead bodies of the Covenant. She turned right down another corridor. Suddenly, she slowed down as she came to a window that was looking out into space. Even though she was in the middle of a battle, Eve could help but smile at the beauty of the thousands of stars that shined in the distance. Like McCrea's thought earlier "Even in war, there are beautiful things" ran through her mind.
Suddenly, she snapped out of her trance when a light blue laser shot past the window and hit the side of the ship, causing a small explosion. Another two lasers smashed into the ship and caused another explosion. This was bad. Not because the explosions were in the engine room or armoury or ship's hospital. It was because several metres below where the lasers hit was the airlock bay. There were ten airlocks, each one containing a drop ship. Suddenly, a drop ship flew out of one of the airlocks. The doors didn't even have time to open before the drop ship came shooting out like a bullet. A blue laser shot past the drop ship, literally missing it by a few metres.
Suddenly, another drop ship shot out of the airlock next to the airlock where the first drop ship just was. Another blue laser only just missed this drop ship and hit It's airlock, destroying it completely.
"I've got to hurry!" Eve thought.
Eve turned right again and ran down the corridor. As she came towards a turning that led left towards the airlock, two light blue shots flew out of the next corridor and hit the wall.
"Bring it, freak bag!" a voice shouted.
Eve quickened her pace towards the turning. When she reached it, she was greeted by a scene of chaos.
A barricade had been placed halfway down the corridor. UNSC troops were on the side Eve was on. On the other side, at the other end of the corridor, were two major Elites with three packs of Grunts numbering four each. Two Grunts laid dead a few feet back from their Covenant brothers. There were also several dead UNSC behind the barrier or scattered around the Covenant side of the corridor. It was obvious this battle had been going on for some time.
Eve ran forward and ducked behind the barrier.
"What happened here?" she shouted over the noise of the battle.
"The Covenant ambushed us whilst we were evacuating this section of the ship," a nearby soldier shouted back. "At this rate, we'll never get to the drop ships."
"Don't worry," Eve said.
Eve stood up and fired two bursts of ammo from her shotgun. The bursts managed to kill two Grunts and disabled the shield of one of the Elites. However, she soon discovered, after firing a fourth round that killed another Grunt, that she had run out of ammo for her shotgun.
Eve dropped the shot gun and took out her pistol. She fired a few rounds at the Elites. Three roundstore through the shield of the first Elite. The Elite dived behind a pillar, that was part of the wall, and fired from that position at his human enemies.
Suddenly, Eve spotted a Grunt taking out a plasma grenade. If he set that off and threw at the barrier, her and the soldiers would be toast.
Before the Grunt could set the grenade off, Eve fired a round at the Grunt. However, the round didn't hit the Grunt. Instead, it hit the grenade.
At once, an enormous explosion lit up the corridor. Not only did the grenade that the round hit explode but all the other grenades the rest of the Covenant troops were holding went off as well. Within just a few mere seconds, the exploding grenades had virtually killed all the Covenant.
"We're clear!" Eve exclaimed.
"Thanks, Eve," one of the soldiers said as he climbed over the barrier.
Eve joined the soldiers as they climbed over the barrier and ran to the third airlock. As they drop ship's door opened, an explosion down the corridor that led off from the airlocks bay drew Eve's attention there. Three soldiers ran out of the corridor. Two light blue blasts hit one of the soldiers in the back. He fell forward onto the floor and lay still. One of the two soldiers ran past Eve into the drop ship. The other soldier jumped forward as an explosion several feet behind him almost blew him to pieces.
"Oh no!" he said, shielding his head with his hands.
Eve grabbed the soldier and threw him into the drop ship
"Now it will be a very good time to leave," she said as she ran inside the drop ship.
Eve pressed a button on a control panel on the wall next to the door. The door shut. Just in time as a swarm of Covenant appeared outside the airlock doorway. Eve turned and ran up to the front of the drop ship.
"Quick, let's get outta here," she said.
"Aye aye, Eve," the pilot, a young soldier in his twenties, said.
At once, Eve was almost thrown forward as the drop ship shot out of It's airlock.
The drop ship soared into space. Within a few seconds, the people on board could clearly see the Axiom through the entrance doors windows.
"We're disengaged," the pilot said as the ship soared away from the Axiom.
"We're gonna make it, aren't we, Eve?" a soldier sitting near the pilot asked. "I don't want to die out here,"
"We'll be fine," Eve said, placing a hand on the soldier's shoulder.
"Holy God," the pilot said.
Eve ran to the cog pit window and looked out. Through the window, Eve could clearly see the ring below the ship.
"What is that thing, lieutenant?" a soldier sitting next to the drop ship's door said as he looked out the window down at the ring.
"Hell if I know, but we're landing on it," the pilot said.
"Oh, no!" the soldier sitting next to the door shouted. "The Axiom! She's been hit!"
The pilot steered the drop ship back towards the Axiom but it didn't try and land on the ship. It flew underneath it.
"Look," Eve said. "The Axiom's accelerating. McCrea's going in manually,"
As the drop ship flew underneath the Axiom, more blue lasers shot into view of the cog pit window. Each one smashed into the Axiom, causing untold death and destruction to the crew onboard.
The crew then felt the drop ship descend. It was descending towards the ring. Below them was an Earth-like surface with huge bodies of open water and large landmasses that seemed to spread from one side of the surface of the ring to the other. That was the surface of the inside of the ring. The outside was like machinery. It was a grey colour with small lights that were only just visible.
"Heads up everyone, this is it!" the pilot announced. "We're entering the ring's atmosphere in five!"
As the ship descended closer to the ring, it began to shake slightly.
"Eve, are you sure you wouldn't rather take a seat?" a soldier sitting nearby asked.
"I'll be fine," Eve replied as she grabbed hold of the pilot's seat.
The drop ship descended closer towards the ring. Closer to the unknown.