0600 Hours, November 22, 2552
New Mombasa, Africa
We slowly picked our way through the streets. In the distance, I could hear explosions and gunfire, but it was miles away. The part of the city we were in was dead.
Literally.
We barely made any noise. Above us, Kara was sweeping the streets behind and in front of us with her keen eyes. She had already led us through a few patrols of Brutes, Grunt, and Jackals without being spotted.
I scanned the buildings around us intently, with my assault rifle at the ready. Just because the street was clear didn't mean the buildings were too.
Hannah was holding one of her two SMGs in her right hand and monocular in the other. Although our helmets could zoom in if we wanted to, there was a limit to what it could do. Having the monocular helped with spotting ground targets. Combined with the night vision in our helmets, it was a useful tool.
Simon was on point, shotgun at the ready, his black visor hiding a dark frown. I could tell from the way he had his shoulders that he did not like this. At all. Jacob was right behind him, scanning above us with a DMR. Austin was trailing behind, making sure there was no one following us. No surprises for us. Hopefully.
"We're coming up on the supply drop now. Everyone keep an eye out for Nova," Jacob said as we entered a wide plaza. In the center was a small stone pavilion with a series of steps leading towards it. Wrecked cars, Warthogs, Ghosts, and Wraiths were everywhere.
"Picked a heck of a spot, Jacob. Just like The Arena on Onyx," Simon said as we approached the glowing red box sitting just beside the pavilion. "That place was a freaking bloodbath. I hated that exercise."
"You and everyone else, Simon," Austin muttered as he scanned the surrounding buildings with his BR.
"Kara, are you in a good position?" Jacob asked.
A green light appeared on our HUDs.
"Good. Anyone hear anything from Nova?"
"No," Hannah said. "No radio contact. With anyone. We're on our own right now."
"Maybe we should try to get above or destroy any jammers the Covies have set up soon," I suggested. "We need to-"
Boom! A burst of blue plasma marred with metal, gravel, and dirt flew into the air near the entrance of the plaza across from us.
"Contact!" I heard Hannah say as we started to go prone.
We all hit the ground behind some burned out cars, but the sudden explosion hadn't been aimed at us. Gunfire started to sound, with plasma fire answering with is characteristic whine. I peeked over the edge of the car. Sprinting from the entrance was a group of five. One of them was limping, being led along by the others while under fire from an unseen enemy. I squinted.
"Uh, Jacob, I think I just found Nova."
Jacob peeked over the edge too and cursed. "Alright you guys, let's go help Josh and his team out. Kara, keep 'em covered! Austin, stay here and get ready in case we need to fall back. You know what to do. Darren, Simon, Hannah, you're with me. Let's move!"
We leapt over the car and ran to the pavilion, where Nova was currently taking cover.
After we had received our armor, the others had taken the stuff we had left behind. Each member of Nova was also in his or her own customized armor set. Josh had a Commando variant helmet with a red visor and a CNM attachment on it. His shoulders were both Hazop variants, with a PARA chest plate.
I could tell Nova was on their last leg. Each of them were sagging as if they hadn't had a break today. Their armor was singed in different places, and in one person's case, the visor was cracked down the middle. Lying in the middle of them all, right next to Josh, was… Asad. Wounded.
At first, red filled my vision. Why should we help him? He had put me in the medical bay for weeks. He was absolutely crazy. I stopped myself.
What's in the past is in the past. Let it go. Wow. That was mature of me.
We finally entered the pavilion.
"Josh!" Jacob yelled as we reached them. "What the heck happened?"
Josh, who was taking care of his downed squad mate while firing, took his eyes off of the alleyway and glanced towards us. His red-tinted helmet gave away nothing. His voice did.
"Jenna's gone."
He bowed his head.
I didn't know really who Jenna was, but she was a Spartan, and that was good enough for me. I put my hand on his armored shoulder.
"I'm sorry, man."
He nodded. "Asad here was hit. She tried to get to him, but there was a Wraith, and… and…"
Jacob nodded. "Let's try to save the rest of your squad now. You need to hold that mourning back for a little longer, OK?"
If Josh hadn't been wearing a helmet, I could of sworn that he was on the verge of tears. He took a deep breath and sighed.
"Alright, let's do it."
"How many were there?" Hannah asked as she brought out some biofoam for Asad.
"Easily twenty to thirty on foot plus armored support. We were under attack as soon as we landed."
"Got it," Jacob replied. "Kara, you hear that?"
"Loud and clear."
"Woe, she speaks!" I exclaimed in mock joy.
She promptly ignored me and continued. "I'm seeing the group Josh mentioned. They're-" She stopped in shock. "They're falling back!"
"Wait, what?" I heard Simon ask over the COM. "Covies never retreat. At least…"
"Not without a reason," I heard Austin say ominously as the sound of a distant discharge of plasma swarmed over us.
I looked up. A large blue trail of plasma was steadily falling towards us. "Everybody ,get back!"
We all scrambled to exit the pavilion. On the way out, Josh tried to grab Asad, but stumbled. I groaned and turned back. I grabbed one of Asad's hands and gave a nod to Josh. He nodded in return and we started pulling.
It was at that moment that Asad woke up from the haze of pain around him.
"Ahhhhh! What the frick!"
"Calm down, Asad, you'll bleed out," I muttered under my breath. His light blue visor locked on to me.
"You!?"
"Me."
"Hurry up, guys!" I heard Austin yell as we raced toward the line of cars with Asad in tow, yelling and cursing the whole way. The plasma that had been launched suddenly landed on the pavilion behind us with a loud boom. I turned. The stone had been broken and melted into slag; there was literally nothing left.
I shuddered and kept running.
Just as we reached the line of cars, a large blue vehicle raced from the road ahead of us and launched another orb of blue into the sky. A Wraith. And, as if things weren't bad enough, another Wraith followed right behind it.
"Well, crap."
"Jacob!"
"What have you got for me Kara?" Jacob replied.
"Those thirty infantry are coming around your flank! You gotta move, now!"
"Double crap."
Author's Note: Cliffhanger. 'Nuff said.
Not much to say about this chapter. Nova is wrecked. Eclipse will save the day… Maybe?
Well, anyways, keep reviewing. Special shout out to My Wunderwaffle iz missin for the consistent reviews. Thank you so much! Please keep reviewing, it gives me more motivation to bring you more chapters quicker, like this one.
Thanks for reading, and as always, R&R!