Cobalt Army chapter 20
Leonard watched the front viewscreen as the Covenant massed in the hanger. He took a deep breath and felt pain shoot through his chest. The biofoam that Tricia had filled his chest with to stop any internal bleeding was holding, but it couldn't stop the pain. Leonard moved to the side of the phantom and then glanced back up at the controls where Varan was sitting at the ready.
Leonard crouched at the side of the phantom, ready to spring out when the sides were lowered. He glanced over his shoulder where the other half of his team was gathered. Steve gave him thumbs up and Leonard returned the gesture. He then nodded to Varan and the soldier tapped a symbol on the controls, and the sides of the phantoms opened up.
Tricia and Joe leapt out of the phantom and ran to cover. Their SMGs fired, cutting down nearby grunts. Leonard remained in the phantom for a moment, knowing that his enemies would be distracted by the others. He took aim and let off four quick shots. He heard the cracks of a total of twelve rounds as all of Cobalt team took out their targets. The heavy grunts fell, dropping their fuel rod guns. Six brutes fell, rounds piercing through their skulls.
Leonard then jumped from the phantom, quickly followed by Allison. He hit the ground and rolled as his legs gave out under him. He moved to the cover of a few weapon pods that were stacked up in the middle of the hanger. Allison moved up beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He brushed it off and looked over to see that both Keith and Natalie had made it out of the phantom with ease. Paul and Brandon were covering them and Douglas moved to cover Leonard's other side.
Leonard switched to his shotgun and took off at a run toward the side of the hanger where there were plenty of gathered grunts. He turned suddenly and angled his direction toward the remaining brutes. Natalie did the same thing on the other side of the hanger. While the grunts were trying to track Natalie and Leonard, Sapphire Team moved forward and lobbed grenades, which fell among the clustered grunts. The explosions took them out, sending bodies flying and causing methane tanks to explode propelling several of the dead grunts into the air comically.
Steel team charged toward the main group of brutes perfectly in time to be able to meet up with the members of Cobalt team. Keith had stayed back, and as the brutes took aim at his teammates, took four shots, killing three major brutes and knocking the helmet off of the chieftain. Steel team opened fire and the jackals moved to try to make a wall of shields. Leonard and Natalie moved to try to get behind the jackal shields. The rounds of Natalie's battle riffle cut through the heads and throats of the jackals that were unaware of her presence.
Steel team charged forward easily leaping over the jackals, ignoring them. Their focus was instead on the brutes who roared as they raised their plasma rifles and spikers. The soldiers continued to fire, cutting down the shields of the ape like shields. The rounds finally broke through and three more brutes fell a second later as shots cut through them.
Leonard had managed to shotgun three jackals before he noticed a figure jumping at him. The chieftain swung the hammer down at him and Leonard did the only thing he could think of. He raised up his shotgun to shield himself. The hammer hit his weapon and the metal bent. The shotgun was sent flying from his hand and skidded across the hanger. Leonard fell to the ground but managed to roll to his feet. He drew out his combat knife and stood at the ready. "Didn't need it anyway," he taunted. He gritted his teeth as he gripped his knife tighter.
The chieftain charged forward, swinging his hammer. Leonard charged forward as well and stepped to the right, just barely out of the way of the alien's blow. He struck out, cutting through the side of the brute's side. The alien cried out in anger as it was wounded. Leonard pulled the knife free and took a step back from the brute. The chieftain tried to hit Leonard with a backhanded hit, but Leonard dropped down under the strike. Leonard moved forward, stabbing his knife into the beast's belly. Blood poured out of the wound, coating his hands. The alien moved back, trying to keep Leonard from gutting him. Leonard ran forward and dropped down, sliding between the chieftain's legs. He moved to his feet, and before the brute could turn around to face him, he jumped up on the alien's back. He raised his knife up and with all his might struck down, sticking the knife into the brute's head. The body went limp under him and fell to the floor.
The last of the brutes fell to the combined fire of the ODST. Allison and Steve moved over to Leonard. "Hanger secure, sir. All targets taken out."
"All right, seal all of the entrances to the hanger for now. Take any weapons you need in order to ensure you have some form of defense." The two soldiers moved off to do as they were ordered. Leonard turned and moved to one of the terminals in the hanger. "All right Alpha, get me a map."
Alpha's holographic form appeared, and he reached out, placing a hand on the terminal. "I have almost complete access to the ships systems through here." Leonard was pleased as a map showed up on his HUD. He easily plotted a course through the ship toward the bridge. A nav marker appeared, flashing red. "This appears to be the location of the prophet. I would suggest avoiding that location."
"We can't avoid it forever. I would like to take the prophet alive. It might help the war effort. Though first we have to get control of the ship, then we can worry about the prophet. Can you give me any video of the actual bridge, or the passages to the bridge?"
"Nope, there aren't any. You'll just have to go in blind, though from the most recent orders, the list of crew, and the ones you just killed and the tags they, have I would have to say you are about to run into one large fight." Alpha frowned and looked over at Leonard. The action was more of one for comfort rather than a need as the hologram's eyes were not how Alpha looked at things. Though he could feel the eyes on him he knew that Alpha was watching him through the various sensors and cameras in the ship. "I have been able to continue and extend the delay in the start of the glassing and mess with their navigation. The idiots have no idea I'm even here."
"Excellent, extend it for as long as you can." Leonard moved through the hanger and looked down at the bent-up shotgun. He picked it up and tossed it away. It was useless now. He moved back over to the dead chieftain and grabbed the grav hammer. He opened a COM and switched to the phantom's channel. "Green leader, this is Cobalt leader."
"I read you Cobalt leader, this is Green leader. Waiting for orders," Varan's voice crackled over the radio.
"Green leader. You are to stay in this position until further notice. Radio in if you have any problems. Steel, Sapphire, and Cobalt are going to make an assault on the control room." Leonard switched to his sniper rifle.
"Understood, Cobalt leader. Green team on standby," Varan answered.
Leonard switched to his regular team channel. "All right marines, we're going to move on. We're going to meet a lot of resistance on the bridge and we have no information as to what might be in our way. Be prepared for anything." Leonard put away his sniper rifle and grabbed a pair of plasma rifles. He then moved to the door that started the path he had laid out on his map.
The rest of his soldiers fell in behind him, weapons at the ready. Alpha opened the door and the metal slid back, revealing an open and empty hallway. Leonard moved in the lead, sweeping the hallway before them.
They ran down the brightly lit purple halls, following Leonard. They met three groups of grunts which easily were killed by the combined fire of the soldiers. They came to the door to the main bridge. Leonard moved to the side and took a deep breath. He dropped his plasma rifles and grabbed his gravity hammer. "On my mark. One, two, three, mark." The door opened and the soldiers charged in. There were twenty Captain Ultra brutes, five chieftains, and two war chieftains.
Sniper rifle rounds sped through the air, taking out three of the brute captains. The war chieftains roared and the others all pulled out weapons to open fire on the enemy. The marines spread out, trying to keep from being clustered up and hit by the brute shots. The soldiers opened fire, taking out the brute captains first. They concentrated on one at a time in groups, cutting down their shields and then filling them full of however many bullets they had to before they fell.
One of the chieftains charged toward Leonard and he ran straight at it. They both swung and the brute was sent flying. Leonard's shields were drained and he backpedaled as the other chieftains charged at him. His shields slowly recharged, and he moved forward, swinging again, this time taking out two of the enemies. A third brute swung and the shock wave sent Leonard flying through the air, straight at a captain. He hit the brute captain in the back and knocked it off of its feet. The hammer flew from Leonard's hands and he quickly pulled out his sniper rifle. He moved straight backward, taking aim and quickly firing off four shots, killing the remaining chieftains.
Steve slid across the floor, coming to a halt next to Leonard. The Sapphire Team leader was clutching his side where a brute had cut him with the blade on the bottom of his brute shot. Leonard put away his sniper rifle and grabbed one of the needlers that Steve had grabbed in the hanger. He helped Steve try to stand up, then quickly pushed him to the right as Leonard dove to the right. A large plasma bolt from the war chieftain's fuel rod gun exploded where they had been standing. Leonard felt heat wash over his body as a second shot hit on his right. His shields hadn't recharged and he felt skin blister in the heat. The war chieftains shot off another pair of blasts and Leonard and Steve scrambled to their feat, making a run for it in opposite directions. Six shots echoed and the war chieftains fell from the main bridge platform.
Leonard pushed back the pain in his leg, back, and side. He took off at a full run, firing his spiker at the closest captain brute. It took a total of five more minutes before the last of the brutes were dead. Leonard moved up the bridge and sat down in the captain's chair, needing a moment of rest. "Alpha, report."
Alpha brought up the health information of the three teams and Leonard frowned. The brutes had done more damage then he'd thought. Only three of his soldiers had gotten away without injuries. Keith and Natalie had sustained slight injuries from what he guessed was shrapnel from a spike grenade. Steve had been burned slightly on his left leg and part of his left arm from the fuel rod shot not to mention the large gash on his side. Douglas, Lorie, and Andrew had all ended up with spikes in various places. Joe and Brandon had both slight burns on the lower parts of their legs from brute shots.
None of the injuries were major enough for him to put his soldiers on a guard duty, but some of them would have to be careful of overexerting themselves from this point on. "And you." Alpha's voice was an annoying reminder to Leonard. He could still feel the pain from the hole in his leg, the few broken ribs he had, the burn on his side, and the new burns on his back.
"I know Alpha, I don't need you pestering me." Leonard turned his COM to the channel of the phantom. "Green leader, respond."
"Green leader here, Cobalt leader. Hanger's still clear." Varan sounded rather bored but at least attempting to be serious.
"Green leader, have Green Team and Puce Team head to the main bridge now." Leonard leaned forward in the chair, not daring to lean back. His back hurt enough as it was.
"Understood Cobalt leader. Green and Puce Teams heading out. Green leader out." The line went dead and Leonard closed the channel.
Leonard took off his helmet and ran a hand through his hair. He scowled as he realized that the blood on his hands had still been wet and he'd just coating a part of his head in brute blood. He had to decide what their next step would be. He wasn't sure if he should risk trying to capture the prophet or just wait and see if the prophet tried to make a move. The screens in front of him turned to a shade of light blue and Alpha appeared, looking around at them.
"I have control of all systems from here. I've shut down the weapon systems. What else would you like me to do?" Even without the AI's hologram looking at him Leonard could feel Alpha's eyes on him.
"You know what to do. Once the others get here I want you to get us out of orbit, and heading out of system. We'll make a jump out of system to a random location. I don't know if there are any other Covies in the area but I don't want to risk it. I want to get us and that thing back to UNSC territory."
"Understood sir, I will ready slipspace calculations." The doors slid open and at once eleven guns were pointed at Green and Puce team.
There was a feminine screen and a groan that sounded like Corp. "Damn man, can you scream like a man?" Grif glared at the maroon soldier.
"Oh, shut up Grif, at least my sister's not a slut." Simmons faced away from the orange soldier and pouted.
"Great, because I really need more annoyance," Leonard muttered, rubbing his forehead, once more regretting it as he left a trace of blood. "Alpha, get us the hell out of here."
"Moving out of orbit and out of system." Alpha announced. The Covenant ship turned and moved away from the planet.
~End Chapter 20~