Exodus part 2
Shar could tell that getting to the elevator wasn't going to be easy at all. She moved up the stairs in the building to a level of semi-transparent glass floor. A voice echoed over her head, welcoming her to the tower and it echoed in the large hall. There were a couple civilians nearby, looking terrified as she had expected they would. For now Shar ignored them, turning to the north were there was opening to a larger area.
Shar moved forward, taking in as much as she could of the room in a glance. Before her was a planter with two trees on each side. She made note of the DMR and assault rifle that were lying by it. Past it there were stairs leading up to what Shar could only guess was the elevator they were looking for. The arches reached high into the sky, holding the glass roof far above them.
Needler rounds hit Shar in the back and she spun to find herself facing a grunt. Two steps and she was on the small alien, her fist hitting it's skull with a satisfying crack. Where did they keep coming from?
Shar checked the area and confident that there was nothing else she moved back to the doorway. She spotted a grunt and fired, though the foe was too far away for her to hit it with a pistol, at least not in her condition. She looked to the west and spotted two stealth brutes moving toward her. She tossed a plasma grenade and it moved past the pair, hitting the wall behind them. One of the brutes prepared his own grenade. The explosion of her grenade caught it off guard, causing the brute's grenade to drop only feet away from the monstrous alien. Shots from the second brute's spiker found their mark, causing Shar's energy shield to flair. She threw a second grenade and moved back, looking for cover. The dropped grenade went off, killing the first brute. Shar switched to her assault rifle and fired. It kept the second brute at bay long enough for her second grenade to go off and kill it.
Gunfire filled the air as the rest of the troopers started to open fire on enemies. Shar moved around to the east side of the building and she spotted a group of grunts. Switching back to her pistol she quickly shot two of them in the head before she had to reload. Two more stealth brutes appeared and started to fire on her. She weaved in an effort to avoid their shots, though it only sort of worked. She fired with her pistol, but with her limbs aching and her mind clouded by painkillers, she was only managing to it their shoulders. At this rate she'd be killed before she killed them. She'd have to do something different. She tossed a grenade and it bounced past them, detonating far enough away that they didn't even seem to notice.
Shar switched out to her assault rifle. It may not be as accurate but at this rate her pistol fire was about as accurate as the bullets an assault rifle sprayed. She fired no the brutes, causing them to retreat back. Another public announcement echoed in the air but was drowned out by the sounds of combat. Shar moved around a staircase to where she hoped she'd get some cover and a chance for her shields to recharge.
"Somebody shut that damn thing off!" Shar had to agree with whatever trooper had made the comment. The booming voice didn't really help them, was only a distraction, and it made her head hurt a bit.
With her shields recharging Shar moved back out toward her enemies. She opened fire and quickly cut down a grunt before turning to a brute beside it. With her and another marine firing the brute didn't stand a chance and fell. Spiker rounds hit the ground near her and Shar spotted the source. A brute stood on the level that the elevator was on, firing down on them. Shar moved back, out of range. She needed to find a better way to fight these brutes, because right now she was about as useful as any of the other marines in the room.
Shar moved back to the planter that she had first seen when she'd entered. The announcements echoed again, something about evacuations. Shar didn't care, she wanted to bust out the speakers for the way they made her head pound with each word.
With her pistol nearly empty Shar dropped it, grabbing the DMR that was resting against the side of the planter. With the familiar weapon in hand Shar took a calming breath and collected herself. She moved out from around the planter and took aim at the brute on the upper level with the DMR. She swept the area but the brute must have moved back. Instead she turned her attention to a stealth brute below. Her fist shot grazed its helmet and the second two missed as it moved behind an archway.
Shar switched to her assault rifle, knowing that it would be better in close range. She moved forward and soon the brute came into view. With nothing to hide behind the brute moved out more into the open so it could fire back at Shar. She opened fire first and moved to dodge the spiker rounds. She kept her assault rifle pointed at the brute and in a second of full fire he was dead. Shar moved back as the brute on the level above fired down at her.
She switched to her DMR and focused fully on each and every shot. Her head was a bit fuzzy so the round still mostly hit the brute in the shoulder or chest. Finally, two shots found its helmet, sending it flying through the air. She fired one last time and the third round ripped through the brute's temple.
Shar moved up the second level, moving over the dead bodies of the brutes toward the east set of stairs up. She'd seen jackals at the top of the west so she hoped that there wouldn't be any there and she could get the drop on the others, even if logic told her they would be on both sides. She switched to her assault rifle and moved up the stairs. At the top she found nothing. There were no jackals waiting for her. She spotted a blue shielded jackal moving around the long planter in the center of the upper level. Shar could tell it was surprised and she opened fire.
Shar cursed as she realized she hadn't reloaded the assault rifle in a while, so when she fired there were only about ten rounds fired before it was empty. The jackal moved back around the planter as Shar reloaded. She gave chase, moving around the planter and half a second worth of rounds shredded the jackal into ground meat.
Shar turned to see a red shielded jackal right beside her. It let out a squawk of surprise and she fired. The rounds bounded off its shield but caused the bird-like alien to stumble back. Shar moved forward and her elbow stuck the jackal's neck, snapping it easily. Plasma fire hit Shar from slightly to her left and she looked to see one last jackal. She fired, moving toward it. Her clip ran dry, but she didn't care. She moved forward and smacked the butt of her gun into the jackal's head. It landed at the bottom of the stairs in a heap.
Shar moved to the elevator, eager to get on with whatever she needed to do. She could feel the painkillers starting to wear off. At this rate she needed to get this over with soon or she would collapse in combat. She hit the button to call the elevator but nothing happened.
"What the hell's taking this thing so long?" The fear was evident in the trooper's voice. Shar didn't blame him. The Covenant would know they were here, they'd come ready for a fight.
"Uh, we're evacuating a group of civilians on the floor below you. Soon as they reach the cargo port, I'll send the elevator back up." Shar was a bit annoyed by Stacker's calm. He'd just been so casual about telling them he was leaving them waiting with Covenant probably on the way.
"Dropships, deploying to the courtyard. Watch your flanks." The warning snapped Shar to attention. She moved to the east. The trooper seemed to take charge. "Okay, everyone find some cover, stay sharp. We need to hold this position." Shar wanted to do what he ordered, stay back and be somewhere safe for just a moment, but she knew if she did that she'd likely lose all of the troopers with her, and the civilians.
She moved to the doorway and prepared for anything to come. If they came the other way she was sure the troopers would alert her. From the tables set up with umbrellas she was sure this had once been a place that people ate, sat for lunch, a place of calm. Now it was a battlefield. Funny how the Covenant could turn anywhere into a battle field.
A spirit dropped down and hovered over the courtyard she was watching. Shar took aim, preparing for whatever it dropped. Four grunts and two stealth brutes hit the ground and Shar took aim. She took down the first three with headshots quickly but as she fired at the third found that the body of another grunt was in the way. She paused for a moment, allowing the grunt to move forward a bit before she dispatched it with a final headshot.
Shar stepped back, reloading her weapon and then moving back into the door way. The brutes moved around the planter they had landed behind when they'd been dropped. Two rounds and the first brute's helmet went soring. One final shot to the right side of the brute's skull made its body spin before it fell to the ground. Shar fired twice, hitting off the helmet of the second one. Her third shot stuck the pole of one of the umbrellas in the way. The fourth round managed to find its mark in the brute's skull.
That was when Shar saw the final enemy the ship had dropped. She could see the top of the helmet and the hammer of the brute poking up over the other side of the planter. She decided not to give it a chance to attack. Three rounds and the helmet broke apart, followed by a round through the head. Shar heard more phantoms, but she couldn't see them. She moved out into the courtyard making a decision.
She moved out to where the brutes had been killed. Shar dropped her assault rifle and grabbed the hammer that the brute had dropped. She needed to get this over with, and what better way than simple brute force. She noticed that one of the troopers marked as being on her fireteam's name went red and she cursed. The soldiers were under attack. Shar moved around the planter and saw that the troopers had lead several brutes toward her, and were dying since there was no cover to hide behind.
With adrenaline pumping through her veins Shar ran forward. She swung the hammer and it hit a brute who was standing over a marine, about to slam its own hammer down on the human. Shar's hammer hit it in the side and Shar grinned behind her helmet at the sickening sound of bone breaking and the insides of the brute being torn to shreds by the force of the blow. She twisted the hammer in her grip and swung it back the other way, hitting a stealth brute and catching him between the force of the hammer and a wall. The body slumped to the ground but left a nice red blotch on the wall. Sort of a Spartan version of art.
She rounded on the last remaining enemy, a skirmisher that was stumbling as rounds from a trooper's assault rifle hit it and the area round it. She moved to it and slammed the end of the hammer closer to her hand into its skull. She had to shake the hammer a bit to dislodge the dead skirmisher.
With the area clear Shar once more moved back to the elevator. She spotted one last skirmisher and switched to her assault fire. She fired lightly, just enough to keep it in place before she moved up to it and slammed her fist down on its head. She ignored the blood that now was coating her armor and looked down at the broken body of her enemy.
"Damn, Lieutenant…Glad you're on our side." Shar didn't know how to take the comment. Was he praising her for being skilled in combat, or was he more scared of the way she'd easily killed everything without missing a beat, even wielded a hammer. She wasn't sure which, but from the tone of voice she wouldn't have been surprised if it were a little of both.
The elevator finally arrived and Shar was just about to step on when she heard gunfire. Shar turned to see a stealth brute moving toward her. She met it half way, hammer in hand. She struck the brute and the blow caused the skull to go straight down and collide with the alien's pelvic bone before the body went flying. Blood coated the area and Shar looked around, simply wanting to see if there was anything else she could kill.
It was a bit worrying, but she was enjoying herself. Deep down she loved her job, making every Covenant suffer. She didn't mind the blood, mud, and guts that usually covered her. To her they sometimes felt like home. She shifted the hammer in her hand as she moved back to the elevator. She wondered if she would have used the hammer had Noble team been around. Sure, Emile might think nothing of her choosing to slam her fist into the head of just about every grunt she could, or using a hammer to basically obliterate a brute, but would the others.
She realized that she wouldn't have been that brutal in the killings, she wouldn't have put the end of the gravity hammer though the skirmisher's skull. She would have hung back with DMR and assault rifle and let them come to her, if that was what she was ordered. Still, even if Carter had ordered her to run out into the courtyard and kill the enemies, she still would have used firearms.
Shar stood in the elevator, looking over at the soldier beside her. The man looked wary, and she couldn't blame him. A soldier in high-power armor and covered in blood just walked in and stood next to him. That along with a hammer covered in blood as well made for a bit of a terrifying sight. Though honestly that was what Shar had been going for. She often found that against brutes being the more aggressive and violent sent the grunts and jackals running while it made the brutes lose their cool and caused them to slip up in their anger.
Shar hit the button on the controls in the elevator. She pushed away her thoughts, knowing that they had no place on the battlefield. She needed to be focused, ready for whatever was next.
Stacker's voice cut in over her radio. "If you're trying to get to the tower, you're too late, Lieutenant. Corvette over the starport pounded the hell out of the place. Cargo port is impassable on foot, rooftop evacs a wash." Shar listened to the information, though it didn't mean much to her. She just needed to know where she should go now. "We can use the executive landing pad, except there's no easy way to get there. A group of ODST specialists are working a plan. They might appreciate some backup."
Finally some good news. She'd get to work with some ODST.