So… this will be the final chapter of John and the Dragon Rider. Look out for the sequel though. Yes, there will be a sequel; I'm not giving up on John and the Dragon Rider so easily.
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John sighed as he put the Scorpion tank into drive. Thel was in the gunner's seat reading from a holopad while Kyle was driving another tank alongside John's. They've been driving for five hours now, and Uru'baen's tall siege walls came into view. Trailing the two lead tanks, hundreds of other scorpions, warthogs, and wraiths readied their weapons. John opened a COMM line to all units, "Target spotted, all units, engage ground forces." Hundreds of thousands of Empire and Loyalist soldiers rushed from the city's entrance to face them. Suddenly a scorpion exploded into a piece of twisted metal as a fiery explosive smashed into it. "CATAPULTS!" Soon after the destruction of the first vehicle, the ground troops charged at the convoy at full tilt. Wraiths used their plasma mortars to fire over and behind the city's siege walls, managing to take out some of the enemy support.
A whole group of warthogs exploded as a colossal black dragon engulfed them in a scorching inferno. On his black dragon, Galbatorix raised a glowing hand and whispered a quick spell that destroyed three wraiths. The COMM line was in chaos everyone was shouting at once. Almost half of John's convoy had been destroyed by catapults or the King. Vehicles were trying desperately to keep the enemy infantry at bay while anti-armor picked them off one by one. The UNSC and Separatist infantry managed to survive for some time to keep the enemy troops at bay.
Slowly, the Empire's soldiers began to pull back as the convoy continued to push hard. John and the others had abandoned their vehicles to attack on foot. Ghosts began to move in burning down any Empire forces that remained. The King continued to rain hell on what was left of the attack force. The enduring warthogs and ghosts pushed in deeper into the city while infantry stayed behind to mop up what was left. John, Kyle and Thel rode on a warthog into the city along with the rest of the remaining vehicles. Very few soldiers were left of what was once Galbatorix's great army. The prophet of Redemption was surrounded by his seven brute bodyguards as he rode out to battle in his gravity throne. "In the name of the Great Journey, you shall be cleansed of your insolence!" The brutes with gravity hammers rushed forward and smashed what was left of the Separatist ghosts. "Hang on, this is going to be a rough ride!" John yelled as he splattered two of the brutes all over the street. "How does the bumper taste asshole?" Kyle shouted as he gunned down another brute with the LAAG turret. Thel jumped out to land on the Prophet's gravity throne. "Unhand me, filthy heretic! Your defiance shall be silenced!" Thel activated his energy sword and with a mighty yell, he brought it down with all his might. The last of the Hierarchs was dead. "Hey, showoff, you mind? We have a castle to storm here!" Kyle yelled from the gunner seat. Disbanded grunts could be seen roaming the city, running around yelping in fear and disorder. All of them were gunned down mercilessly.
Outside of the city walls, what remained of the UNSC infantry forces looked to see another horde of flood charging at them in the distance. The battle hardened soldiers solemnly nodded to each other as they readied their weapons for their final stand. "TILL DEATH!" one marine cried as they readied their weapons and prepared for the inevitable.
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The King growled, 'The blasted Varden has breached the outer wall, the parasite will deal with the ones outside while I shall eliminate those three annoyances.' The dragon growled in affirmative as it swooped down towards the unsuspecting warthog.
"Incoming!" Thel shouted as the massive black shadow of the dragon blotted out the sun. Kyle positioned the warthog turret and released a stream of superheated bullets which clattered harmlessly on the dragon's rock-hard scales. The beast opened its monstrous jaws and unleashed a torrent of flames that the small vehicle narrowly dodged. Kyle squeezed down the trigger of the turret until it gave a very loud 'click' "Oh for the love of…" The huge dragon spat another stream of flames at the three. The warthog's wheels melted and deflated from the intense heat. The warthog careened and spun out of control as all four tires exploded. Our three heroes were sent flying out of their automobile as it flipped and turned down the street. The monstrous beast landed with a thundering crash. The Rider smiled cruelly as the dragon sent forth another jet of searing hellfire. Galbatorix laughed mercilessly as he saw Thel and Kyle collapsed under the intense heat. But what he didn't see was a lone drop pod streaking down at dangerous velocities. The small drop pod smashed into the dragon in a shower of blood, gore, and meat, effectively crushing its wards and killing it instantly. The SOEIV hissed and its hatch blew off to reveal an African-American in ODST armor with a cigar in his mouth, "So who's next?"
John's mouth dropped open in shock, "Sgt. Johnson? I thought you were dead." The marine let out a dry chuckle while he pulled out his shotgun, "Hell, Chief, it'll take more than that flashy light bulb and an exploding hula hoop to take out Sergeant A.J. Johnson." John grinned at that.
"You… you killed my dragon! How dare you defy my power!" Galbatorix rose from the remains of his dragon.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did I hurt your pet lizard? Well too bad!" Johnson taunted as John concentrated all of his angry thoughts into his powers. John released a shimmering beam of pure energy from his raised palms at Galbatorix who blocked it with his Rider's sword. Thel and Johnson then joined in John's assault with their own firepower. Kyle then rose to his feet with a rocket launcher in hand. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Galbatorix screamed in horror as the projectile sped towards him. Instead of exploding, the rocked bounced off of Galbatorix's head with a dull 'thunk.'
"Kyle, what the hell was that?" John yelled as he tried to keep up his steady beam.
"That was a Nerf round, I had no idea what to do with it so…"
"You idiot! Hit him with the real thing!" Johnson yelled. Kyle loaded the weapon with the deadly explosive and pulled the trigger. Galbatorix yelled in horror again as the rocket sped toward him and erupted into a massive explosion of concentrated energy. John collapsed as the attack drained him of his vitality. The Mad King was dead. Thel and Kyle sat on a pile of debris to catch their breaths while Johnson stayed standing.
Suddenly the ground started to rumble and shake. Massive tentacles burst from the ground and a mental voice boomed, 'Opposition has been destroyed! Now, we shall destroy and consume the galaxy of flesh and mind and bone!" Dozens of flood combat forms leapt from the tall buildings. Frightened civilians rushed to and fro trying just to survive only to be taken down and transformed by the infection forms. "Trade one villain for another." Thel muttered as he activated both of his energy swords while Kyle raised his rocket launcher and John readied his Spartan Laser. More pelicans and phantoms arrived on the spot to drop off more troops and vehicles. The city was in shambles, a careless civilian left a torch burning at the base of a haystack that caught on fire and soon the inferno spread to most of the buildings. The group of four ran along the crowded streets of Uru'baen blasting away at any flood they could see. At the entrance of the city, the group of brave marines valiantly fought off the oncoming horde of flood. They were joined by the four heroes, "Marine! What's your status?" Johnson yelled over the chorus of screeches and gunfire. "We're pinned, we're outnumbered, and we're totally screwed!"
Johnson smacked him over the head, "Pull it together fool!"
"Pelican Foe Hammer, this is Cortana, requesting pickup and support."
"Roger that ma'am Foe Hammer inbound." A few moments later, pelican dropship came and unleashed a barrage of missiles that slowed the advance of the flood. "Hurry, get aboard!" The pilot yelled. A massive Separatist assault carrier hovered over the city and Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum's voice rang out over the COMM, "All units, pull back. We shall glass the infestation into oblivion!"
Inside the pelican, the group watched as the rest of the pelicans and phantoms retreated to safety as a light originating from the Separatist ship grew brighter and more intense as the weapon of mass destruction turned the infested city into molten glass. "It's over, it's finally over." John said as his mind drifted to other matters. "What are you thinking about Chief?" Cortana suddenly asked. John muted his helmet speakers, "I'm about to become a father, how am I supposed to deal with that?"
"With a large amount of luck." Cortana replied casually.
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"I present to you, Master Chief 117, the Prisoner of War Medal, for showing courage under captivity and torture. John took the medal and smiled. The crowd burst into cheer as John stepped off of the stage to sit beside his friends. A messenger came to John and whispered into his ear, "Sir, you are needed at the hospital." Kyle heard the message and nudged him forward when he was frozen in his seat.
All her life, Arya had never experienced so much pain. She gave a shout of agony as the child forced its way out of her. Her hopes rose as John walked into the room. Arya screamed and pushed one last time and was rewarded with the sound of crying. "Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Sierra, it's a boy."
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Well, that wraps it up. I think John's last name is Sierra, correct me if I'm wrong. See you next story!