Vanguard
Chapter 25
"Armored warfare"
[Grasslands, Ukio]
[Morning]
Ahsoka was sleeping well on the ground she laid on, the dirt beneath her was soft and warm like her bed aboard the Vanguard, another benefit for the UNSC over the Republic, but something began to feel wrong. This disturbing feeling prompted the young togruta to slowly wake up, her eyes flittering, until she found herself face to face with a sangheili lying dead literally inches from her.
"AAH!" she yelped as she scrambles away from the corpse.
"Oh good you're awake" James's voice chirped from behind her.
She quickly turns her head to find him sitting down with his armor partly covered in a mix of dark purple and florescent blue blood, "What happened!?"
He came with a question of his own "What do you think happened?"
Ahsoka stood up to her feet and looked around to see an entire squad of covenant soldiers lying dead all around them, she then turned to the SPARTAN with an unamused expression "You planned this."
"What?" he asks as if insulted.
"You planned this I know you did."
"Do you honestly think I would risk your life by using us as bait in the middle of the night just to lure a covenant squad out from hiding after following us from the skirmish with the tanks?"
She stared at him with her hands on her hips not saying another word, he couldn't help but shrug his shoulders "Sorry."
She then pressed her hand against her forehead and asks "Please tell me you're alright."
"I don't see any red on me so I think I'm good."
She sighs "I told you to wake me if you needed me."
"I know and I didn't need you. Besides you looked like you were enjoying your sleep."
She then crossed her arms and frowned at him "I was . . ."
He eventually started to stand up "Well no sense in sitting around here, I mean unless you enjoy our new company."
She knew he had a small grin behind his helmet when she punched him in the shoulder as she passed by, the two then climbed aboard their walkers and resumed their hunt for the Covenant.
They passed over the next hill when Ahsoka took another look at the SPARTAN's MJOLNIR armor, caked with alien blood, and comment "That color suits you."
He scoffs "Funny. I'll be sure to remember that when you become covered in whatever the hell it may be."
She gave a light grin before facing forward again.
[Three hours later]
Hours passed and the two had yet to see any trace of their targets, the long silence was rather comforting for the two, not once did the two say a word ever since Ahsoka's remark on James's armor.
The story he told continued to nag at Tano, questions continue to stack up in her mind, so she needed to ask "What does the UNSC have to say about those records you find?"
The sudden break in the silence caught the SPARTAN off guard "Hm? Oh . . . they never got to know anything about it."
"What? What do you mean?"
He gives a light sigh "After I returned to the Vanguard I began writing up a report that was supposed to go directly up to HIGHCOM, a committee consisting of the highest ranking members in all of human space, but unfortunately the Covenant arrived and immediately engaged afterwards, forcing us to jump into slipspace."
"And you didn't bother to make the report afterwards?"
"We couldn't, Slipstream Space is a dimensional subdomain of reality meaning anything outside the ship can become distorted and warped, unless you're underneath the vessel's protective shields, including outgoing messages. I had to wait for several months until we came out of slipspace at a randomly selected set of coordinates as per Cole Protocol."
"Cole Protocol?"
"The act of which if a UNSC or UEG vessel is forced to retreat from a confirmed Covenant presence they are by protocol supposed to jump away leading the Covenant away from any undiscovered human colony worlds, especially major population centers. If the Covenant manages to board a vessel, the crew is then ordered to erase all data from their servers including the ship's AI and set the ship to self-destruct. These were done in order to slow down the Covenant's advance through space."
"Ok then. You came out of slipspace then what?"
"Well not to anyone's surprise there was a CCS-Class Battlecruiser sitting lying in wait where we dropped out. So we had no choice but to make another jump as fast as possible."
"Wait they knew you were coming through slipspace? How?"
"The Covenant has always been faster than human ships, they even possessed the capability to track our exit vectors and follow us through before ending up ahead of us on the other side."
"So there was really no chance of you escaping then."
"No, during that time we spent nearly a year in slipspace trying to elude that cruiser. It was only until one day we came out of slipspace to find the cruiser destroyed and a small UNSC battlegroup waiting there."
"Well that's great, so then why haven't you made your report to HIGHCOM?"
"By the time I was about to send my report up, the captain received orders from NAVCOM to report to the fleet gathering over Fumirole. When I raised my argument to Lord Hood he said that my report would have to wait, believing that a planet is more important than ancient history. In a way I suppose he's right."
"So only you know about the Forerunners and the war . . ."
"Yeah."
It was then at that moment when Percival's voice crackled in the SPARTAN's helmet "Sierra-121 be advised, you have three unidentified contacts approaching from the west."
"What?" James asks seeming surprised when he turns around to see three Republic LAAT gunships with grey markings flying low overhead at combat speeds following one another, two were infantry transports while the third carried what appeared to be a giant mechanical beetle with six legs.
Longarm continued to watch them fly away into the distance, oddly enough in the same direction they were heading, but Ahsoka quickly recognized the markings and exclaimed "That's Master Plo!" and immediately takes off.
The SPARTAN reached out with his hand as a sign to stop "Ahsoka wait!" but she was gone in an instant with her walker charging over the hill ahead of them, he had little choice but to follow her.
On his way to catch up with Tano he takes the time to contact the Vanguard "Percival, I need wombats over to my position, find out where those gunships are heading."
"Already on it. Wombat-Bravo has been deploy to your AO, ETA five minutes."
"Good. I need to know what we're walking into."
"You will be notified when Bravo arrives."
James signs off his helmet and kicks his walker into overdrive and eventually caught up with the togruta who was already sprinting far ahead of him.
He calls out to her "Ahsoka wait!" but she didn't respond as the two soon started to hear echoes of distant blaster fire and explosions beyond the next hill, they could see several smoke columns reaching high into the sky.
The moment they reached the top of the hill and looked down into the infinitely expanding plains Ahsoka was met with a scene she never wanted to see again. Two massive armies clashed in the open fields exchanging heavy fire, Covenant soldiers overwhelming clone positions while pockets of Republic forces continue to hold their ground regardless of the heavy losses the were gaining. LAATs, ARC-170 Starfighters, Seraphs, and Banshee interceptors blanketed the air in fierce and savage dogfights while Covenant Wraiths fitted with Anti-Air batteries filled the sky with heavy flak.
On the ground, squadrons of Republic AT-TEs march forward in steady formations, firing their forward facing quad laser cannons and the powerful top-mounted mass driver cannons, while the Covenant wraiths stayed at a distance and continue to lay down a furious barrage of heavy plasma fire from their thundering mortars, obliterating infantry positions and heavily damaging the armored walkers.
"That doesn't look good . . ." James mutters before turning to ask Tano "Think your friend is in that mess?"
"I'm sure of it" she replies, she took another moment to witness the sheer carnage of the battle before stating "Look Longarm, if this is battle is too much for you then I understand. But I'm going in there to find Master Plo."
She was met with silence before turning her look to him, to find him staring back at her through his expressionless helmet, and he asks "You do realize you're talking to a SPARTAN right? We were meant for this. C'mon lets go find your friend" before he takes off into the raging battle, she made a small proud grin before following him in.
[Meanwhile]
Jedi Master Plo Koon and clone Commander Wolffe, along with a squad of troopers called the 'Wolfpack', were holding their ground using a hastily constructed rampart and dug out foxholes with a two AT-TEs providing fire support about twenty meters behind them. The Jedi was effortlessly blocking bolts of plasma with his blue lightsaber, each bolt dissipates rather than deflects which he finds unique, while Wolffe and his fellow troopers made expert use of their defenses and their longer ranged weapons putting down accurate fire back at the enemy.
Plo Koon blocks another bolt of plasma just as a trooper pops out of his cover and takes aim only to be killed by an oncoming needle that struck him in the chest, piercing his plastoid armor and tearing into his chest before detonating, this prompted the Jedi to call out "We must hold the line! Keep the pressure on!"
Wolffe relayed the order to the others "You heard the General! Let 'em have it!"
Plo watched as the aliens in front of him were cut down by blaster fire, some caught in the open while others dove to the ground to avoid it and the rare few that embraced the incoming fire with their energy shielding. But the more they killed, there always seemed to be even more to replace them. He quickly spots a large alien in maroon armor, distinguished by their four mandibles, charging towards him with a dual pronged energy sword.
The alien stops and roars to the Jedi "Come fight me! Embrace a warrior's death!"
Plo Koon accepted the alien's challenge and charges towards him, leaving the rampart, with his lightsaber ready, the alien quickly entered a stance before lunging at the Jedi. The Jedi master quickly makes a downward swipe while his opponent in return raises a right uppercut, the two blades clashed and released a sudden burst of electrical discharge forcing the two to break away.
The alien lets out a gruff snarl before stepping towards the general and make a quick wide swing with his sword, Koon merely skips backwards eluding the blade before using the Force to grab his opponent and draw him in just as he raises his saber and impales the creature through the stomach. The warrior chocked and gasped just before drawing his last breath and fall over dead, another large alien, dressed in blue armor, roared in anger over the swordsman's death and the oncoming attack became ever more fierce, forcing the Jedi to fall back until he realized he was trapped and surrounded on all sides.
A clone barks out "General get outta there! You're exposed!"
But his time of opportunity to escape has gone the moment it came, another alien wielding a sword roars out "KILL THE HERETIC!"
One by one the soldiers charged the Jedi attempting to close in and kill him but Master Plo was a skilled swordsman and user of the Force. He strikes down the first attacker, a small but incredibly fast bird-like creature plated with thick natural black skin and feathers appearing out of the figure's head, before using a Force Push to blast away three more of the larger soldiers. Another sword wielder charges in and makes a high swing to decapitate the Jedi but Plo expertly dropped below the blade and made a deep slash across the opponent's midsection to which it falls to the ground dead.
Some of the lesser species, the small stumpy figures with breathing tanks on their backs, began to run away in fear while a new threat appeared in front of the Jedi and the Wolfpack, two hulking behemoths plated in heavy purple armor with orange exposed 'skin', a heavy silver metal shield mounted on the giants' left arms, and an unusually looking arm-mounted cannon on the right. The two giants were charging their way to the Jedi, ramming through friend and foe alike without care with their shields raised braving through the clones' blaster fire.
The Jedi Master went on the defensive just as the first giant came into striking range, raising its shielded arm high above its head before swinging it down smashing it into the ground like a sledgehammer, he quickly skips back and makes a swipe at the shield with his saber. To his surprise his sword only made a scratch against the hardened metal and was forced to fall back to where his troopers were.
"Concentrate fire on the two larger ones!" he orders to his men.
One clone responded "Sir yes sir!" just before most of the troopers turned their aim on their new target and open fired.
The behemoths continued to face enemy fire until one charged its arm cannon and fired a green pulsating fuel rod canister aimed at a portion of the rampart, the shot slammed into the defensive wall and blasted away the part of the rampart as well as the two troopers that stood behind it killing them instantly in a display of green radioactive fire. The other quickly followed suit and fires a shot directed at one of the walkers behind the troopers, the canister slammed into one of the walker's forward facing cannons, destroying it outright while severely damaging the glass cockpit that sat right next to it.
Wolffe barks out "Protect the walkers!" before laying down fire with his dual DC-17 pistols.
The clones continue to hold the line as long as they could, some scoring a kill here and there while some fell to intensifying plasma fire and needles. Plo Koon continued to distract the two giant creatures but it was proving to become futile every time he heard one of his men cry out in pain after being impaled by a needle or their body boiled after a bolt of superheated plasma struck it. This enemy was certainly unlike any he had seen before, one with a zealous hatred towards humans and others that align themselves with them.
Shortly after one of the giants was blown away into a hundred worm-like pieces after taking a direct hit from one of the walkers' mass driver cannon, however this turned out to be a dangerous move once the other went into a fit of utter rage. The monster immediately began to charge the rampart, ramming through the defenses like an enraged bull, and began to tear the clones apart with unmatched ferocity.
"LOOK OUT LOOK OUT!" one clone cries out just before being crushed on the weight of the shield that was brought down on him like a hammer.
The clone defenders quickly backed away from the beast, firing their blasters on the giant as it tore through their numbers. Plo Koon knew this thing was on the verge of wiping out his entire squad in seconds and he needed to deal with it, he leaps from his post on top of the rampart and quickly sprints to aid his men.
"Take it down! Take it down!" a clone barks.
"Watch the arms! Watch it!" another yells as he fired his rifle.
"I got it! I got- AAGH" a trooper screams as he was brutally swept aside by the hulking shield.
The giant was unrelenting, decimating trooper after trooper, until it turned its sights on the approaching Jedi and lets out a guttural roar before charging at full speed ramming any clone that was caught in its path. The alien finally came within striking range and makes a hard wide swing with its shield, attempting to smash the Jedi, but Plo Koon was just as agile as the beast was as he leapt over the shield and lands on the giant's back. The creature lets out another roar as it reached back to grab the Kel Dor until the master made a single swipe with his saber and severed the opponent's right arm, the giant was even more enraged until Plo plunges his blade straight into the monster's back forcing it to let out a cry of agony. Then almost immediately the Jedi Master withdraws his saber and makes another slash, this time aimed for the creature's neck, effectively decapitating it before jumping off. However to his surprise the giant was still standing and somewhat still capable of fighting as it slowly turned around emitting a low threatening growl but was ended immediately once he made one final swipe at the giant's midsection. The giant then collapsed to the ground, small worms fleeing the empty armor in whichever way possible however Plo was able to grab on before it got too far and examine it.
"Precarious little creature . . ." the Kel Dor mutters as the worm wriggled and squealed to be released.
Wolffe quickly rushes to the general "Sir! Great job taking that thing down, but we lost a lot of men. I'm not sure how much longer we can hold."
"What about our other fronts?" he asks.
"Not too good sir, we're getting multiple reports of the enemy overwhelming our positions. Their armor is tearing us to pieces."
"Then we'll need to do something about that as quickly as possible."
"I can get a small strike team together, hit them from behind."
"Very well, do what you-"
"Kotuya Master Plo!"
He quickly stops himself and turns around to see Ahsoka Tano and a large dark armored figure arrive on a pair of AT-RTs, his heart was lifted above all the horrible carnage he had seen today "Kotuya Little Soka . . . it is good to see you again."
"Likewise Master" she replied as she climbed offer her walker and run up to him "Is everyone alright?"
"I'd be lying if I said we were doing better than we hoped."
Longarm had already dismounted his walker and already sprinted past the two without greeting the Jedi, prioritizing the Covenant over a friendly hello, which Plo merely watched the armored soldier rush to the front before asking "I see Longarm is still in your company."
"You know him?"
"Master Kenobi spoke highly of his combat skills and equipment, though I question his allegiance . . ."
"He means well Master don't worry. And you're really lucky to have him here today."
"How so?"
"He's an expert when it comes to these guys, stay out of his way and he'll handle the rest."
The Jedi turned to the Commander "Take this and make sure it is secured, I wish to study it later."
Wolffe was somewhat reluctant to take the worm but he does so anyways and heads back towards a landed gunship while the two made their way up to the front.
"We're gonna need some help up here!" a clone calls out as he ducks below cover, narrowly missing a burst of plasma.
James reported in "This is SPARTAN-121 on station and ready to assist!" just as he slams his body up against the rampart, sets his anti-materiel rifle on top of the dirt wall and fired his first shot sending the high velocity round tearing through the nearest Sangheili's skull.
One clone emerged from cover in time to see the elite drop with a low groan before looking over his shoulder to see a large black ironclad soldier wielding a large rifle fire his second round, scoring another easy kill.
Another trooper spots the SPARTAN and calls out "The heck is that thing!? A droid!?"
But a third dismisses the question "Who cares it's on our side! Just keep fighting!"
Ahsoka and Plo Koon soon made their way to the rampart, drawing their sabers and begun deflecting incoming bolts, aiding the frontline troopers in their desperate struggle to stay alive against such an aggressive foe. Fortunately for them they had an equally aggressive ally, a SPARTAN. Koon watched as Longarm takes down the larger aliens with his highly lethal slugthrower, each round penentrating the Sangheili's shields and body with devastating effect, and was beginning to become impressed by his marksmanship.
He then notices the SPARTAN was looking at him "Get ready to push forward General!"
One clone however hesitates "Wait what!? You're not serious are you!?"
"Yes I am trooper! Don't worry we have it covered."
Then Plo Koon had to ask "Who is 'we'?" with some concern.
James ducks below the dirt wall and got on his comms, he had to yell over the gunfire and explosions, "Sierra-121 to Vanguard Actual come in over!?"
Percival's voice responded "Loud and clear SPARTAN."
"It's hell down here! What's the ETA on that wombat!?"
"Alpha and Bravo are arriving in the AO now and we're receiving visual."
"Good! We're going to need close air support at our position, danger close! Make sure to target the wraiths!"
"I have a fix on your coordinates, shall I have Jorge be deployed?"
"Only until the skies clear up a bit! There's still a lot of flak going out!"
"Understood."
Longarm signs off and looks over to the Jedi Master "We're going to have support in a minute, get ready to make your push!"
Ahsoka turns and asks "What about you!?"
"What do you mean!? I'm going to be right beside you leading the charge!"
That was when one of the troopers spots in the distance across the fields and calls out "Enemy armor! Point three-five!"
The Jedi and SPARTAN looked to where the clone specified and quickly spots three Covenant tanks approaching in 'V' formation, each one aligning their heavy mortars to their desired firing solutions, until they simultaneously fired a barrage across the field.
The clones began to scatter but Longarm ordered them "Wait! Wait! Keep watching!"
The troopers had no idea what was going on but they did so and carefully watched the three bulbous blobs of plasma soar through the air until they finally got a better picture of where they were going to land, one of Plo Koon's walkers.
"NOW MOVE! Clear the walkers!" the SPARTAN barks.
The troopers sprinted away, some were closer to the walkers than others, just as the three shots slams into the damaged walker, two rounds to the front section while the third impacted the rear, each bolt furiously burned away the durasteel armor before emitting a concussive blast on the inside that gutted the walker from the interior. Ahsoka watched as the AT-TE stumbled, trying to maintain its footing after the devastating hit, but it was becoming futile and it eventually collapsed under its weight crashing down into the ground.
Koon spots Wolffe returning to the front and orders "Commander! Coordinate with the walkers and take out those tanks!"
"You got it Sir!" the commander responded before contacting the remaining walker's gunner "Gunner! Target enemy armor at point three-five, elevation one-one-three!"
The walker's main mass driver cannon swiveled to the designated coordinates, the gunner acquiring a lock on the leading vehicle, and fires the shot, sending a solid projectile round streaming across the open fields until it smashes into the wraith's shields. The size of the round and the high velocity was enough to dismantle the shields and damage the glacis plate heavily, the tank came to a screeching halt before it resumed its advance shortly afterwards.
"Hit 'em again trooper!" Wolffe roars out.
As ordered another round was sent downrange, this time the shot punched through the frontal armor and ripped the insides apart, the plasma drive core became ruptured which engulfed the vehicle in the ensuing explosion.
"Good hit! Next target at point three-seven! Same elevation!"
"I got it Commander!"
On the front, another clone trooper looks to the sky and spots an incoming craft he never recognized "New contact up high! Coming in fast!"
Longarm looks up to see the two F-99 UCAVs flying in, with one following the other, at combat speeds "That's our support!" he turns to Plo Koon "General get ready!"
The two combat drones zipped, ducked, and weaved through the aerial battles, evading fighters and heavy flak, while maintaining the formation until they came within weapons range with their on-board 30mm gatling cannon and Scorpion Air-to-Surface Missiles.
The leading craft zeroed in on one of the remaining two tanks and spun up its seven-barrel rotary cannon and let out a deafening 'BRRRRRRRRRT' as it fired a unholy barrage of armor-piercing incendiary shells into the wraith's weaker side armor, literally ripping it to shreds. The second wombat acquired a lock on the last tank and launched two of its six anti-tank missiles, both rocketed away and impacted the armor in a simultaneous collision that destroyed the hull with raw power.
The clone gunner atop the last standing walker stood up from his seat and looked out to see the two tanks destroyed while the two drones flew away preparing for their next run "Show off!" he yells out.
Longarm watched the two tanks burn before turning to the Jedi "Now's the time General!"
Plo Koon nodded and with a single swing of his blade he orders "Men advance! We're taking the fight to them!"
Commander Wolffe relays the order to their walker "AT-TE 592 begin your advance!"
On order the six-legged walker began its slow march firing its forward facing blaster cannons and mass-driver while the troopers on the ground vaulted over the plasma charred rampart following their Jedi general alongside their unexpected help and begin their push on the Covenant.
The Republic forces slowly gained more ground with each step they took as they fought and died, the smaller aliens begun to panic and retreat from their heavy losses while the larger species of soldiers fought back, holding their ground with the aid of shield gauntlets and rapid-fire plasma weapons. Covenant and clones fell one after another, some riddled with blaster bolts while others had scorched armor and needles lodged in them, but each side continued to fight for their reasons.
Ahsoka and Plo Koon stood side by side deflecting incoming bolts of plasma while Force deflecting high velocity needles until young Tano catches sight of a Sangheili hurling a blue pulsating orb that latched itself onto the chest plate of a trooper, the clone grabs it and tries to get it off yelling "I CAN'T GET IT O—" before being engulfed and vaporized by the following explosion.
Plo Koon states "We're taking heavy losses! We must fall back!"
But the SPARTAN was closing the gap, he was the last to vault the rampart and provided long range support with his rifle, and arrived next to the Jedi "No! We've got to keep pushing!" he takes aim and fires another round into a Kig-Yar before tapping onto his comms "Vanguard Actual this is Sierra-121, we need 052 down here now!"
"Acknowledged SPARTAN" the AI responded "Sierra-052 is disembarking the Vanguard as we speak. Alpha and Bravo were forced out of the AO by a couple of bandits but should be returning any moment to resume support runs.
Longarm looks up to the skies and quickly spots the two drones closing in on their location "I see them! I'm also running low on ammunition, I need you to launch ordnance pod three zero eight on my position!"
"Confirmed, ordnance pod has been launched, ETA thirty seconds."
"Appreciate it!" he states before signing off and place another round into an approaching Sangheili.
"I admire your spirit Longarm but we must face reality that this is a losing battle!" Koon states as he begins holding his ground.
"Not for long! We got luck on our side!"
"I never believed in luck!"
James slaps his empty rifle onto his back "Well lucky for you, we SPARTANs make our own luck!" and charges ahead of the force right into the covenant swarm.
"What is your friend doing?" he asks to Tano.
"Oh well . . . he's simply setting an example. Don't worry he does this a lot."
Longarm makes first contact with the enemy, cocking his right arm back before shooting it out like a bullet against a jackal's lower jaw breaking it and its neck thus killing it, before he draws his combat knife and electrostaff into his hands. Without much effort he tosses his staff into the air and catches it, holding it like a javelin, before he threw it with all his might sending it spiraling through the air at impressive speeds before it punctures a surprised Sangheili through the chest. With his combat knife at hand he closes the distance between him and an elite ultra, signified by their pure white armor, just as the Sangheili spots him and readies its energy sword.
The two got within striking range just as the ultra makes a right uppercut with his blade but Longarm sidesteps to his right, avoiding the blade entirely, and deliver a quick jab with his left fist impacting the elite's abdomen with heavy force. The alien dropped his sword and placed his two hands over his gut before falling to a knee, however he was able to recover and throw right hook towards the SPARTAN's helmet. A clone in the midst of the fighting watches the seven foot soldier duck under the swinging fist and grab the Sangheili's right arm with his own arm before throwing him over his body in a duckunder takedown, once the elite slammed its back on the ground James readied his knife and drove it into his opponent's throat.
The clone was taken by surprise muttering "That's amazing . . ."
Meanwhile Ahsoka and Plo Koon were steadily pushing the advance, now made possible by the return of the wombats and their fire support in combination with the AT-TE walker marching behind them, as they effectively took down any covenant that were to come within range of their sabers. However it was then when three elites, all adorned in smooth organic-styled maroon armor and armed with a sword of their own, charged the two Jedi with zealous resolve. Two of the zealots targeted Plo Koon while the third engaged young Tano, effectively separating the Jedi from each other.
The zealot attacking the togruta makes a swipe for her waist but she skips backwards to avoid the blade, however the Sangheili recovers from the miss and comes back around with his sword in full swing. Ahsoka quickly threw her two sabers up in front of her letting the energy sword to clash releasing a surge of electricity in every direction as the two were forced into a lock. The zealot's strength was greater than that of Tano's as he began to press down on her, forcing her knees to bend under the force, until the Sangheili backs away and sends a powerful kick into her gut knocking her onto the ground with her sabers out of reach.
The zealot was giving Tano no chance to recover her lightsabers as she stood up when he swings to decapitate her, fortunately she was able to duck below the blade before throwing her left fist up against the elite's elbow joint, forcing the Sangheili to drop his sword after a shock of pain shot through his arm, and finished it up with a high roundhouse kick sending her right foot slamming into the underside of his mouth, shattering the already weakened shields from the battle around them, and breaking a mandible.
The zealot staggered back a couple of feet before giving out an enraged roar, three of the four mandibles spread wide, and charged the togruta, fiercely tackling her to the ground. Ahsoka's back was pressed against the dirt while the elite was on top of her raising a right fist before bringing it down to her face, she quickly moves her head out of the way before throwing up her arms to block the left fist that followed shortly after. She then shot her right arm out like a rocket impacting the side of the alien's face which caused him to let out a snarl at her. The elite then used his right hand and forcibly grabbed her left arm, pinning it to the ground, and wrapped his left hand around her neck tightening his grip.
The Sangheili growled with a low ominous tone "You dare side yourself with the demons and defy us? You will suffer for your sins . . ."
His grip was now crushing her neck, she struggled to breath as she reached for her thigh with her right free hand and grabbed a hold of what she was looking for, and in an instant a loud crack of gunfire echoed from somewhere between the two. The zealot grunted for a brief moment before shot after shot was fired into him, Ahsoka had taken her M6C Magnum and pressed it against his exposed stomach area, all twelve rounds had entered his body tearing away at the flesh and bone.
Tano kept pulling the trigger but all she heard were weak 'clicks' as the elite on top of her gasped and groaned before drawing his last breath and fall on top of her, his dead weight holding her down on the ground while Plo Koon dispatches the two zealots in a series of cuts and swipes. This was possibly the first time she ever had a dead body laid across her own, the zealot's motionless head and limp mandibles were right next to her letting her hear everything slowly shut down in his body. This was a new feeling of nausea for her and she wanted to get away as soon as possible.
With the last two zealots dead Master Plo Koon rushes to her aid as fast as possible and rolls the dead corpse off of her, she quickly sits up to find herself covered in purple blood, "Ahsoka are you alright!?" the Kel Dor asks with a alarmed tone resting his hand on her shoulder.
She took a moment to respond "Yeah . . . I just . . . need a moment."
At that time her ears began to pick up the faint but familiar roar of a pelican's thruster pylons, she looks up to see the green bird-like dropship approach and come to a slow hover over their position. Soon the rear troopbay doors swung open and the heavy machine gun wielding armored giant leaps out from inside, the pelican soon closed the hatch and takes off.
Jorge came crashing down into the dirt before hurrying to the two Jedi, he falls to a knee setting aside his weapon and asks "Ma'am are you alright?"
Tano was silent prompting Plo to say "I suggest you go help your friend. I will watch her."
The SPARTAN gave a confident nod before grabbing his weapon and head off after Longarm.
Several hundred feet away, the dark SPARTAN-ll had already laid waste to a number of covenant, his ordnance pod had arrived during the time the zealots attacked the Jedi and provided him his DC-15s carbine and a MA37 Assault Rifle with spare magazines. He was keeping his shoulder leaned against the butt of the rifle as he effortlessly tracked his targets and fired short accurate bursts of automatic fire that normally found their mark.
The clones were even beginning to pick up the momentum behind the SPARTAN, keeping their shots tight and the trigger finger quick, while the wombats continued performing strafing runs and the AT-TE walker continued laying down heavy fire.
"Keep the pressure on!" Wolffe yells out as he fires the killing shot into an unshielded Kig-Yar.
James glances down at his motion tracker, multiple red contacts ahead of him while the grey blips around him indicated the clones and a friendly contact hurriedly bringing up the rear.
He looks over his shoulder to see that unmistakable hulking figure with a heavy machine gun coming next to him before facing forward and fire off another burst "Glad you can join us Jorge."
He asks rhetorically "I'm not late am I?"
Longarm gives a small chuckle before asking "Where's Ahsoka and the general?"
"They're back there and still breathing, though I think she's gotten a little shaken up after dealing with a zealot."
"She's a tough girl, she'll pull through soon enough."
"I hope you're right."
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