I'm not a failure but I know what it's like..

Thel's words hung heavy on the Spartans mind, it was hard to accept but he understood where the Sangheili was coming from, even though it was still hard to see past. Every move he made now seemed to line with concern if he was making the correct move in the right direction. He was glad to have the reassurance of the alien on his side. With the recent victory on his mind- John had settled into getting recon done on the Nexus. It seemed to be one of their only moves left. There was still buzz around the Ring over the higher ranked Banished members, but John didn't see the point in dealing with them at this point in time. Getting the Nexus shut down seemed to be top priority as of right now. They had been slow on their movements, using guerilla warfare tactics with their small forces. It had kept them alive so far.

John had waited for the scouting team to come back, looking tired and worn, a small smile on their faces. They headed up the ramp, "We got something." A small Corporal said as she pulled out the holo map and set it up on the crate. "So, this is the Nexus. Here, here and here, are all sniper towers, manned with Jackal snipers at all points of entry ."

"Typical, and what of their defenses?."

"Over here, there's a turret mounted and several bunkers that house who knows what. We saw a patrol of Hunters and several high ranking Elites and Brutes." She continued to explain. John listened intently, there was no reason to think that they wouldn't be able to make it in. "There's a bridge that extends all the way to the Spire, it's a clean shot right across. We don't know what is on the other side, it's too far to see with our scopes. I'm only assuming more forces."

Thel tapped his fingers on the table as he looked at the holo map. "It would be easy to infiltrate under the cover of night… we would have to plan it perfectly."

"What about the snipers?" John questioned.

"They are unusually effective at night, we would not be able to pass." The recon Elite said, looking at the sniper towers.

"A full frontal assault would be met with resistance." Thel replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "We will have to plan this just right." He spoke.

"We don't have much of a time gap here." The Spartan protested.

"Going unprepared in such a base would lead to casualties." The Arbiter pushed back, looking at the Spartan with concern.

"But it would get us through." John reminded them. He didn't know how to handle this, so many options and many of them were going to lead to disaster. This was unlike many of the bases they had taken. There was only one entrance. And using the one Wasp they had to get in probably wasn't the best idea.

"Can we get close enough to take out the sniper's?" The female asked, the buildings are close enough we could use the cover.

"It's the Hunters that will be the most problematic." John said as he tapped his knuckles on the counter. "We would have to lure them away."

"Agreed." Thel said he looked at the mountain side on the map. "What if we were to cause a distraction?" He asked curiously. "Displace the earth over here, and enter the Spire on the other side?" John and the others continued to think. The idea of going to the base and causing a distraction to get in across the bridge seemed to be the best idea.

"Wouldn't be the worst idea." He said softly as he looked over their small group. "Thank you, Corporal, we'll figure out how to go about this the best way we can." He explained.

"Of course sir, if you need anything else, please don't hesitate to ask." She smiled and took her leave with the recon Elite, leaving the Chief and the Arbiter to discuss the decision. They were worried about losing whatever little forces they had to the Banished guarding the Spire. John continued to stare at the map.

"What do you think?" Thel questioned.

"I don't know." He muttered some as he tapped his fingers. It was hard to determine honestly.. he huffed some as he just looked at his men, they were tired and hungry… inning out of food. How could they keep fighting like this? "We will rest for a few hours and go for the Nexus. It's too important not to." He said, pulling his helmet off as he rubbed his temples. His head has been hurting for a while, probably dehydrated.

"Whatever you think is best." the Arbiter said with a small nod to the man. John smirked some as he held a lingering gaze at the Elite before he turned to walk back to what private quarters he had.

-*-*-*-

The Spartan took all advice into consideration before he made a decision. His men moved out an hour before dawn, keeping low and slow. There were too many tightly knit buildings to bring vehicles through, so they parked just up the hill behind cover before moving through the brush and trees. Snipers crawled across the land, keeping low. Thel led his team down the right side of the incline, they would be less noticeable as they were Sangheili. John took a small group of marines straight through the middle, the men on edge. They weren't used to these sneaky plans even though it was what they had been doing the past couple of months. Guerilla tactics were all they had been relying on to keep their numbers.

The sun began to peak over the mountain top, the shadow beginning to dissipate under the morning sun, revealing the forces that guarded the bridge. And that was when John had seen it. The bridge was no longer crossing the large gap. It had been retracted to keep from others crossing. This was not the intel he had received.

"Run a scan and see if you can find a console for the bridge." John said to the AI.

"You'd have to get me closer, I'm useless at this distance." She said softly.

"I'll get you close." John said as he heard the Elites acknowledge their placement on the ground.

"Eagle squad is on standby, ready when you are, Chief." The marines said.

"Acknowledged, we need to get closer." He said as he watched a marine slide on his belly towards some rocks. How they managed to be so quiet with a rocket launcher on their backs was beyond him. They continued to creep forward as they finally hit the crest of the hill, able to look down on the valley.

"Were in place Eagle squad, light 'em up." A Corporal said as he braced himself against the back of some rocks. Shots rang out across the sky, blood splattering the sniper's nests,chaos consuming the Banished below. Thel's squad circled around the hill, hitting from the side. The Chief popped from his cover with a rocket launcher, along with ten other men as they began to fire into the crowd of Banished.

There wasn't as many as expected, many of the Banished were just grunts and jackals with a few Brutes hanging out on the back end of the group. Hunters appeared from a building, lumbering out loudly as they began to fire across the skyline. John could feel the uneasiness of the situation as they dived into it. John pushed forward though, sliding down the rocks as he headed for the fire fight.

"Focus on the Hunters." The Chief demanded as he smashed the butt of his rifle into a grunts skull, watching it crush under the pressure of the rifle.

"Yessir, you got it." The Corporal responded as he and his team continued to fire off their rockets towards the large beasts.

"Chief, we have a problem." Weapon said, seeing the scan run across the buildings, he ignored it for his targets. "There's no lockdown console on this side."

"What do you mean?" John growled as he took cover, tossing a grenade over his shoulder as he reloaded.

"They shut down the bridge, from the other side." She warned, the scream of marines crackled over his COM channel, a large blast rumbling the Earth beneath his feet.

"They got the drop on us!" Another, now faded, shout came, green plasma exploding from the sky as it hit the ground where the snipers had just been.John's eyes widened with realization. It was a trap.

It was a trap all along.

"Banshees on the horizon!" Thel called loudly, sounding much closer than he had realized. Suddenly, Banished forces began to push from where they had come from, flanking them. A marine running across the grounds before his back was filled with Needler spikes, the man shouted in agony as they exploded, sending him to the ground.

The Chief snapped out of his trance, turning his attention to the Banished coming down the hill. They were surrounded and had no exit plan. How could he have not seen this coming? John raced for his marines as he shielded them from a Brute with a mangler, drop pods falling from the sky and hitting the ground hard.

"Get to the building and take cover!" John said to them as he picked up a hurt marine by the scruff of her neck and tossed her towards the cover. As they ran, several bullets nipped at their heels, John whipping around and taking the Jackal sniper out up on the ledge. It wasn't the worst situation he had been in… but it certainly was uncomfortable. "Arbiter, take out those god damn Banshees!" He snarled as he threw another grenade into the crowd of Berserkers rampaging down the hillside.

Thel's team stuck close as they followed the orders of the man, firing at the machines flying low in the sky, making runs across the small battlefield, dropping bombs against the ground. A single Hunter now remained, firing into the building where the escaped marines had taken cover.

John acted quickly as he took off running from the Berserkers, using his grappling hook and slamming hard into the Hunter's back and emptying a clip into the back of its neck. It gurgled and struggled to get up, only to fail miserably and collapse.

A few Elites from the Swords struggled in the firefight, trying to keep the flanking forces at bay as Thel fired at the Banshees, one smoking as it crashed against the mountain side.

"We cannot keep this up!" Thel called out, hearing an explosion as a fusion coil burst next to him, a Brute coming straight towards him on all fours with a war cry so powerful it had nearly made him turn and run. But the Elite stood strong as he pulled out his sword and cut him straight through with a light foot, sending the racing creature to the ground.

"I know!" John replied as he emptied his last lip into a Elite, throwing his gun at its head as he backtracked, trying to find a weapon he could use. He scanned the ground, pulling a shotgun out of a dead marines hand.

"Chief, we have less than 30% of our forces remaining. We need to go!" Weapon shouted in his ear. This mission was a mess, he hadn't expected this when he should have.

"Get up the hill, take what we have left and head back for the FOB." He instructed.

"I am not leaving you here to fight." Thel hissed, never one to back down from an unfair fight.

"And you are not staying here to die!" John snapped back, pushing his bond towards the hillside. "Now go!" Thel stared at him for a hard moment, bullets and plasma flying through the air before Thel ordered his men away towards the hillside, the large Sangheili escorting the marines through the base with his men as the Master Chief fought the incoming forces. He knew he could handle it, but he refused to allow his Chief to fight to the death by himself.

John kept to cover as he continued to fight, popping out with a skewer, firing it right down the middle of the Banished, impaling a Warchief to a tree. John kept his cool, feeling more at home with everyone gone and out of danger, he could focus, he could hit his targets with accuracy even though he knew he was on the losing side. His shields began to wane, unable to recharge at the constant barrage of plasma. He traded weapon for weapon, trying to continue the fight he was left in.

He was beginning to realize he was okay with this. He was okay with everything that happened. He did not regret anything he had done in his life. The guilt of his mistakes seemed to wash away at each blow. The Chief felt the sizzle of a plasma round hit his side, gritting his teeth as he pushed for cover in front of him. John huffed as he slunk behind a wall, looking at the melted rubber encasing his skin below.

"Chief! We need to leave."

"I got this." He said as he let his plasma weapon cool, watching it close again.

"Chief, please." Weapon begged. A large yellow light lit up over his radar, hearing the familiar sound of the Banshee.

"To the bridge, Spartan!" Thel's voice demanded, John looking to the sky. Of course he didn't leave. John turned his eyes back to the retracted bridge. He wanted him to jump. The Spartan looked back around the wall. There was no getting out of this. John took off running towards the ledge.

"You better fly low." John huffed, taking shots in the back as he raised his arm, trying to get a perfect strike on the hull of the Banshee. As he raced for the Banshee, watching it dip as he jumped from the ledge. The grappling hook grabbed at nothing but air as he began to free fall. He released the grappling hook again and again at the flying machine, with no such luck.

"Chief!" The AI squealed, John holding out his arms and legs to slow his speed best he could. The Banshee screamed as it pulled a U-turn mid flight,the ground growing closer and closer as it raced the Spartan towards the ground.

"Thel!"

"I am aware!" The alien snapped back as it drew closer, John feeling the rumble of terminal velocity setting in. A hundred feet from the ground, he gave one last try of his grappling hook, hitting the fragile wing of the Banshee as he began to pull himself towards it

"Pull up!" John shouted, feeling the Banshee start to turn just in the Knick of time, the heel of his boots scraping the ground as Thel dragged him through the air. The alien retreated from the ground where the bridge stood. "Don't you eve—"

"You are alive." Thel said matter-of-factly.

"And traumatized!" Weapon huffed, "That was so close!"

"Mmm, construct, you know nothing of close, this is nothing compared to what we have survived together." Thel said with a dark chuckle as he brought the Chief to the other side of the bridge.

"Yeah I think I'm okay with not finding that out." She sighed with relief as the Chiefs boots hit the ground, running as he set down. The Banshee circled some before landing, Thel jumping out and walking over.

"Should've just flown over to begin with." John sighed as he took his bio foam out, pushing it between the burnt rubber on his stomach.

"I said this, but you do not listen." Thel said as he checked his storm rifle.

"No you didn't." John huffed, looking up at the alien sourly. The Sangheili's mandibles parted in amusement.

"Come, we have much to do."

You guys are making an honest man outta me because my filth story is now just turning into a story.

\_(ツ)/

Sorry it's been a bit for an update. I'm on a work trip for the next month, 12hr days, 6 days a week. So I'll probably be down to one update a week for a bit because I'm tired as all hell and have one day to recover.