"Down," Kinh whispered.
Reese hunkered behind the dubious cover of a partially destroyed concrete, or whatever the equivalent was, barricade. Thunder seemed to echo in the tight confines of the tunnel and the opposite end was outlined in bright white light.
"There's a Shade emplacement ten meters from my position. One Hunter-pair at the exit, maybe twenty meters from the Shade's position. If we take out the Shade, they could take us out with one volley from their cannons."
"Rogers, Vance, hold your positions. I'm on my way, Kinh." Reese slid down to her belly and wormed her way carefully up to Kinh's position.
The team had ditched the MPV at a pick-up point half a kilometer from the tunnel's entrance. A tech team had been waiting there with a pair of rocket launchers for Reese's team as well as a dozen canister bombs. It was more than enough ordinance to deal with a couple of Wraith's. They had expected resistance in the tunnel so each of the TechCom soldiers had a fresh battery pack for their weapons as well as two spare. It unnerved Reese slightly that so far the Shade and Hunters were the only opposition they had encountered. Then again that should have been enough to hold a three-meter wide, five-meter high tunnel. Kinh had taken cover behind the barely discernible curve in the wall. Reese likewise settled in the shadows cast by a bulk of immense machinery that protruded from the wall.
"Okay, Kinh, do you think you can take out the gunner with one shot," Reese barely waited for the affirmative from the Private before continuing," On my mark. Once the Hunters are down we all double-time it to the end. You read me? "
Reese sighted on the shadow that had to be the Shade and activated her scope's zoom. The image leapt forward and then she magnified to the maximum capacity. The hunters were barely registered grayish blobs on the screen but that was enough. Reese activated the grenade launcher's trajectory indicator and designated her target with the tap of a button. The Hunters were, predictably, standing side-by-side, so her target was the left one's shield. The blast might not kill the left one but it would definitely render him incapable of combat. A ghostly targeting reticle appeared above their heads and Reese raised her weapon until the solid reticle overlaid the ghostly.
"Mark!"
Reese fired a full second before she gave the word. The grenade was still traveling through the air when the Grunt Shade-gunner had his head slagged by a plasma bolt. The Hunters were faster than Reese had given them credit for and were partially turning when the grenade hit the left one's bare shoulder. A miniature purple-white sun flared in the tunnel, making them all overt their visor-covered eyes to prevent the light enhancing properties of the visors from blinding them.
"Go!"
Reese stood and burst into a quick trot that ate up space quickly but let her keep her carbine trained on the tunnel ahead of her. She also made sure to check each of the access alcoves as she passed. There was no need to be sloppy after all. The four made it to the end of the tunnel and heard the soft rumblings of the Wraith tanks. The ramp was a winding thing that curved around an overpass aboveground. It had probably once been some kind of underground parking lot for the maintenance crews of this portion of the area. All of the overheads in this section worked, which was surprising, and they had a clear view of both tanks as they routinely changed positions after firing their main turrets.
"Reese, look," Vance said as they crouched on the floor just on the edge of the brightly lit area.
Reese looked in the direction and saw two Shade emplacements flanking a huge service bay door. A full platoon of Grunts, Jackals, and an Elite guarded the doors. It amazed Reese that they hadn't noticed the Hunters being taken out. The range was extreme for a launched grenade, maybe sixty meters, but Reese thought she could do it.
"Vance, Rogers, you take out the Wraiths. You'll need to time it so that they're both in range at the same time. Kinh, you take out the Elite. I've got the Shade's. We go on the rocket's mark."
Reese got on her side and eased her past the edge of the entryway. Kinh did the same behind her and the two picked their targets with care. Reese got trajectories on both Shade's but the computer in the scope could only handle one at a time. She would have to memorize the positions and fire by rote. She knew if she didn't do it perfectly then one of the Shade's would open fire and possibly take them all out by creating a plasma storm in the tunnel. Reese took a deep breath and slowly released it. She could do it, no problem, was what her mind kept telling her heart.
The thumping sound of the rockets being fired jarred Reese into unthinking, machine-like action. She fired her first grenade, turned and fired again, even before Kinh had gotten a chance to fire her plasma bolt. While her grenades were in the air, Reese let loose with her plasma carbine on full auto at the Covenant platoon. Kinh joined her and within seconds they were all dead or down. One rocket connected with the more vulnerable rear of a Wraith and the resultant explosion sounded spectacularly in the enclosed space. The other rocket hit the more heavily armored side and rocked the Covenant tank. Then Vance and Rogers' second volley hit the tank and detonated it. Finally, just as the Shade's were bearing onto the team's position, the grenades hit both dead-on. All that was left were the melted remains of gun emplacement and gunner.
"The ramp is clear, sir," Reese spoke into the command-link the Captain had given her.
"We're on our way," his reply came very quickly and with an air of anxiety.
"Let's secure that door," Reese said, standing up and jogging towards the door.
"Now's about the time I wish we had another plasma turret." Reese had seen that one coming.
"Shut up, Rogers."
The team had managed to haul the slagged, and still warm, remains of the Shades into some semblance of cover by the time the first of the Captain's assault force made it down the ramp. The Captain himself, a tall, stern-looking gray-haired man with one blue-grey eye came up to meet them. He looked tired but shook each of their hands in turn.
"Thanks for the quick work, Corporal. But I have another job for you," he had to speak over the sounds of several platoons of TechCom soldiers making a hardpoint of the area. "I need a team to lead the assault on this base. I'd like you and yours to be that team. Can I count on you?"
Reese nodded and slapped a fresh battery pack into her plasma carbine," Of course."