Round Two

"Are the snipers ready Sergeant Green?" Asked the Spartan.

"Yes sir." He answered.

"Is Alpha Squadron in their positions and ready to go?"

"Yes Colonel."

"And the tanks?"

"Both are holding in the cove sir." Replied the Sergeant.

"Good, the Covenant reinforcements will be here at any moment. Get to your station and hold Alpha Squadron until you see the signal."

"Yes sir." The Sergeant said turning and jogging away.

The Spartan entered the Covenant facility he had recently just exited. He stood with his rifle and small company of marines. Then after a moment, he heard them. The Covenant drop ships were closing in. He listened as the grunts, jackals, elites, and hunters filed off and scurried about trying to secure the area.

Outside the Sergeant watched as the fifteen or so drop ships landed, let their troops off, and then left to make room for the next. Two mortar tanks were dismounted from the drop ships as well as five ghosts. Then he saw something he had not expected. Two banshees circled high above. Surely, they would see the snipers hiding along the cliff edge of the cliff that overlooked the structure's entrance.

He was right. The banshees swooped down and fired upon the snipers. They shot back, but their numbers were cut in half. They began retreating as the banshees came around for another pass. The plasma blasts pelted the rest of the men to the ground.

The door of the facility opened and the Spartan put a bullet through the grunt's head. The other Covenant turned in surprise and fired their plasma weapons. The Spartan and marines filed out of the structure and fired back. Covenant were everywhere.

"That's it. Go, go, go!" Yelled Green.

Marines climbed out of bushes and out from behind boulders and trees. They rushed the Covenant forces killing all that were on the edge of the group. The Covenant as surprised as they were wasted no time in firing back at the attackers.

Two scorpion tanks came roaring up behind the mortar tanks. They fired their large cannons. Both mortar tanks went up in flame and smoke. Then three warthogs came up behind the tanks. They rode up around the ghosts guns blazing. The ghosts fired back. Two of the ghosts exploded. One explosion sent another flipping over. The elite fell out and tried to scurry out of the way but a warthog's tire crushed the blue creature without trouble.

One warthog's tire blew out due to plasma fire. They were headed straight for a wall. The driver tried to turn, but the tire had other plans. The vehicle crashed into the wall. The driver and passenger flew through the windshield while the gunner was sent tumbling over the gun and landing hard in the front seats. Another ghost then came up and fired at the warthog. The gas tank exploded and the screams of the marines reached the Spartan's ears.

His muzzle flashed as an elite toppled to the ground. A grunt came up behind him and started shooting wildly. He turned around and the butt end of his assault rifle met the grunt's face. Its whole skull seemed to crunch inward as it let out its last scream.

"Yeah! Eat it!" Yelled a marine.

"Get up so I can kill you again!" Said another.

The Spartan threw a plasma grenade at a grunt. It landed on its back. The grunt's arms were immediately flung into the air and he began running around in a panic. The explosion sent blood spraying on all those nearby. An elite and a jackal were also taken in the blast. The Spartan knelt down and mutilated an elite's body with a shower of assault rifle shots.

The banshees came down and shot at one of the tanks. Two green plasma missiles were fired. The tank shot back. The cannon's shot soared past the banshees and exploded on the cliff edge. The two missiles hit and the massive tank was turned to dust. The other tank swerved its big gun and fired. The shot missed and hit the top of the structure. Chunks of stone and rock fell on the soldiers below. The Spartan watched as one big boulder fell and crushed two marines, a grunt, two elites, and a hunter.

As the Spartan drowned in distraction, a hunter came up and whacked him with his shield. The Spartan's shield collapsed. He flew back and landed against an elite. His assault rifle lay just out of his reach. He quickly picked up a plasma pistol and charged it up. The hunter fired a large plasma blast that barely missed the Spartan's head. It exploded behind him killing marines and fellow Covenant as well. The hunter didn't care, he wanted the Spartan dead. That's all that mattered. The Spartan's shield began to recharge as he fired his shot. It hit the hunter's deep blue chest plate. It grunted, but didn't falter. It charged him. He powered up another shot and fired. The hunter blocked it with its enormous shield. The plasma shot barley slowed its movement. It was gaining momentum. The Spartan used all the extra strength his harsh but worthy training had given him and jumped clear over the hunter's head.

He landed and turned around to face his enemy. He took the pistol and slammed it into the large orange spot the hunter's armor didn't cover. It groaned and turned around. The Spartan stepped back. The hunter raised its shield. Then a single bullet tore through its back and came out the front. Orange blood splattered on the Spartan's visor. The hunter fell over and the Sergeant was standing behind it with his pistol drawn.

"Get the grenadiers to take out those banshees Sergeant!" Ordered the Spartan.

"Yes sir."

The Spartan turned around and fired. The plasma shot pelted the grunt and it fell over motionless. He then dropped the plasma pistol and picked up his assault rifle. The sixty round clip was empty. He reloaded. A marine fell dead at his feet. He looked up and fired at the elite. The bullets hit and its shield sent the shots ricocheting off in every direction. The elite pulled out a plasma grenade and threw it. The Spartan sidestepped and the grenade stuck to the floor behind him.

He then rushed the elite as the steaming blue ball exploded. He cracked the elite in the face. It stumbled back with no serious damage. It came back and tried to hit the Spartan but he dodged the elite's futile attack. The elite then took a punch to the stomach. The force of the Spartan's punch was so powerful the elite threw up. He then took his rifle and pressed it against the elite's forehead and pulled the trigger. Brains flew out of the back of its head as it toppled over.

There were only a few Covenant left. The banshees came swooping in shooting at the marines that were dropping the Covenant ground forces like flies. Marines fell screaming in pain.

"Ah, the burn!" A marine screamed as he fell to the ground.

Four marines holding grenade launchers fired at the banshees. Three of the missiles glided past their targets. The other destroyed one. The ball of flame crashed down killing more marines. The other banshee made a swift U-turn and tried to escape. The last scorpion tank shot its big cannon and blew the second banshee to bits.

The drivers and passengers of the warthogs had gotten out and joined the rest of the ground troops while the gunners stayed and continued blast the Covenant away with their large guns.

Some of the remaining Covenant had gathered in a corner. Two elites were blocked by four jackals using their shields to block them from the marines' constant fire. The elites would pop up for split seconds to fire at their enemies while the jackals shot consistently. The Spartan took a frag grenade and threw it into the group. Both the elites stopped and looked down at the little object that had invaded their space. The grenade exploded and the bodies of the jackals were sent flailing through the air.

All that were left were ten elites, three hunters, two jackals and two grunts. On the marine's side, there were twenty-five marines, three of the four grenadiers, two warthogs and the scorpion tank. Two hunters fired their big plasma weapons at the tank. Both shots hit and exploded. An elite flipped the last ghost back over and jumped inside. The gunners immediately began focusing their fire on the purple vehicle. Plasma grenades were thrown and marines were thrust into the air. The Spartan came up behind a hunter that was beating on the dead corpse of a marine and pressed the barrel of the assault rifle right up to the hunter's back and fired.

The hunter fell over and landed face first. He reloaded. Two elites had focus their fire at him. He shot back. One elite fell to the ground. The other rolled to the side and threw a grenade. The Spartan caught it and threw it back. It exploded in the elite's face. A grunt came up firing at the man that would surely put him in his grave.

"Die devil!" The grunt yelled.

The Spartan pumped the grunt full of lead, spraying blood all over the ground. He then turned around and shot down a jackal that was trying to run away. He then shot an elite that was rushing him. He went to reload, but he was out of ammo. He dropped his assault rifle and picked up a shotgun that was lying on the ground at his feet. He cocked it and blew the elite's body to shreds.

"Come on kids, time to take your medicine." Yelled a marine.

There was only one hunter left and he was killing marines like nothing. The ghost exploded in a fiery ball. The Spartan ran up and blasted away the last grunt on his way toward the hunter.

"Kill those elites over there. I'll kill this bastard." Ordered the Spartan to the remaining ten marines.

The Spartan fired his shotgun at the massive creature. All the shots of the gun bounced off the hunter's thick armor. The hunter swung up and the Spartan dodged out of the way. The shotgun barrel blew a chunk out of the hunter's side. There was only one elite left and the marines showed no mercy as they filled him with slugs.

Another victory had been won by the humans.