The Price of Victory
A Fanfiction by Keystone
Disclaimer: I do not own Halo, nor the Bungie mythos.
Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, but now I plan to continue it. I am certain that it will continue to entertain.
Forced Entry
The Master Chief and blue team humped through the forest for almost half an hour, following carefully encrypted broadcasts from Lajon. There was no rain, for which the Master Chief was annoyed. The fairly common rain provided a natural screen to movement and made engagements much trickier. Especially for defenders, who have the task of finding where the hail of gunfire is coming from before they themselves are shot down.
Luckily, they had not encountered any resistance. The Chief found it odd considering how hot the planet was in orbit and in this local area. Given that Covenant forces were trying to take a human controlled installation, and that it was widely known that he and a squad of high ranking Elites were very close by. His finger rested lightly on the trigger, absent mindedly tugging on it, the weapons' safety catching it before it fired.
Walking along his right flank, the special forces Elites carefully observed their surroundings. Hungry for battle, and weary of the humans alongside them, they focused on the task at hand.
Stepping close to his commander, blue four leaned in next to him. "Leader, these Humans act with such impertinence. They believe they are in charge. We are Sangheili. For years we slaughtered these vermin. Why take orders from them now?"
"Why don't you stop yammering and pay attention? For all that they have done to us, they show us no hostility now. Even if we hate them, we will work together. And you will follow orders." The SpecOps commander replied to his subordinate.
"Kire, your temper is on your sleeve. You should watch yourself before they introduce you to Heaven." Blue four whispered to his teammate, an air of humor surrounding his words.
"Hmph, for now, Paskil, for now."
"Our ears are better," Michael replied, "Such comments are noted." He said as he continued his advance.
Momentarily halting, the Black Elite, Kire, watched the Spartan. His eyes narrowing, he resumed his march.
From nearby, sounds of battle drifted to the Spartan's position. Muffled explosions, the shrill whine of plasma, and low rumbles of automatic weapons wafted through the air, mingling with the normal atmosphere.
"We're close. Stay out of sight and keep your eyes peeled." The Master Chief stalked the wooded area to an unnoticed place. A small rise in the ground, surrounded by the thick jungle plant life. Moving to the spot, got on his belly and crawled forward under the brush, and saw the installation they were looking for.
A colossal building, partly extending over a cliff-face, was being assaulted from all directions.
A brace of older Shade cannons fired into a massive chasm, presumably a hangar door. Squads of Jackals, shields ready, advanced on numerous doors and access hatches, closely followed by Brutes. A troupe of Drones swarmed the roof, and two Banshees were busy harassing the hanging section's outer defenders.
From his vantage point, he zoomed in and watched the purple fliers rain plasma down on the machine gun turrets, setting the Marines crewing them on fire as soon as the superheated blasts detonated their ammo containers.
Zooming out, and fuming at the loss of allied life, the Master Chief watched the battle below him and spotted a likely entrance. There was a doorway, where a small group of Jackals tried to force their way in. Almost immediately, two Brutes rushed to them, urging them forward. Out of the dark space, two emerald blasts erupted forth, and obliterated the attackers.
He noticed a pile of smoldering debris outside the entry, and upon closer inspection realized it was actually dead Covenant bodies. An idea formed in his head as he watched the bodies burn.
"Commander, come here." He turned briefly to call the White Elite forward. Grunting at the order, he reluctantly walked to the Spartan, his two Elites still in their positions, scanning for enemies.
"Yes, Human?" The Ultra Elite inquired.
"See that hatchway? I watched a squad of Covenant soldiers get destroyed by some fuel rod shots. If we can get to that door, we can enter the station, an possibly even garner some Hunter assistance."
"Your plan is sound, Human. But how will we make it there without drawing every enemy down on us? Unless that is in your plan, as well?" He added, condescension clouding his words.
"You and I each carry sniper rifles. We will provide cover while your Elites and my Spartan make their way down. Take out some gunners and give them a clear path. From there, they can cover us as we run to them." He said through his armors external speakers, so that the entire team can hear his idea.
Considering his words, the Ultra dropped to one knee, and brought the beam rifle to bear. "Warriors, make ready. Let us kill some of the foes and then get to that door with all speed."
Unslinging his sniper rifle, the Master Chief signaled the Senior Chief to do the same. He then went prone, lying on his stomach and took a firing position. Not the sniper his fellow Spartan sister Linda was, he was nonetheless quite competent with the weapon at hand.
He took a deep breath and sighted on the nearest turret operator, knowing if he killed one in the front, the others would notice. With the back of the Brutes head filling the center of his sights, he opened fire.
Thunder came from the forest as one, then two, then four targets fell as he and the Ultra Elite cut down the fire. Within seconds, both plasma cannons were silent, and both guards were dead.
Taking the lead, the Senior Chief hopped over the small ridge, and slid down the slope, shotgun pointed outward. Reaching the valley floor, he absorbed the impact and quickly swept the area for threats. There were plenty of them, but none fo them seemed to take notice of the Spartan next to four dead soldiers.
Softly landing next to him, the two Elites came and secured his position. One ran quickly over to the two vacant Shades, and dropped a plasma grenade in each housing. He sprinted away from them as both explosives went off together, twin blue clouds crushing the cannons.
The three breachers braced themselves to rush the door. "Try to keep up, Human." Sneered one Elite. They then charged as one towards the opening, contrails of shells and beam trails flying overhead.
The Master Chief and Ultra Elite did a fine job of spearing down outlying Covenant before anyone took notice of the group of three charging towards the beleaguered station. The Chief emptied several magazines into Covenant troops who had wandered off or were isolated from other members of the attack force.
There were still hundreds of soldiers here, though. "Human, we cannot kill them all from up here!" The Ultra yelled to the Spartan between his own shots.
Even still, they would have to keep shooting until the Senior Chief secured the hatch. Which, from the Master Chief's scope, might not that far off. He looked like he was just standing there, waiting for the Elites, who were easily fifty feet behind him.
"I thought you told me to keep up?" Michael said to the shorter Elite who had issued the challenge.
The said Elite merely grunted, and sidestepped to the right hand side of the hatch. Blue four stepped in front of it to cover his teammate. "Commander, we have reached the entrance. Make your way to our position, and be swift." He said into his mike.
A crackle of static answered him, then came his leader's throaty voice. "Very well, Kire, we come to you now. Hold the gate, let no one enter." The signal snapped off quickly and the three soldiers who dared to be outside the besieged facility took their positions.
Taking a knee, the Senior Chief checked his shotgun, insured it was loaded, then removed the safety. He chinned a control in his helmet and a small blue arrow appeared over the Master Chief's position. Once he had marked the Chief, he panned left and right, looking for any targets foolish enough to rush them.
Blue five, Kire Sankumee, raised his weapon. The plasma rifle had a full charge, and could with a pull of the trigger fire out a storm of blue death. He smiled at thoughts of blood soaked claws and hole filled bodies.
Casting a tentative glance at the demon next to him, he pondered his position. Since the agreement to cease hostilities between his forces and the humans, things changed greatly. No longer could his brethren simply charge headlong into battle. These humans insisted on forming strategies and coming up with ideas. Did they not realize that battles must be fought, not thought about?
At the very least, despite their shortcomings, they fought with a passion and skill that rivaled his own kind. True, they lacked the strength, speed, and shielding, but they were very quick learners, and could improvise new tactics on the fly. And they fought with such a tenacity that he was taken aback. He had witnessed a Marine empty his weapon into a pack of Jackals, and then rush them weaponless. He attacked with such speed that he managed to get a hold of one of the buzzards and crush his head under his fist. He fell seconds later, but managed to activate a grenade, and kill all five remaining Jackals.
'Too bad that they had not had the chance to join the Covenant', he had thought. True, vermin that they were, they managed to fight the entire Covenant to the bitter end, inflicting untold casualties. If they joined their ranks, then they would have been an awesome force, indeed.
His thoughts were cut short as the Demon's leader and his commander broke into he open and sprinted to join them. Raising his weapon, he scouted for targets. Something was unusual about this. Aside from the warriors killed by their sniping, no other Covenant rose to challenge the small squad. He squinted his eyes, looking for something, anything to shoot at.
And was rewarded. A trio of Brutes rounded the corner and came running towards their position. His delicate eyes saw them long before the apes spotted him.
"Demon! Brutes!" Kire barked to the Spartan, who turned and quickly advanced in front of the Elite. 'The audacity! He dares to take this enemy from me,' Kire thought, and withdrew a plasma grenade from his grenade compartment. Activating the small device, he took a step forward and hurled it as hard as he could.
The azure bomb flew through the dusty air and right past the Brute formation. They stopped and turned to watch the bomb land behind them, then dove off in separate directions. The grenade detonated as each Brute landed safely outside the blast.
"Idiot!" The Spartan yelled as he advanced through the haze. 'That damned Elite just gave away our surprise,' he thought as he moved forward. Pumping the shotgun, he fed a fresh shell into the chamber and cautiously walked to the site of the explosion. 'Alright, Brute, where did you go?'
Sweeping the gun, he crouched low as he heard the aliens talking to one another.
"Where did it come from?"
"I shall kill them all!"
"Cowards!"
Creeping to the sounds of the three, the Senior Chief was rewarded with finding them. That they were all bunched up was good news, but the real joy was that the Captain, his banner mounted on his back, was turned away from him.
Taking his hand off the trigger, he made a fist and brought it down on the base of the Brutes neck, breaking it and separating it from his spine. Before the body had even fell he grabbed the shotgun's handle and brought it to bear on the remaining enemies.
He quickly fired off three blasts into the nearest Brutes chest, then lashed out and kicked it in its doubled over head. The beast tumbled over, its own blood spilling in the air behind him. As he shifted the gun to fire on the last brute, the hulk through down his weapon and prepared to slam down the human.
Dropping to one knee, the Spartan lifted the barrel and fired on the Brutes incoming fist. The wall of 8 gauge shot disintegrated the apes hand, and a second shot removed half of his face.
Insuring that he was dead, the Spartan scrounged a couple of grenades, and jogged back to the captured entrance. Encountering no more resistance, he arrived in less than twenty seconds. Walking to the Elite who had thrown the device, the Spartan got face to face with him.
Ignoring that his superior was here, he spoke his mind. "Next time, why don't you throw yourself at them? It would save us a lot of trouble and only one less Elite. There's plenty of you to go around." He stood with less than half a foot between his faceplate and the Elite.
"Bold words, Human. Only fitting that you should envy our superior race, instead of the dogs your kind are." Kire replied in kind to the armored human.
"Hey, you have something on your face," the Spartan then said, then swung his fist with all his might. Discipline forgotten, his armored connected square on the Elites left side jaws.
Reeling backward from the surprise blow, Kire was shocked at how forceful the punch had been. His shields took the brunt of the blow, but if they had been off, his left mandibles would easily have been broken. His anger swelled and he dropped his plasma rifle and withdrew his stowed energy blade.
The air in front of him cracked as the beam sprung to life, slicing the air into sections. Stepping forward to cut down this fool, he was stopped by his commander.
"Close that blade, warrior! This is no time for fights amongst ourselves! You almost compromised our entire mission. Be grateful I do not kill you where you stand." Taka Naharmee, one of the few remaining Ultra Elites, had no tolerance for error. Especially in his own hand picked SpecOps soldiers.
Raging at the indignity, Kire deactivated his weapon and placed it on the recharging racks of his armor. Eyeing the Spartan, he slowly picked up his plasma rifle and turned back, and with the other SpecOps Elite, began to make his way inside the facility.
Facing the Senior Chief, John made his own statement. "Soldier, this is unlike you. I need you clear and focused. You are not acting like a Spartan. Marines have more control than you just had. Get it together, or you're going back to the Rainmaker. Is that clear, Senior Chief?"
Nodding, he activated his acknowledgment signal. "Yes, sir, I understand, sir. It isn't easy to trust these Elites after so many years of fighting them."
"I can sympathize, Chief, but you need to keep it together. Fact is you're one of the last Spartans. That speaks volumes for you. Don't let it mean nothing." John said to him after a second, and then he, too, headed inside the compound.
Mike stood and contemplated the Chiefs words for a minute, then made eye contact with the Ultra, who was still standing there. After a moment, the two of them marched into the facility.
The team stormed through the base, eliminating small Covenant seek and destroy teams, and leaving many sections of the base blood soaked and hole ridden. Taking the time necessary to remove slain Convert and UNSC personnel from their resting places, and moving their bodies to safer locations. They found ammo and weapons on corpses and added many more to the totals.
After nearly an hour of running through the base, they had discovered several still manned and friendly weapon emplacements and set up a few more. They then rounded up as many survivors as they could and took them towards the rear of the base on what appeared to be a freight rail. They found it led to a massive hangar like space.
Taking a head count of the troops arrayed before him, the acting commander, the Master Chief, noted his resources: 22 conventional Marines, 23 ODST Marines, 87 Grunts, 6 Hunter pairs, and maybe thirty Elites, counting the SpecOps team, plus him and the Senior Chief.
Additionally, there were the eight or so Marines and fifteen Grunts manning the turrets around the base.
As he prepared to dispense his orders, a wounded Marine came through on the freight train. "Sir," he shouted, "A Covenant landing ship is heading this way!"
The Master Chief had studied the intel on the new landing ships when the Converts had sided with the Humans. They were massive, ovoid ships with retracting blast doors that could conceal two hundred Covenant infantry, and up to four Wraiths. He did the math in his head and realized this would nearly double the strength of the current Covenant army.
To make matters worse, the landing ships were heavily armed, by Covenant standards. They were designed in anticipation of taking Earth, so they had to pack a punch. Eight single firing heavy plasma cannons, on independent turrets. Twelve rapid firing light plasma cannons on independent turrets. And to top it off, four big Fuel Rod projectors for vehicle defense.
It would be like fighting a small battleship.
The soldiers in the hangar all faced him. They waited for him to give his orders. As he watched all those battle hardened faces, there was only one order he could think of.
"Prepare yourselves! We're going to kill every single Covenant soldier we find!"
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Well, there is chapter 3. Sorry for the long wait, but I have been rather busy lately. Let me know what you think. Anything you liked, didn't like, or wanted to see? Drop me a line and let me know. Thanks for reading!