The bay door began to open before the Pelican even touched the ground. Heat from the thrusters on the rear of the ship blasted at the ground, torching the blades of grass to a fine ash. The Marines and their leader swiftly disembarked, waved a signal to Lieutenant Pamell, and ran in a steady crouching position toward the nearest brush. The Queen Janice took off, the off-ramp closing back up and the thrusters emitting fire as they burned in the incredibly low altitude. The worst part about that is that they waste more fuel that way than a battalion of Warthogs driving all day put together, thought the Major. He ran the calculations of the Warthog's miles to the gallon versus the Pelican's, amused at himself.
"Sir, a comm channel is open for all of us; it's been confirmed as secure. Three thirty-five," came Private Chase's voice over a personal comm-link. The SPARTAN unit didn't bother to respond; he just winked his acknowledgement light on. He raised his battle rifle and zoomed to 2x. He could see Base Six right across a small plain. They would have to wait in this small clump of brush until the Covenant drop ships had deposited their wide range of troops and made the recon sweep.
"Sir! Covenant drop ships at six o'clock!" came the voice of one of the Marines. Daren shoved himself into the brush better and rolled over on his back. He watched the drop ships as the came up from behind their position and passed directly over the small patch of barren forest. This area was unusual; it was full of fir and pine trees, which the Major hadn't seen more than a few times. He would have loved to take a small amount of time to study the trees, but he shoved the thought from his head and rolled back over.
"Sir, one of the drop ships is damaged," stated Chase over the comm channel. The last of the four drop ships to pass overhead was emitting green sparks from where on of the plasma turrets should have been.
"What the hell? How did that happen? It's fresh damage; irreplaceable plasma weaponry on Covenant ships doesn't spark. They usually seal it off, so that the plasma system cycles the power more effectively," stated Daren, trying to sort out possible causes in his head.
They watched as the drop ships put down about forty yards from the base. The forces unloaded: Grunts, Jackals, and two Elites per drop ship; this was not going to be fun at all. The drop ships hummed loudly as they rose from the ground and accelerated, shooting globules of green plasma at the base. The plasma shattered the columns of concrete that held the energy fence's distributing units, eliminating the only obstacle, apparently, that stood in the way of the small wave of Covenant forces and the imminent destruction of Base Six.
The drop ships disappeared from view, only to come back half a minute later, passing overhead, back in the direction that they had originally come from. The Major leapt up, signaling to his teammates with a NavPoint on their HUDs. He sprinted forward, his men right next to him in a fairly smooth line. He raised his battle rifle, zoomed in on a Grunt with it's back to him, and squeezed off a three-round burst. He saw the bullets penetrate the alien's skull and open the front of his head, colliding with the methane facemask just before he moved to another target. As one of the two bullets ripped through the facemask, it sparked the gas, and the breathing tank strapped to it's back exploded, sending the already-dead alien flying in a trail of fire. Several Jackals turned around, alerting their comrades to the presence of the Marines. An Elite wheeled around on its hoof and sparked an energy sword, charging at full speed toward Private Chase.
Chase dropped his battle rifle and pulled his pistol from its holster. He dodged the swipe and the plasma blade seared through the air, leaving small sparks in its wake. He slammed the pistol into the warrior's gut and unloaded the entire clip, some of the bullets bursting through its back. He grabbed the energy sword as the Elite dropped to its knees and wheeled around, bringing the blade down through the neck of the Elite, severing it and spewing blue blood over Private Chase's uniform. He gasped for air as he hit the ground, and then groped for his rifle. He disengaged the energy sword, slammed a fresh clip into the pistol, and then put it back in its holster. Chase raised his battle rifle and zoomed in to pick his next target.
One of the other Marines, armed with a rocket launcher, fired off two rounds into a group of Covenant, kneeling down to reload quickly. The rockets slammed into the ground, sending shrapnel, dirt, and rocks ripping into the aliens as they flew through the air, flaming. A sniper rifle shot ripped through three methane tanks and sent an entire group of Grunts up in flames. Meanwhile, Chase had dropped another Elite with the energy sword he had acquired, and the Major had smashed through Jackal plasma shields with brute strength to smash the butt of his rifle into their birdlike skulls.
There was still a good amount of Covenant left to kill off, and just as Daren raised his battle rifle to take aim, his HUD flashed red and static washed over his shield. He slammed into the ground and rolled several times, losing hold of his battle rifle. He looked up-only to see a Banshee float toward him.