Chapter 5

Location: Gazeeb Cover, UNSC Weapons and Vehicles Research Facility, Congo Basin.

John turned and locked the door behind him. Inside his light enhancers had to compensate for the darkness. It was crowded with Marines and ODSTs getting weapons and ammo. The room was full of wounded being treated by Medics. John opened a COM to Admiral Stanford,

"Sir, I have reached the Gazeeb Cover and I am waiting new orders."

"Roger Chief. Defend that bunker until reinforcements arrive. We have a squadron of Longswords attacking their cruiser and we have thirty inbound Pelicans with tanks, Rippers and ODSTs inbound to your position. Just hang tight. Stanford out." The COM went dead. John walked up two flights of stairs. He was looked at and he saw people whispering around him. He knew what they were whispering about too. Not many people have ever seen a Spartan. Most people were hocked by their bulky armour and their height. John just ignored them and continued to walk. When he reached a locked, steel door, he could hear the rattle of machine gun fire and the frustrated shouts of SGTs and Corporals. He banged twice and then waited. He heard two metallic bangs as the locks opened and an ODST waited for him,

"Who are you? I'm not allowed to let anybody in without proper identification." He asked. John didn't like him questioning him but he answered anyway,

"I am Spartan 117. I am here to help fend off the Covenant invaders. Permission to come inside." John replied. The ODST looked to his left and he moved aside to let John in.

John entered the room and everyone who wasn't shooting stopped and looked at him. They then returned to what they were doing. John quickly looked around at the room. There was a window and placed and the window were fifteen machinegun. There were seven snipers standing at the window along with five people with Jackhammers. John quickly ran to the window and zoomed in. there was Covenant everywhere. John fired at a Brute and it flinched at the impacting shot. It kept on coming until a machine gunner cut it down. A sniper from somewhere at the back of all the Covenant took out one of the machine gunners. John took his position and flinched because the trigger was extremely hot. The barrel was steaming. He pulled the trigger down and killed an advancing line of Jackals most of the bullets reflected off their energy shield but one bullet went through the notch that the shields had and the Jackals body fell over. The ones on either side of it tripped over its legs and arms. John took this opportunity to exploit there uncovered body. Just then a beam hit him and his shields drained fully and he was knocked back off his feet. A normal Marine would have been killed instantly by one of them shots but John's shields absorbed most of the shock. He quickly got back up and found a SN-44S Sniper Rifle lying on the ground. Beside it were five clips of ammo. So, plus the clip already in it, that meant he could take out at least twenty-four Covenant. That number, however, was tiny compared to how many Covenant were charging towards them.

"Someone man that turret now!" He yelled and someone ran towards it, grabbed it and started firing. John zoomed in a saw seventeen Jackal snipers at the very back of the Covenant. John took out four with headshots. He reloaded and focused back on the snipers. He quickly took out another four. After he reloaded, he noticed that the others were running about with their weapons over their heads. He focused on the oncoming Brutes. He took one out with two bullets to the head. He then took out two Jackals. He reloaded again. He shot down four Jackals,

"Anyone got any Sniper ammo?" an ODST yelled,

"Here," John told him and tossed him his last two clips. John discarded the used rifle and picked up his MA8B. He took out the Punisher, unclipped the stand and placed it on the edge of the bunker and pulled the trigger. The barrels rotated and unleashed a wave of bullets. He saw Brutes drop and Jackals fall over, blood pouring from their side. There was a click and John took out the ammo belt and slid in a new one. He continued to fire but this time he focused on the incoming swarm of Drones. They dropped from the sky like flies. One fired a Needler and the crystalline shards caught an unlucky Marine in the face. He screamed and ran around. He then exploded in a cloud of purple smoke. John quickly shot all the Drones and they fell and landed on top of unlucky Jackals and crushed them. The Brutes just shrugged them off. The last Phantom dropped off a Wraith and two Ghosts.

"Rockets on the Wraith and the Ghosts now!" John yelled. Five rockets flew towards the Wraith and it exploded and sent metal flying everywhere crushing unfortunate Brutes and Jackals. The Ghosts sped forward. John shot the first and its armour peeled away like tinfoil before exploding. The second was hit by five more rockets and was launched in the air. It landed on two Jackals.

"Chief, the Longsword are inbound. You might wanna shield your eyes. The Pelicans won't be long either." The Admiral barked down the COM.

"Yes Sir." John replied. John set his light filters to the darkest point. He could hardly see anything. "Everyone cover your eyes. Our Longswords are going to deliver our friends a surprise." He yelled and everyone shielded their eyes and got behind a wall.

The Longswords rushed in and each dropped at least twenty bombs. There must have been at least thirty Longswords. As they detonated they let off a blinding flash. Even with his filters set he still had to close is eyes. The roar of their engines was reassuring. As they passed and the light dimmed down, there were nothing left but burning corpses and fires. The Pelicans then soared in. they quickly scanned the area for any survivors and when they saw there weren't any, they landed. The ODSTs jumped out and charged towards the bunker. Up in the sky, John saw the cruiser was covered with hundreds of little pinpricks of light.

"Chief, our boarding Pelicans have managed to unload sixty troops into the cruiser. They have successfully planted a bomb that will detonate in fourteen minutes. I want you to take out any remaining Covenant forces her-." there was an explosion in the background followed by the sounds of gunfire. "Chief, get over here now." Then the COM was awash of static. He turned off the COM and ran outside. There was a Ripper there waiting for him. It was fully loaded. The driver got out and ran inside the bunker. John quickly hopped in and put his foot down. The Ripper's wheels spun as he turned it around. He quickly sped off. He passed hundreds of burning corpses. Three Phantoms flew in and dropped off more Covenant troops. The ODST in the passenger seat fired all four of its rockets towards the first Phantom and blew off its guns. The machine gunners ripped off the others guns and they landed on the ground with a crash. The Ripper jumped as John drove over a dead body. Locusts flew overhead patrolling the area. Johns Ripper sped forward and in five minutes they were there. John ran into the Garage and past the empty vehicle slots. He then stopped in the Armoury. John dropped his Punisher and picked up a Shark. He also dropped the MA8B for two Dominators, one with explosive ammo and one with shredder. He also picked up silencers for them both.

John proceeded up the ramp cautiously towards the three flights of stairs. When at the bottom John scanned above himself with his Dominators. When he started to proceed he heard the rattle of rifle fire and another strange sound that he hadn't heard before. It was a squeal noise followed by a grunt. He quickly ascended and when he got to the source of the noise it was a room with Human blood leading into it. He leaned against the wall and leaned around the corner. There were four Spider like creatures, they looked disgusting; they had slime dripping from their mouths(what John thought was their mouths), they had four extremely thin legs, and one of them had a see through tube protruding from it's stomach that was stuck into a dead marines gut. John could see blood and fat going into the spider like creature. John had only just noticed the web like covering on the walls. He quickly took a video feed and viewed the room when he noticed two Marines stuck onto the wall. They were still alive. They were moving. One of the aliens jumped onto one of them and its tube came out and impaled the Marine. He hung there limp as it sucked out its insides. John had to look away, he heaved. The things heard him and turned towards him and crawled at him. John quickly unloaded his Dominators in them. Two of them fell onto the ground; olive coloured blood spattered the floor. John primed a Frag grenade and lobbed it inside, he then quickly shut the door. There was a dull thud from inside. He raised his pistols and opened the door stealthily. The remains of the creatures were scattered on the floor. When John was sure it was clear he quickly entered and grabbed the Marine that was still alive. He pulled off the web and he fell to the floor gasping. John looked at the one next to him. He had a hole in his stomach from which blood poured. John checked his bio-signs but they were flat. He closed his eyes and checked the pile of bodies but there weren't any survivors. The Marine grabbed his MA8B rifle and his two silenced SMGs. John told him to follow him and keep him covered. He turned off the video feed and tried to contact the Admiral,

"Admiral, this is Master Chief. If you can hear this, stay where you are. I am in the building and approaching your position. If it means endangering yourself then don't reply." John shouted down the COM. He waited and then someone replied,

"Chief, this SGT Hudson. We are being attacked by some unknown enemy and a load of Brutes. The Admiral is alive but he's wounded. We need your help. They're getting through!" It broke off and there was gun fire and screaming in the background. John heard the gunfire and it was directly above him.

John cautiously ascended the stairs. A Brute charged out of the room in front of him. It ran at him and he unloaded his Dominators into it. Behind the Marine fired his SMGs and it crumpled into a heap and fell down the stairs. It landed with a crack as its neck broke. John slammed two new clips into his weapons with a satisfying click. He walked forward, pistols raised and stood in front of the room where the Brute had run out of. The room was crawling with Covenant and these new spider things. At one side of the room was a pile of bodies. Both Human and Covenant, although there were far more Human bodies that Covenant. At the far end of the room was a door that was blocked off. It was covered in bullet holes. John whispered to the Marine,

"Don't do anything yet. Wait 'till I have thrown my grenades, then you throw yours. Then we both open fire. Got it?"

"Yes Sir" he whispered back. John came to the edge of the door; he took out his Shark, primed a Frag grenade, lobbed it in, then primed another and did the same. The Marine threw two in as well. John flung himself in the room and shot his four rockets in. he then jumped back out and the Marine unloaded his SMGs in their. After John had put in four new rockets he flung himself back. There was nothing moving. John took out his two Dominators again. John scanned the room. Nothing seemed to have survived the blast. He gave the Marine the signal to show that it was all clear. He came in. John thought to himself as he looked out the window at the Humans clearing up the remaining Covenant forces, just what his life would be like i-

"CHIEF! HELP!" The Marine yelled. There was a spider climbing up his body. It reached his midsection and inserted its tube into him. He went limp and fell to the floor. The spider jumped off and headed for John. It leaped into the air at his face but he sent it flying with the butt of his Dominator. It landed on the wall and it received a face full of lead. It then fell to the floor. John rushed to the fallen Marine and shook him. He didn't respond. He checked his bio-signs. His heart was beating. Relief flooded John. He picked him up and draped him over his shoulder. John turned towards the door that was blocked off.

"Hello, anyone in there?" he asked

"Yes Sir. We are. Is that you Chief?" the voice replied.

"Yes, stand away from the barricade." He told them, John placed the wounded Marine on the ground. John smacked the barricade with his fist and shattered. Wooden planks fell to the floor along with iron bars.

On the other side were seven Marines, two ODSTs and the Admiral that was draped over an ODSTs shoulder.

"Sir, we really need to get out of here. We need to get to the nearest base, which is Niagara Falls. Morris, call in a Pelican, get us the hell out of here. And send off the data about these new creatures to Lord Hood, they could use them to board the Orbital Mac Guns." SGT Hudson.

"Yes Sir SGT." PVT Morris shouted. "Lord Hood this is Congo Basin HQ. We have Intel on a new Covenant species. Advised you take a look at these as they are highly dangerous and they could board your Orbital Mac Guns, copy?" he said into the radio.

"I copy. Receiving data files. Give me a minute." he replied. "Affirmative, data received. Broadcasting to other gun stations. Is the Master Chief there?" he asked,

"Yes Sir I am." John answered.

"Chief, I need you to order the troops out there. I don't know what it was you did, but you managed to repel an entire Covenant platoon. That cruiser is going to blow in two minutes forty-nine seconds. You need to set up base defence, get back up here and deal with the Covenant. Truths ship has exited the system on an unknown vector. He could be anywhere. His fleet are still here and we need your help."

"Sir, yes Sir." John chanted.

"Niagara Base this is Congo Basin HQ, requesting five Pelican transports for wounded. We have lost our Medical Bay, over"

"Copy that Congo Basin. Transports arriving in five minutes." John picked up the wounded Marine and placed him on a chair in the Armoury. SGT Hudson and his men followed. John then ran down to the outside speaker control.

"Attention. All personnel to report to the Armoury for wounded Evac and for orders. Be there in three minutes." He yelled through the speakers and his voice echoed outside. John ran back to the Armoury.