The Journey Begins
"Move!" The ODST trooper shouted. All of the ODST's in the Pelican piled out, shooting at numerous grunts as they did. The Pelican's Pilot radioed the ODST Sergent and said, "There's too much fire; pulling back to a safe distance, over."
"Roger that." The Pelican's engines whined as it slowly started to rise, and then it flew off, gaining speed as it went. Sergent Hopkins had been with the UNSC for 15 years. He'd seen lots of blood, guts, plasma, but nothing could have prepared him for what he saw here. He said into his radio, "What the fuck is that?" Before him was the most gigantic thing he had ever seen in his life. "Sir!" One of his corporal's ran up to him. "Sir, the area is secure,"
"Any casualties?"
"None sir. But one of those Covenant Elites winged McCabe." Damn. The Sergent patted the Corporal on the shoulder. "Call for reinforcements, and then," he gestured up at the towering structure. "We're going in there."
The Master Chief walked over to Johnson. "Felling better Chief?" he asked. "Yes, actually, I am." Johnson smiled, "Sorry for the little workout." They both laughed. What's the deal?" the Master Chief asked.
"Nothing big. A group of marines stumbled upon something that they want to check out." The Master Chief nodded.
"They call for backup?"
"Yep."
"Are you going to send anyone in?"
Johnson grinned.
"Just a few people that I know. Also," he pulled out something that looked familiar. "I thought that you might like this." The Master Chief took it and popped it into his helmet. Cortana's voice filled his speakers. "It's good to be home."
"Cortana!" Johnson smiled. "Now that you two have gotten acquainted, again, you might like to know that you two are gonna be going out on your own. The marines report that all sides of the temple have a sheer drop. The amount of ground until the drop from the temple is about 500 metres."
"How far away is the other side?" Cortana asked. Johnson grimaced. "About 200 metres."
"All right," the Master Chief said. "Let's get to it then."
The Ferret raced along the rough, sandy terrain with ease. The Ferret is a new UNSC motorbike that has a twin barrel shotgun on the front that has a very long firing range. It also has a detachable side compartment for a passenger. The Master Chief made the designs himself, about 28 years ago. No one was in the side seat, but the Master Chief stored a portable Rocket Launcher and his personal Sniper Rifle. In his belt he kept a few fragmentation grenades and his ever faithful Magnum. The Ferret's engines powered it across the terrain, leaving an enormous amount of dust and dirt in his wake. The Ferret climbed up a slope to reveal a human base in the middle of a canyon. The Master Chief stopped, activated his visor's scope, and zoomed in on the base. Covenant Elites were patrolling the roof, and there were a few grunts in ghosts, patrolling the perimeter of the former marine base. The base had several levels; the bottom, he saw, had a docked banshee, the second level was an 'insider'; it had two entries and led into the middle base. The third level was the roof of the small complex. There was something very strange about something on the top, though. It had a strange green glow to it. The Master Chief tossed the thought aside and drew his Sniper. He looked through the scope and saw two Elites walk out onto the roof. He quickly practiced moving from one target to another. Then, when he think he had it mastered, he aimed at 1Elite and relaxed. He remembered Mendez' exact words; Sniping is like a walk in the park. Stealth is the key… The Master Chief fired two shot's, and the two Elite's heads exploded in a fountain of purple blood… You must focus;
Nothing is there except you and your opponent… 3 more grunts and a jackal fell to his deadly storm of sniper fire. He reloaded and touched his combat knife that was in his thigh pouch. If there is no one to watch your back, watch it yourself… The Master Chief stood up, unsheathed his knife, and in one fluid movement, threw it into the head of the jackal behind him, and raised his sniper at the Elite. Never use your Rifle at close range… He quickly changed plans and thrust the nozzle of the Sniper into the Elite's chest and pulled the trigger. The Elite exploded as the Master Chief swung around and caught a Jackal in the head so hard it knocked it off. Never slow down; if you do, you'll die… The Master Chief raised his sniper rifle once more and fired one shot at the ghost that was shooting at him. Bang! The bullet penetrated the Ghost's outer hull and hit the fuel tank. As the explosion and the last shot died away, he remembered Mendez' last words; don't let go of the felling, and the skill won't let go of you…
