Chapter 9- Time to kill us a really big bug
Authors Notes- I have decided! They will… I'm not going to reveal it now. That would spoil the rest of this section of the book! You'll just have to read to find out where they go. As always, Rate and Review. Please. This is very important. "Your enjoyment of this book is the will of the Gods. And I… I am their instrument." Also, I am going to deviate a little to write a chapter on the Arbiter's final mission before the Brutes go bat-shit crazy and kill all the Elites. You know: the one where he goes to retrieve the key that activates the giant hula-hoops of death. For those of you born missing a sense of humor, I am referring to the Halo rings. Duh. I will write this chapter after the Chief kicks Regret's ass. Anyway, enjoy the sort-of novelization of Metropolis.
The Master Chief walked over to where a marine was scoping up the Scarab that had just gone by. When he walked up, she told him that it "blew right through us. 50-cal, rockets, didn't do a thing." A Pelican flew over with a tank slung underneath it, and a very familiar sergeant in the passenger compartment.
Johnson jumped out as the tank dropped onto the ground, walked over to the marines and asked them where the rest of their platoon was. The female answered that it was wasted. The other marine was obviously panicking, because he responded with, "And we will be too, sir, if we don't get the hell out of here!" As he walked toward the Pelican, Johnson grabbed his shoulder. "You hit, marine? "No, sir." "Then listen up! The Spartans are going to take this tank, roll across that bridge, and blow up any inhuman son of a bitch dumb enough to get between them and the Prophet of Regret" He turned to the panicking marine. "Pull yourself together, because you are going with 'em." The other marine walked over. "What about that Scarab?" "We've all run the simulations. They're tough, but they're not invincible. Stay with the Spartans, they'll know what to do." "Yes sir, sergeant!" Cortana contacted Johnson. "Thanks for the tank. They never get me anything." Johnson cocked the machine gun in the Pelican and lit a cigar. "Oh, I know what the ladies like."
The Pelican took off, and the Spartans piled into the tank, with the Master Chief driving, Emile operating the machine gun, and the rest piling onto the jumpseats. They did just what Johnson had said they would: they rolled across the bridge in the tank, and blew up any Covenant who got in their way. At the end of the bridge, Cortana voiced all their opinions. "That's quite a welcome party." Six's response was, "Tell me about it." Two Wraith tanks came out of the only open tunnel leading to where they needed to go. Carter pulled up the Rocket Launcher he had taken from the panicking marine, and pumped both tubes into one tank, blowing it up. The other tank fired, narrowly missing the left side of the Scorpion. The Chief turned the barrel and blew the tank to hell and back with one well-placed shot.
As the group rode through the tunnel, they heard what seemed to be a group of marines fighting Jackals and Grunts and maybe a few Elites. There was a bang and all at once 3 Elites, 4 Grunts, and 2 Jackals went into the afterlife. Six turned to look at the Chief. "That was a little bit of overkill, don't you think?" "There's no such thing as overkill, only excessive force. And no, that was not excessive force." He shot a lone Grunt through the head with another tank round. "That was."
The group moved on in silence, or as close to silence as they could get with the roar of the tank's engine and the sounds of battle all around them. When they reached the other side of the tunnel, they abandoned the tank and went out on foot, through a service pipe, and into the middle of a skirmish between a Covenant squad, comprised of 2 Elites, 5 Jackal Snipers, 3 regular Jackals, and 10 Grunts, against Gunnery Sergeant Stacker in a Gauss Warthog. The Chief jumped down after killing one of the Snipers that was close by, and the Warthog stopped near him. "I could use you on the gun, Chief." Right as he jumped on, Carter jumped into the side seat and readied his Rocket Launcher. "Thought you guys could use some extra support." There were two Ghosts chasing the Gauss Hog, and with one shot from the Gauss Cannon, and one rocket, they were dealt with. The rest of the group found a regular Hog and followed the Chief and Carter.
They ended up back on the highway, after dealing with another Wraith and two more Ghosts, and were following another group of marines when three Phantoms dropped off three more Wraiths. Cortana informed the group that there was a group of marines trapped in the building on the far side of the street, right behind the Wraiths. Carter pumped his last rocket into one of the Wraiths, while the Chief put at least 5 Gauss rounds into it, blowing it sky-high. Six, who was riding in the other Warthog, jumped out and ran towards the nearest Wraith, jumped on the back, and jammed a plasma grenade into its weak spot. It exploded as he jumped off, putting a dent in his shields.
The other Wraith turned and fired at Six, who was still recovering from the explosion. Six locked his armor, over pressurized the gel layer of his suit, and braced for the impact. When the round hit, Six was sent flying, hitting a building about 2 stories off the ground and at least 50 feet from where he had been. After he fell out of the building, he stood up and groaned. "That really hurt." Emile drove up beside him, and when Six got in, Emile remarked, "Next time, get out of the way, or be more subtle."
After the group had destroyed the last Wraith, another Phantom dropped two Ghosts, one of which was destroyed almost instantly when a 25mm Gauss round smacked the side of it. The other was hit by the wreckage, causing it to go up in flames. The group drove up to where a group of marines were stationed, obviously defending the entrance to the building. As the Spartans disembarked their Warthogs, one of the marines walked up. "Sir, Corporal Perez, A company. CP's this way." He led the Spartans up a couple flights of stairs, briefing them as he went. "The Lieutenant got hit as soon as we dropped." The Chief cut in. "Who's in charge now?" "Sergeant Banks, sir, he up top. Come on, I'll show you." He led them to an overlook just above where they had entered. A man, presumably Banks, turned and looked at them all, amazed. "When I called for backup, I didn't think they'd send Spartans." He turned around. "We've got trouble."
Just then, the Scarab rounded the corner, noticed a Scorpion tank that had just been dropped, and vaporized it with its main gun. One of the marines said, "See this look, it's terror!" Sgt. Banks keyed the comm. "This thing is really starting to PISS ME OFF! Marines, time to kill us a Scarab!" He led the Spartans to a series of bridges spanning a waterway, and soon enough, the Scarab turned the corner and moved towards them. Six grabbed a Rocket Launcher and a DMR, and jumped onto the Scarab. When he landed, three Elite Majors ran out of an area that appeared to access the control station. One of them fell over as a 14.5X114 AP-FS-DS round flew through its head. The others scattered as a hail of 7.62mm rounds flew at them, crippling their shields. Six looked up and saw Emile and the Chief, each wielding MA5B assault rifles, jump down after him. Carter jumped down next, wielding a DMR in one hand and an SMG in the other. Two more Majors and a Minor came out of the area and opened fire on the Spartans, dropping Six's shields and putting a dent in everyone else's. One of the Majors heads snapped back, and it fell as another 14.5X114mm AP-FS-DS round flew through its head, while the others were taken care of by a pair of well-placed plasma grenades.
The group entered the control area, where 2 Grunt Ultras, an Elite Ultra, and 2 Elite Majors resided. The Grunts both fell as a 14.5X114mm AP-FS-DS round passed through one's head and exited into the others. The Ultra rushed them, but quickly fell back as its shields were depleted by the combined firepower of all 5 Spartans. The 2 Majors, who were operating the controls of the Scarab, left their posts, readied their Plasma Rifles, and charged the Spartans. Both quickly fell to the Spartans superior firepower. The Ultra, who was about to charge them again, witnessed his brother's deaths and was instantly pissed off enough to draw his Energy Sword, throw away all caution, and run at the Spartans. It managed to get close enough before its shields broke to swing at Carter, who was the closest, and would have cut the commander in two, had Six not tackled the Ultra and stabbed it with his knife. Six got up, sheathed his knife, and took the Energy Sword. Carter looked at him. "I could have dodged it." "No, you couldn't have. Not when you were still pouring SMG rounds into it." Emile walked over to the controls and initiated an overload of the reactors. "Let's get out of here."
The team walked to the end of the platform and saw a Pelican rise out of the smoke from the explosion. Johnson screamed over the comm. "That's right, you mothers, RUN!" Commander Keyes interrupted his victory celebration. "Not if we can help it, Sergeant. Extract the Spartans and return to In Amber Clad." "Yes ma'am." The doors to the passenger bay of the Pelican dropped open and the Spartans all piled in. The pilots took the Pelican into the hangar of In Amber Clad, and when they were inside, the frigate lurched forward. Carter keyed the comm. "Commander, mind telling us where we are going that we need to go that fast?" "We're chasing the Prophet. His carrier is going to jump to Slipspace inside the city." The frigate got into the carrier's shields (like the Chief did in H4 when he was chasing the Didact), and when it jumped, so did In Amber Clad. The shockwave produced by the jump destroyed the city and vaporized all the ODST drop pods sent to board the carrier, except Gunnery Sergeant Buck's squad, which had been diverted mere moments before to a new target set by their new CO.
