A/N: Well, I finally have Broadband, so I should be updating this more often now. Sorry for the waiting everyone, I've just been lazy. R&R, I'd greatly appreciate it. Enjoy!

Chapter 8

I knew that even if I didn't live to see it through, the mission still had to be accomplished.

"Marines, fall back and warn everyone that a wave of Flood's coming. That's an order, so don't bother arguing. It's been an honor serving with you all. Over and out," I radioed. Before they had a chance to reply, I turned my radio off and charged without a second thought. "If I'm gonna die here," I said to myself, "it's gonna be on the offensive." I lunged at the first Combat Form I saw and hacked it to pieces. The next one was just as unfortunate. The third one had a shotgun, so I rolled under its line of fire just as it shot. I gave it an uppercut and took the shotgun.

I immediately did a 180 and fired, blowing a clean hole through a Combat Form's chest. I wasn't quick enough to dodge another's swing, which caught my left arm. I returned the scar with my sword, but I then noticed that I was bleeding. A sword-wielding Combat Form rushed me and slashed at me, but I blocked the blow. The two of us sat there in a stalemate until I drew my pistol and shot its face. I then quickly holstered my pistol and readied the other sword. The Flood had closed in around me, so I stuck both swords out and spun around, clearing a good eight feet in every direction. One charged directly at me, but a Battle Rifle burst caught it in the chest.

For a second I was staring, surprised, but then I jumped back as another Flood swung at me. After scissor-style cutting the jumper, I looked for the source of the burst and traced it to Commander Keyes. I stepped back slightly to avoid another swing that hit the ground in front of me. I lunged with both swords, leaving the two halves of an Elite Combat Form to fall to the ground. That crazy bitch is going to get herself killed, I thought as I slashed another Flood in half. I sprinted back to where she was, activating my radio as I went.

"Who the hell let Keyes come over here?" I yelled.

"Thank God, sir, you're not dead. She said that her rank let her ignore our mission, sir. Not even Johnson could stop her. Of course, due to your orders, we couldn't go get her," Nicholson replied.

"New mission objective: secure the package at all costs. Now move it!" I heard several enthusiastic confirmations that my order had been heard. "Quit cheering and come get her!" I finally got to her, but I had some Flood right behind me. Commander Keyes solved that problem with her rifle.

"Damn, that thing's a scalpel in the right hands. Now what the hell makes you think that you can come here even when I send my squad back?"

"Easy, sir. You ordered the Marines to go back. I'm Navy, so I was exempt from your order," she replied defiantly. I turned around and cut down a few Combat Forms.

"Of course a tight-assed Navy girl would want to exploit that kind of loophole."

"You want to say that to my face, Lieutenant?"

"I sure as hell do, but the last thing my retinas need is to be burned in the middle of combat," I retorted as I slashed another Combat Form into pieces. More Flood were coming than we could kill and there was no sign of my squad. I then spotted three Phantoms flying in our direction. After a few seconds they opened fire on the Flood, effectively slaughtering them. I turned around and saw my squad running towards us with Johnson at the front.

"Sorry we're late, sir. Did we miss… wow, sir. You may want to clean that off when you get the chance," Johnson noted. I looked at my suit and saw what he meant. I was covered in green blood except on the visor of my helmet. I turned back to the beat-down.

"No, Sergeant, you're just in time for the show." I deactivated my swords and sat down to enjoy the sight. Two Phantoms kept shooting while the third hovered near us, waiting for us to get in. "Good work, Marines. Yet another successful mission to add to our count." I led the group to the gravity lift and let them get on before I did. Once on board, Keyes informed the pilot of the location of the rest of our group as I laid down. We picked them and the rest of the gear up and flew back to the rebel cruisers.

"Sir, you want me to take a look at that?" Brenda asked. I gave her a confused look, but then I remembered that my left arm was bleeding. "Because that's one hell of an injury and it looks like you've lost quite a bit of blood."

"Go ahead," I replied as I sat down. She put some BioFoam on the wound and the bleeding stopped, but she was right. I had lost a good amount of blood and I was starting to feel a little lightheaded. After a few minutes I could barely stay conscious.

"Ok, sir, you've lost more blood than I thought, but we'll get you some more from the Concrescence. We'll be there in…" That was all I heard before I blacked out.