Chapter 22
0900 hours, January 25, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Heading towards the SPARTAN Armory/ The Sparta/ In orbit over Earth
"If anyone else finds out," Monica started.
"They won't." Andrew replied shortly as the two Spartans headed towards the Armory to pick up their MJOLNIR armor. The hallways were crowded, Marines and Naval crew members alike were rushing everywhere, totally ignoring all of their surroundings.
"Okay, we're here." Monica said as she pointed to a door labeled: "Armory- SPARTAN". The two humans went through the door and entered a large room filled with complicated looking devices and rows upon rows of weapons lockers. Suddenly, a door on the other side of the room opened and a technician came through.
Spotting the two Spartans, the technician said, "Oh, you must be here to pick up your armor?"
Andrew nodded.
"Okay then, follow me… you'll like the changes we've added to them." The tech said as he waved the two Spartans through a door. The humans entered another room, it was twice a large as the armory, and it was packed with motion. Techs rushed around, only pausing to salute at the two Spartans as AIs took control of many robotic arms. The tech led the Spartans to a large glass dome in the middle of the area and turned around.
"Okay, we've upgraded your suits and I think you guys will like them." The tech grinned as he walked over to a control panel and pressed a button. The glass dome opened and revealed two suits of MJOLNIR armor. They looked almost exactly alike as their old armor except for a few minor changes. The "battery sack" on the back of the armor looked almost twice as large as the old armor, and several areas of MJOLNIR armor had silver patches.
"I present to you, the MJOLNIR Juggernaut!" The technician said proudly. "It has twice the speed as its counterparts, the energy shielding is a tad bit stronger, it can store up energy for and overshield much faster, and, see these silver armor plating? They house micro shield generators, very useful if your main shields have been knocked out and you can't recharge them. Besides creating a secondary shield, they can effectively give you an eight second cloaking, it's pretty much like those stealth Elite's active camouflage."
Andrew was stunned, humanity didn't have any type of full body camouflage, and this could give him new options in battle.
"Spartans 249 and 250, please report to the bridge after you get on your armor, we have a slight change of plans." Captain Corbec said over the intercom.
"Huh? But we still have about 0200 hours till ETA!" Monica exclaimed.
"I know, c'mon, I don't think we should be keeping the Captain waiting." Andrew replied. "Let's get our armor on and get to the bridge."
0930 hours, January 25, 2552 (Military Calendar)
The Sparta's Bridge/ The Sparta/ In orbit over Earth
The Generation drifted closer to The Sparta as Captain Derrick Corbec anxiously watched the viewscreen.
"There it is again, that whisper is getting a bit stronger." Bastila said.
"Brief me." Captain Corbec said shortly.
"Seems like a large Covenant ship, maybe a Flagship or a Main Capital Ship, wait, slipspace ruptures… there it is." Bastila replied. Corbec gazed in grave silence as the largest Covenant ship ever seen in human history, besides the ship that left High Charity, enter the Earth's system. It was the size of about four Covenant Carriers put together.
"Nieger, contact The Generation and tell them to make ready, LeRiche, arm Archer missile pods A through F, charge up both of our MAC guns, and get ready to give em' hell."
"Aye sir." Nieger and LeRiche replied in unison.
Nearby, Corbec saw The Generation's lone MAC gun charge up and arm 50 of its 200 Archer missile pods. The Sparta put on a single burst of speed and drifted closer to The Generation, both ships released their single ships.
"Spartans 249 and 250, please report to the bridge after you get on your armor, we have a slight change of plans." Corbec said over the intercom. "Nieger, tell The Generation engage when I give the signal."
"Yes sir." Nieger whispered. The door leading to the bridge opened up and two Spartans, one dressed in teal colored armor, while the other in tan, entered the bridge.
"Spartans 249 and 250 reporting as requested sir!" Spartan-249 saluted.
"At ease." Corbec replied, though he was everything other than at ease. "See that ship? If it comes within range of the fleet, who knows what's gonna happen. You know the stunt pulled off by Spartan-117 and two others in year 2525?"
"Yes sir, the frigate, The Commonwealth, punched a hole in a Covenant ship and allowed three Spartans to board it, set up a nuke, and left… just as the nuke detonated." Spartan-249 replied.
"Feel like replaying history?" Corbec asked. The Spartan looked at his fellow Spartan, nodded, and replied, "Yes sir."
"Good, hurry and get what you need, once we knock out their shields, I'm going to release a wave of 20 ODST drop pods at the ship, they'll help you… good luck."
0945 hours, January 25, 2552 (Military Calendar)
ODST drop pod launch area/ The Sparta/ In orbit over Earth
"Okay, you grab a BR55, a few grenades, a sidearm or two wouldn't hurt, and a missile tactical nuke, we're going light on this mission." Andrew said as he grabbed and MA5B assault rifle, an M90 Shotgun, a few frags, extra clips and a pack of shotgun shells, and a med pack.
"I don't consider a nuke that light." Monika grinned as she grabbed her weapons and entered an HEV, otherwise known as a Human Entry Vehicle. Andrew nodded and entered his HEV.
"Ready? I'll release you in 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1!" Captain Corbec said over the COM. Andrew felt his stomach lurch as the ground beneath the HEV opened up and felt the HEV freefall through outer space.
Through the viewscreen, Andrew saw both The Sparta and The Generation open fire on the large Covenant Main Capital Ship. Thousands of Archer missiles streaked through space closely followed by 9 MAC rounds. The MAC rounds struck, and the Covenant ship's shields flickered, but still held, barely. But the Archer missile pods struck shortly afterwards, and the Covenant ship's shields faded. But the enemy ship fought back. The plasma turrets on the Covenant ship's side glowed and beams of plasma shot through space. The Sparta took a direct hit, and one of her MAC guns was turned into molten slag.
"Enemy singleships, seems like they're gonna try to take us out before we land!" Monica said over the COM. She was right; a small swarm of Covenant Seraph fighters flew towards the HEVs and opened fire.
"We need a little help over here!" Andrew cried out over the COM.
"On our way." The cool, never flinch voice of a Longsword interceptor pilot replied. A flock of Longswords flew over the fast approaching HEVs and released a stream of missiles and bullets.
Andrew looked down at the mission screen and read: Distance till impact: 99K.
"Get ready!!!" Andrew yelled over the COM. He felt his HEV lurch in the direction of a hole a MAC round had struck through the hull. He looked at the viewscreen and saw 21 other HEVs follow closely behind him. Everything was going splendidly well.
Suddenly the HEV shook violently and felt the HEV crash into the Covenant ship. Andrew waited there for a few seconds and heard 21 more crashes. The Spartan kicked open the HEV, grabbed his weapons, and emerged. He looked around and saw 20 ODSTs and Monica emerging from their HEVs. The humans had landed….
Author's Note: "Thanks for reading everyone!!! I give my thanks to Bungie, all me mates, readers, and… SOUTH PARK!!! South Park rules!!! Thank you!" : )
Chapter 23
1000 hours, January 25, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Onboard Covenant Main Capital Ship/ En Route to ship's fusion core/ In orbit over Earth
Three hardened bullets coughed from Andrew's assault rifle and three Jackals fell down, all dead from headshots. The 23 humans turned another corridor and ran strait into a pair of Brutes, both seemed mildly surprised at the sight of the human opposition. Both were about to open fire with their brute shots but had their necks sliced open as Monica leapt over them and slashed at them with her combat knife.
"Strange, all we've seen on this ship are Brutes, Drones, and Jackals." Monica inquired as she nudged one of the dead aliens with her foot. Andrew had noticed it as well, in fact, he hadn't seen any sign of the common Grunt, the commanding Elites, or the occasional pair of Hunters. They had run into mostly Jackals, none of them wielding a glowing energy shield, which was also strange.
The team of humans continued their path to the ship's fusion core when they entered another room. It was easily huge, and the battle raging inside it was easily larger.
Below the humans, there was a large mass of Jackals, Brutes, Drones, Grunts, Elites, and a single Hunter. The strange part was, they were all fighting against each other. Seven blue armored Elites, who were wielding plasma rifles, formed themselves into a rough "delta" formation and fired blue plasma bolts at the attacking Brutes, Jackals, and Drones as several Grunts provided a fine spray of green plasma for cover fire.
"How are we supposed to get through that?" An ODST inquired.
"Easy." Andrew muttered. With that, he jumped into the raging battle below.
1000 hours, January 25, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Alpha Base/ Sydney, Australia/ Earth
Alpha Base was going to fall, no matter what. Kyle knew that the moment hundreds of dropships and Seraph fighters flew over Alpha Base. The lone MAC cannon took out about half their number, but it seemed like hundreds more took their place.
All UNSC personnel and their vehicles to retreat to the base… thus were saving countless lives. But now the humans were holed up inside their own base. Kyle grinned, it was just like a replay of the Alamo… except Santa Anna's cannon fire was replaced with plasma mortar.
Time was running out for the residents of Alpha Base, but Kyle was determined to take out as many Covenant S.O.Bs with it as he could.
"Okay! This is it people!" Kyle announced to the crowd of Techs, Marines, ODSTs, and Spartans. "We have a crowd of Helljumpers coming in 0100 hours time. We have to last that long. So harden up and show these Covenant bastards whose boss!"
The speech had the effect most "end of battle" speeches had. More than half of the humans were now standing tall, their expressions of despair now replaced with courage.
"Get ready! They're braking in!" Philip and Cameron yelled in unison. Kyle spun around to take a look at the only entrance to the base. It was glowing red.
"Set up a defense perimeter around the gate! Tanks in back, Warthogs up front. Spread out everyone!" Kyle yelled. "Get ready for point defense!"
For five whole minutes, the humans waited in stony silence as the titanium alloy gate turned from red, to blue, and finally to white. Then the gate exploded… allowing an army of Covenant Elites, Grunts, Hunters, and an assortment of their vehicles to boil in. Leading the entire army, was a thin infantry line of white armored Elites, all wielding fuel rod cannons.
"Take those white jockeys out!" A squad commander shouted. Ten marines, four armed with assault rifles, two with battle rifles, three with Covenant needlers, and one with a shotgun, opened up on the advancing Elites. One took a flurry of needles and abruptly blew up as several others were ripped apart by a hail of bullets. But the Elites had fired their guns as well.
Several green blobs flew gracefully, almost slowly, towards the humans. An ODST and three Marines were caught in the blast radius and were thrown back… dead. Other fuel rods cleanly missed their marks.
"Fire at will!" Kyle yelled over the COM. Immediately, the entire army of humans spread out and fired randomly into the mass of Covenant, Grunts screamed and fell under continuous blasts from human shotguns, Marines died at the hands of sword wielding Zealots, and the whole battle was chaos. Kyle sprayed continuous, three round bursts, from his assault rifles as, nearby, Cody punched a hole through an Elite's head and Cameron landed flurries of needles into unlucky targets. Philip had taken the liberty of taking out enemies with his rocket launcher and didn't hesitate to do so. Above the humans, salvos of rockets whooshed overhead and enthusiastically blew up crowds of Covenant, survivors were abruptly put down by a hail of bullets that came from a few turret implacements, which were manned by ODSTs.
Spartans played a huge role in the battle as well. One fired an entire magazine from his assault rifle into a few skittering Ghosts and took them out in pairs. A trio of Spartans, who all wielded shotguns, went up close and put holes into the chests of unlucky Grunts and Elites.
For a second, Kyle thought the humans were winning, until an ODST yelled, "What the –blam- is that?!" and a Warthog with all its passengers were lifted high into the air and were smashed into the ground. Kyle looked up and saw the hugest living creature ever seen since the dinosaurs. It was the size of five hunters stacked on top of each other, and was easily twice a wide. It had a helmet on; in the middle of it was a single eye-shaped visor. In one hand it held a large, clublike weapon which sparked when the beast waved it around. In the other hand was a large fuel rod cannon, similar to a Hunter's. Bam! A nearby tank fired a Scorpion tank shell into the beast, and it howled in pain and anger. It pointed it's cannon in the direction of the Scorpion tank and fired.
For a second, it looked like a thin ribbon of energy, but something went wrong, the thin ribbon started growing, and growing, finally, the tank exploded, and the beam left a five meter wide crater in its place.
"We need to take that thing out!" Cody yelled as it swung it's clublike weapon at a group of battling Marines, Elites, Grunts, and a single Hunter; totally smashing the entire group.
"Yeah, all vehicle personnel, make that behemoth a primary target!" Kyle yelled over the COM. In unison, the tanks and Warthog turrets all faced the huge beast and opened fire all at once. After a few seconds of continuous firing, the beast roared in sympathy, took a tank shell to the chest, and finally fell to the ground… dead.
"Uh oh, I think its gun has a fail safe! Take cover people!!" Philip yelled from above. The humans who came to inspect the dead hulk of the beast turned and ran… just in time. The cannon exploded and engulfed every single thing in a 20 meter radius in emerald flames.
"Good, now that we took that out we need to take them out." Cameron grinned. Kyle looked around and hundreds of alien faces greeted him… all hungry for the human's blood…
1020 hours, January 25, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Onboard Covenant Main Capital Ship/ En Route to ship's fusion core/ In orbit over Earth
Andrew slammed the butt of his assault rifle into the back of a Brute, snapped its spine, slung his assault rifle, and drew his M90 shotgun, handy for the current battle. The Spartan looked up and saw Monica and the 20 ODSTs jump obediently from the balcony behind him.
"Spray these guys with lead!" Andrew grinned. The humans simultaneously fired a full automatic spray of bullets from their various weapons at the crowd of Covenant. Several of them fell under the mighty barrage, but none of them took notice of the humans. It seemed so that they were too busy fighting each other instead of the humans… which was pretty good. Andrew loaded a few shotgun shells into his shotgun's chamber, blew apart a Brute's head, and ran face to face to a gold armored, sword wielding Elite. Andrew paused for three whole seconds, finally remembering the Elite that captured Smith, Evan, and himself on the Covenant ship: The Fabled Prophecy. The alien roared angrily and slashed at the Spartan with its energy sword. Andrew cursed angrily as his shield bar drooped down to half. Andrew, in turn, slammed the barrel of his shotgun into the Elite's chest and pulled the trigger… the alien's shields flickered and faded.
Andrew ducked as the Elite swung at him with its sword again and pulled the trigger of his shotgun… but all he heard was a click.
Damn! Forgot to reload it! Andrew thought angrily. Andrew tried to melee the Elite with his shotgun but the Elite swiftly cut his gun in half. With no time to unsling his MA5B, Andrew drew his M6D pistol and squeezed the trigger, 12 bullets flew from the gun's barrel. Two bullets flew straight and true, they impacted the Elite's shoulder. But the Elite swung away and the other 10 bullets blew the head off a Brute, which was unlucky enough to be behind the gold armored Elite. Andrew spun around, reloading his M6D, and sighted the Elite. He pulled the trigger three times and a trio of bullets flew towards the Elite. But the Elite jumped to the side, drew its plasma rifle, fired a few bolts at the Spartan, and ran away from the battle… two blue armored Elites close behind it.
Andrew cursed as he put his sidearm away and drew his MA5B; he had been so close to getting the kill.
Andrew jumped up to a platform, turned around and noted that the team had made it through, and entered the next room. In the middle of the room, was a beam of energy that was so bright that the Spartan's helmet's visor darkened to protect his vision; it must've been the fusion core. They had made it.
Author's note
"Just to tell the people who are wondering what happened to the Master Chief and Ando Mormoslee, the next section will only have Ando and Yim Yam in it and, after lots of thinking, Master Chief won't be in the story anymore. Sorry everyone!"
Special thanks to: Mutiny, Linda 58, and Grunt Sarge!
Chapter 24
1030 hours, January 25, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Onboard Covenant Main Capital Ship/ En Route to ship's Drop Pod Bay/ In orbit over Earth
"Arm the nuke, give us 15 minutes, that should give us enough time to get outta' here." Andrew said. "O.K., any way we can get off this ship?"
"Yes, it seems so that there's a Drop Pod Bay via a Detention Block, it's not too far from here." Bastila replied through Andrew's helmet speakers. "Meanwhile, I'll inform the Captain that you armed the nuke."
"Good, let's go." Andrew said as an ODST set the missile tactical nuke nearby the fusion core. Pausing to scoop up a plasma rifle that was on the floor, the Spartan led the team of humans back to the large room. The battle had died out by then, and only a few Jackals who were led by a single Brute remained.
"Frag out!" Monica shouted as she primed, pulled the pin off, and threw the grenade into the group of aliens. The grenade detonated and several of the aliens were thrown backwards, the surviving Jackals were easily put down via several plasma bolts from Andrew's plasma rifle.
"Go back the way we came from and take a left, that should take you to the Main Detention Block." Bastila said. Andrew nodded, poked his head through the door, sighted two spec ops Elites standing on guard, and sprang forward.
One Elite had already fallen from a deadly spine-cracking blow when the other Elite was ripped to pieces from a wave of armor piercing bullets. The humans stepped over the remains of the Elites and entered another corridor which was littered with dead Brutes and Jackals. A single blue armored Elite amongst them, which must've wielded an energy sword due to the point that it still clutched the powerful weapon in its three fingered hand.
The humans went through the corridor without encountering a single alien and took a left where two Covenant energy swords floated in midair.
"Must be more special operations Elites," Andrew whispered. "O.K., you ODSTs…" But an ODST had already yelled out, "Let's get em'!" and the soldiers ran forward. Three ODSTs had already been killed by the time Andrew and Monica took out the alien's shields, showered them with plasma and bullets, and finally, caved in the skull of the last one.
Andrew frowned as he collected the dog tags of the fallen soldiers and, as not to go to waste, collected the soldier's grenades, ammo, and traded the plasma rifle for an M90 Shotgun. They continued on and took another left turn when a team of Brutes and Jackals turned the opposite corner. In unison, the Jackals fired a wave of green plasma at the humans. Plasma washed over Andrew's shields as he took out his MA5B assault rifle and fired a full automatic hail of bullets at the Covenant.
Several Jackals staggered under the armor piercing rounds and were easily finished off, the Brutes, however, fired several grenades out of their brute shots and killed two ODSTs. The surviving 15 ODSTs opened up and fired shotgun shells and armor piercing rounds at the attacking enemy. A few more Jackals fell down under the combined assault of the ODSTs and the two Spartans. After a few more seconds of full automatic assault, the surviving aliens finally fell down.
"There's the Main Detention Block, motion sensors detect no hostiles, it would be wise to take the time to reload and regroup in there." Bastila announced.
Andrew nodded silently and led the team through the door. Through the door was a large, circular room. The room had three levels circling around it, on each story was a prison cell.
"Okay ODSTs, check for any UNSC personnel, don't forget to reload your guns." Andrew said as he leaned against a wall and fed several shotgun shells into it. The ODSTs had already spread out looking for survivors when a female voice spoke behind him.
"Andrew? Is that you?" The voice said. Andrew turned around and saw a Spartan looking through the energy field between them.
1030 hours, January 25, 2552 (Military Calendar)
The Sparta's Bridge/ The Sparta/ In orbit over Earth
"Sir, we've armed the nuke." Bastila said over the COM.
"Good, you better get off that ship soon; I don't think we can hold that ship off much longer." Captain Corbec replied as The Sparta flew through the deceased UNSC carrier's, The Zeus, remains.
"Sir! They're attacking again!" Nieger yelled.
"Emergency thrusters! Fire missile pods N through R!" Corbec yelled as motes of light appeared on the side of the Main Capital Ship. Seven beams lashed out and barely licked The Sparta as it jerked to the left and dodged the rest of the beams. The Sparta's Archer missile pods released a stream of missiles that streaked through space leaving a trail of exhaust behind them.
"They're releasing their single fighters' sir, permission to group attack them with the MAC cannon?" Lt. Miller asked.
"Granted Miller." Corbec replied as several Archer missiles struck the approaching Seraph fighters and the Main Capital Ship's shields alike. The MAC gun charged… and released a stream of electromagnetic energy that barely licked the Covenant ship's shields… but the shields flickered and faded.
"What the hell was that?!" LeRiche cursed.
"Hmmm… seems like the MAC gun took a bit of damage from the plasma beams. It must've melted a bit and merged the tri rounds into one big beam. The range doesn't seem that long though." Miller replied.
"I don't care what happened to the MAC gun, just as long as we can still do that. Nieger, inform the captain of The Generation to cover us, we're gonna skewer this bastard inside out." Corbec said.
Knowing that the humans inside the ship couldn't be harmed since the fusion core was pretty much in the middle of the ten mile long and five miles wide ship, Corbec punched in the coordinates and The Sparta flew closer to the Covenant Ship at flank speed.
"Hit em'." Corbec said.
"Aye sir, give me a second to charge this baby up… its away sir." Lt. Miller announced. The MAC gun's electromagnetic beam flew out of the cannon and caressed the Covenant Ship's hull. Several of the lethal plasma turrets blew up, the purple hull of the Covenant ship's hull melted, and unlucky Seraphs that got in the way of the electromagnetic ray blew up.
"Hit em' Generation, make it count!" Corbec yelled through the COM at The Generation. Acknowledging the order, The Generation's single MAC cannon released a three round stream of electromagnetic super dense rounds and overlapping hits made their way deep into the Covenant ship's body.
"It still survived?!" LeRiche said, his eyebrow raised.
"That's why we sent the team inside the ship… and let's hope they get out soon. They only have six minutes…"
1039 hours, January 25, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Onboard Covenant Main Capital Ship/ En Route to ship's Drop Pod Bay/ In orbit over Earth
"K…Katy?" Andrew muttered dumbstruck after he smashed the energy field generation holding his fellow Spartan prisoner. "I thought you died on The Socrates!"
"No, they took me and few others though. Oh boy have I missed you!" Katy replied. She then wrapped her arms around Andrew and hugged him. Katy was one of the remaining members of the original Spartan squad, she was the frontline trooper like Andrew, but didn't get along with Monica that well.
"Can we move on now?" Monica asked after standing in the corner tsk-tsking.
"Yes, I agree… I don't think The Sparta and The Generation can hold them off much longer. Let's get to the Covenant drop pod bay, get inside the single Phantom docked there, and get our bodies off this ship before things get really nasty." Bastila agreed. Andrew looked behind him and saw that 7 technicians and 12 Marines had joined the surviving 10 ODSTs, Monica, and himself. They weren't heavily armed, mostly a series of spare M6Ds, M6Cs, SMGs, MA5Bs, BR55s, M90 Shotguns, plasma pistols, plasma rifles, and a needler.
"Warning! I'm detecting Covenant movement coming closer!" Bastila warned shrilly. Just as to prove her point, the opposite door opened and several white, black, purple, red, and blue armored Elites boiled in the Main Detention Block closely followed by a pair of hunters.
"All techs get back!" Andrew yelled. "Marines and ODSTs spread out!" The humans obediently obeyed, the techs backed up into cells, behind walls, anywhere that would provide cover and allow them to provide cover fire. The surviving ODSTs and the released Marines spread out and fired a constant stream of armor piercing bullets, shotgun shells, blue and green plasma, and pink needles. Andrew kept up a constant stream of bullets from his MA5B assault rifle as Monica and Katy, who was kneeling on either side of him, took turns firing their shotguns. The three Spartans quickly took out a single white armored Elite and three red armored veteran Elites.
The rest of the humans however, didn't take out the enemy that easily. The others didn't focus on a single target at a time, they opened fire on any alien that passed them. Thus, it allowed the Elites to recharge their shields. Andrew took notice of that.
"Listen up everyone! Focus on only one target a time and remain constant fire on it… we'll take out the Hunters." Andrew ordered. The moment the humans heard the order, they easily took out all the blue and white armored Elites, only three red armored Elites and the two Hunters, who seemed to think it was appropriate to throw themselves into the battle at this time, remained. One Hunter charged forward and lashed out its spines at Katy. In response, Katy leapt out of the way, pushed the barrel of her shotgun into the Hunter's unprotected part, and blasted it in half. Meanwhile, Andrew pushed the other Hunter back with a 60 round stream from his assault rifle; Monica did the honors and blasted its head off. The remaining Elites were taken out from the combined assault of the techs, the Marines, and the ODSTs.
"Good! Now let's hurry up and get on that Phantom!" Andrew said seeing that they had only a few losses and knew it could've been worse.
The countdown timer read: 00 and the Covenant Main Capital Ship blew up behind them. Safely nestled inside the captured Phantom, the humans made their way to the safe hangar of The Sparta. The ship was badly damaged, but her fight was over. But Andrew, Monica, and Katy still had another mission left over. Kyle and the rest of the Spartans were still on Earth, and they needed help…
Author's note
"Sorry that this chapter was late, I didn't have a lot of time! Thanks to: Linda 58, scary guy 293, Yayap15, nighthunder, Grunt Sarge, and everyone else who's reading my fanfiction! Thanks for reading everyone!"
Section IIV: Rescue
Chapter 25
0800 units, January 25, 2552 (Covenant Military Calendar)
In orbit over Delta Halo / Fabled Prophecy/ Makeshift Council Chamber
Ando Mormoslee entered the "Council Chamber" of the Fabled Prophecy and looked around. As far as he could see, his fellow Elites, all in armor of many colors, council Grunts, who ran all over the place, and Hunters, who stood as motionless and silent as statues in a corner, filled the entire room. The Elite passed by a pair of Honor Guards, both who were wielding their ceremonial spears, and continued on his way to the council meeting.
"We shall have order in this meeting now!" The famed Supreme Commander, otherwise known as Half-Jaw among most of the Covenant, boomed.
"It is alright Commander." Another Elite replied. Gasps and murmurs were heard around the Council Chamber as an Elite in gray, ceremonial armor emerged. He was the "Holy Arbiter".
"Arbiter has save us all! All hail Arbiter!" Squeaked a council Grunt dressed in silver. The entire group in the Council Chamber burst into hoots, applause, and chants. The Arbiter smiled the best an Elite could, he then raised his hand motioning for silence and continued, "I am sorry everyone, but now is not the time to celebrate. Though the battle for Delta Halo is not yet over, I have some very important things to announce, first off, we are now allied with the humans." More murmurs were heard throughout the chamber.
Ando felt light headed, after years of slaughtering the humans one by one, they were now allies? The idea was absurd to say the least.
Ignoring the murmurs, the Arbiter talked on, "Yes, it is strange but it is so. In fact, it is thanks to two humans, who are currently onboard our current flagship, that we are all alive. I will tell you more, but now is not the time.
"First, one of our Main Capital Ships was recently taken over by Brutes and is currently about to launch itself into slipspace. We've been in contact with some of our forces on that ship and we've confirmed that hundreds of our kind, Grunts, and Hunters are about to be ruthlessly slaughtered. We need one or two high ranking Elites to lead a rescue mission, any volunteers?"
The crowd gathered at the council chamber fidgeted around.
"I will." Ando said, bravely raising his hand.
"And I will accompany him." Said the Commander of the Fabled Prophecy.
"Excellent, please head towards the debriefing room, I will be with you in a moment. Now, about the Flood…"
Ando Mormoslee anxiously waited in the Debriefing Room when the door opened and the Arbiter, along with 15 minor blue armored Elites and 20 Grunts, Yim Yam among them, entered the room.
"I am sorry about the rankings of these Elites Gold Commander, your squad had to be sent somewhere else, but these are good warriors, they will serve you well. Now, head to the armory to pick up anything you need and get inside a Phantom. We'll take out the Capital Ship's shields, after we take out their shields, fly into one of the ship's escape hatches or hangars. From there, your only support will be any remaining troops in the ship and your squad. Good luck." The Arbiter said.
Ando nodded at the Commander and led the troops out the debriefing room to the hangar armory. The door closed behind them leaving the Arbiter to brief the other Elites on their missions.
0830 units, January 25, 2552 (Covenant Military Calendar)
In orbit over Delta Halo / En route to Main Capital Ship
"Warriors! Grab what you need; this mission is going to be rough and long. Ando, you might need this sword." The Commander announced. He then tossed an energy sword at Ando, who plucked it out of the air.
"Thank you Commander, all troops, please enter the hangar and get in the Phantom." Ando said as he also grabbed a plasma rifle and a plasma pistol.
"Let's go kick hairy Brute butt!" Yim Yam squeaked. The other Grunts raised their plasma weapons and needlers and chanted, "Brute butt!"
"Ando, we are currently engaging the Main Capital ship, launch on my mark… MARK!" The Supreme Commander's voice said over the COM. In response, the Commander tapped a few controls and the Phantom lifted off. A few Seraph fighters flew by to engage the similar of Brute Seraph fighters. Blue plasma filled the battlefield.
Ando manned one of the Phantom's plasma turrets, scored a direct hit on a nearby enemy Seraph fighter, and sent it tumbling out of control.
"Gunners! Aim for that escape pod hatch! We're going to land in it!" The Commander shouted from the pilot seat. Ando sighted the escape pod hatch and sent a stream of red plasma at the hatch along with two others. Slowly but surely, the outer part of the hatch melted away allowing the escape pod to fly free and directly hit a Brute Seraph fighter.
"Hang on!" The Commander yelled. The Phantom slammed into the interior of the escape pod hatch and lay where it landed.
Ando poked his head out of the Phantom's emergency exit, aimed his plasma rifle, and jumped out… quickly followed by the Commander, the Elites, and the Grunts. At the escape pod hatch's entrance, a blue Elite was burning away the door as Yim Yam and Pi Pi stood on opposite sides, ready to rush in. The door fell down with a Clang! And the Grunts ran through.
Inside were a few surprised Brutes who took several helpings of green plasma. The rest of the Grunts entered, closely followed by the minor Elites and the two Commanders. Ando fired a quartet of blue plasma at another Brute as the Commander fired a trio of carbine rounds at another Brute. The rest of the Brutes were taken care of by the combine efforts of the Grunts and blue armored Elites.
"Arbiter, we have made landing in the ship, all hostiles neutralized for the moment." The Commander said.
Instead of the Arbiter's voice replying, the Supreme Commander greeted them instead, "The Arbiter has dropped out of contact, he is unable to speak with you at the moment. Okay, if you follow the corridor, it should take you to a large elevator used to transport vehicles, go up on it and it should take you to the Gardens. Make your way through the Gardens and a gravity lift will take you and your team to a large room with two levels. Surrounding the room are large purple domes, the Elites, Grunts, and Hunters are trapped inside them … failure is not an option."
"Okay, you heard the Commander, let's go!" Ando announced. One Grunts waddled forward, poked his head around the corner, and got it blasted off by a beam fired from a Jackal's beam rifle.
"Grenade out!" Yim Yam shouted as he primed a plasma grenade. The grenade landed just as three shield bearing Jackals turned the corner. Before the Jackals could do anything, the grenade detonated and the Jackal's corpuses were thrown back. Ando ran forward and rolled into the corridor past the dead Grunt. A purple beam sliced through the air and narrowly missed Ando's head. Ando retrieved the dead Grunt's plasma rifle, and now dual wielding plasma rifles, sprayed a liberal amount of blue plasma at the Jackal snipers. The door behind the Jackals opened, revealing the elevator. But only for a short moment as several Brutes exited the elevator and charged.
Without hesitating, three of his Elite warriors charged forward, simultaneously firing their plasma rifles and carbines. Two Brutes kneeled forward and fell, both killed from headshots. One Brute dropped its gun and berserked, completely overwhelming one Elite and sending the fallen warrior's mangled corpse flying across the corridor. The Brute charged again, ready to get its second kill. Wham! One powerful punch sent a carbine wielding Elite flying. The last Elite took sight of the beserking beast… and lashed out his energy sword.
Minor Elites were usually not allowed to use the powerful weapon as they were less experienced and were rather "clumsy" as the Prophets said. But this Elite used the energy sword to good use. Slicing the air into geometric shapes, the Elite easily took out the Brute and four others. Following the sword wielding Elite's lead, the rest of the Elites and the Grunts surged forward, and easily took out the remaining Brutes. Ando walked forward, and approached the sword wielding minor Elite.
"Normally you minor Elites or not to be allowed an energy sword." Ando began harshly, but his expression softened. "But you have shown us a great deal. Expect a promotion when we finish the mission."
The Elite grinned the best an Elite could and replied, "Thank you Commander."
"Now, file into the elevator my warriors!" Ando ordered. The survivors obeyed, and one by one the entered the elevator. Ando entered the elevator last.
The Commander walked up, "I sense an ambush awaiting us." He said.
"Hmmm… Get ready everyone!" Ando said. He punched the activation button for the elevator and felt it slowly ascend. Suddenly, Drones flew forwards from every nook and cranny, The Commander was right.
"Warriors! Find a fixed position and stay there! See if you can ward these beasts off!" Ando yelled.
Yim Yam fired his plasma pistol wildly into the air and took out three Drones that had been unlucky enough to get in the way.
"Yim Yam! Pi Pi needs assistance!" Pi Pi cried out. Pi Pi was desperately trying to kick open a box at the same time as he fired his plasma rifle into the air. Yim Yam ducked as a plasma bolt narrowly missed his head and waddled towards Pi Pi's position.
"Help Pi Pi open box! We can hide in it!" Pi Pi cried.
"Good idea! Start kicking!" Yim Yam replied. Together, the two Grunts quickly kicked the box. After a few seconds, the box toppled over and opened… revealing several fuel rod cannons.
"Yim Yam has better idea." Yim Yam grinned.
Ando Mormoslee fired his beam rifle three times and three Drones fell. He ducked as several plasma bolts flew in his direction and saw the tiresome Grunt, Yim Yam, and his companion waddle forward. Normally, they wouldn't have made much of a difference if they hadn't been wielding fuel rod cannons. Poof! Several burnt corpses scattered all over the place.
Soon, there were only a few scattered Drones, which were easily taken out by the Elites. Just as the last Drone fell, the elevator came to a stop and the door opened revealing three surprised minor Brutes. Ando ignited his energy sword, quickly ran up to the surprised beasts, and in one swipe, cut through each of their hairy chests. The Brutes fell down, mouths opening and closing until an Elite shot each of them with a plasma rifle.
Ando looked at the remainder of the squad, while no Elites had fallen on the elevator, only seven Grunts remained. The Commander waved his plasma rifle side to side, expecting more Brutes to come. But none of the big, hairy beasts came as Ando led his team onward through the Gardens. Suddenly, an Elite's body came flying out of nowhere and the team came across a battle in progress.
Seven red armored veteran Elites who were all wielding an assortment of energy swords, carbines, and plasma rifles were doing their best against several Brutes.
One Elite leapt to the side as a grenade fired from a brute shot came flying out of nowhere and detonated harmlessly on a rock. Another Elite, however, smashed the spine of one Brute but got killed seconds later by another Brute, which was beserking. There was a green explosion, and five black armored Elites led by a single, fuel rod cannon wielding, Zealot Elite.
"Charge!!" The Commander roared as he sprayed blue, superheated plasma at a nearby Brute. The battle was over in a matter of seconds as the Brutes were demolished by the combined assault of the Veteran Elites, Special Operation Elites and the Zealot, and Ando's squad.
"Forerunners be praised! Gold Commander! The Arbiter said you would arrive!" The Zealot cheered. "We have many wounded, mostly our minor Elites and Grunts, they need evac immediately if possible. As for us, we'll follow you on your mission!"
"Yes Zealot, we can't evac them just yet, they have to stay here, and they need protection." Ando replied.
"Don't worry; we have a few pairs of the mighty Hunters and several Commandos coming our way." And just to prove the Zealot's point, the door Ando and his squad came through opened and eight pairs of Hunters and 7 gold armored Elites with ceremonial headpieces emerged.
"We shall come with you, the Hunters, a few of our kind, and all your Grunts should stay here." One of the Commandos said.
Ando nodded in agreement and turned to his troops. "All Grunts please stay here, as well as you ten." Ando said, addressing ten assorted ranked Elites. "Everyone else, follow me! Commander, lead the way." The Commander picked up a beam rifle and walked forward. Soon, they came across a graveyard of Elites, Grunts, Brutes, and Jackals… all surrounding the lift. The squad of Elites walked onto the lift, and the platform slowly started to rise.
After a few seconds, the platform stopped and revealed another door. The team entered the door and it revealed a large room surrounded with giant purple domes.
"Get ready to make battle!" Ando growled…
Chapter 26
0830 units, January 25, 2552 (Covenant Military Calendar)
Slaughter Room/ Covenant Main Capital Ship/ Slipspace
The battle started with an initial rain of plasma grenades followed up by continuous wave of plasma of assorted colors. It took three full units for the Brutes and Jackals to figure out what was happening when their number was cut in half. Some minor Elites recklessly jumped down to the bottom part of the Slaughter Room as a swarm of Drones emerged from one opposite door as a pack of Brutes entered from another.
Ando Mormoslee and the Commander started off by attacking from above with their weapons, though not as accurate as a beam rifle or a carbine, the plasma rifles took out several of their enemy. One Brute ignited a plasma grenade and threw it at Ando's position. Given only three units to get out of the blast radius, Ando leapt out of the way and landed near one of the purple domes. Just as the grenade detonated harmlessly behind the Elite, Ando peered inside one of the domes and was surprised to see a Grunt staring back at him.
"Kill all Brute bad guys! Then big Elite can set us free!" The Grunt squeaked. Ando nodded, brandished his energy sword and led the rest of the Elites to the bottom of the room. The moment the Elite's feet made contact with the floor, three Brutes tried to bum rush him. The result was a single swipe across each of their hairy chests and a double dose of plasma fired from two other Elites.
"We must clear this room of all hostiles!" The Commander yelled as a minor Elite's dead corpse flew over their heads. Ando nodded in agreement and caught sight of a trio of Brutes facing off a single, gold armored Commando Elite. One Brute used the bayonet of its brute shot to swipe at the high ranking Elite as the two other hairy beasts readied their red plasma rifles. The Commando nimbly dodged the razor sharp bayonet, dropped his plasma rifle, and lashed out two energy swords.
Plasma beams pounded on the Elite's shielding as he charged at the Brutes. One Brute sent plasma stuttering to the ceiling as it died while the second Brute had its head sliced off. The last Brute tried a last ditch attempt at killing the Elite by firing its brute shot. The ballistic grenades slammed onto the Elite warrior's shields, and the shields slowly faded. But the Elite had already gone within kissing distance from the Brute and the results were obvious. After his shields recharged, the Commando ran off to kill more Brutes.
"Regroup my Elites! Regroup!" Ando yelled as a Brute charged toward him. Ando pulled his arm back and lashed out his energy sword, cleanly cutting the Brute's head in half. The remaining Elites ran, limped, and fought back to Ando's position… soon the remainder of the team had regrouped. Several of the Elites with dangerously low shields kneeled behind the Elites with full shields as Drones attacked from above. Multiple plasma beams lanced down on the Elite warriors as several blue plasma beams and carbine shots flew in their direction in turn. Soon, not a single Drone remained.
"Okay! Form an attacking line and move forward! Break when I tell you to!" Ando commanded. The Elites obeyed. Soon, all the Elites had lined up, each facing the oncoming Brutes and Jackals.
"Forward my warriors! Do not fear pain or death!" Ando shouted. The Elites bravely charged forward, sending plasma, carbine shots, plasma grenades, and mowing down enemies as they went. Three Jackals raised their shields to protect themselves from the merciless barrage only to be cut down by a single swipe of an energy sword from the Commander. But a new enemy joined the fray.
Two Demons followed by several helmeted humans jumped down via one of the many doors on the second balcony of the room. Bullets and exploding shells filled the air. Two or three of the Elites fell under the mighty barrage.
"Break! Destroy our enemies with all your might!" Ando roared. The warrior spun around and came face to face with the Demon he had captured on the Fabled Prophecy. Ando took no heed of the Arbiter's words, three Elite warriors had fallen, and the human's blood was to be drawn.
But just after Ando swung and missed the Demon with his energy sword, the Demon's shotgun fired and Ando felt his shields fade. Roaring angrily, Ando swung again. This time, the Elite found his mark but the Demon's shields flared but didn't fail. The Demon counter attacked, or tried to. Its shotgun was empty, and Ando cut the weapon in half. Smiling, Ando chuckled to himself about the Demon's helplessness. But then the human vermin drew its sidearm, normally weak and underpowered, but under the circumstances the human would win. Ando pulled away as the Demon fired all twelve shots from its pistol, but two bullets found their mark. Ando screamed painfully as the two rounds ripped into his shoulder… the warrior had had enough. Ando turned and ran from the Demon… he still needed to survive for his Elites sake. Three more bullets rang from the Demon's pistol but none found their mark. With two minor Elites following him, Ando fled from the battle…
0900 units, January 25, 2552 (Covenant Military Calendar)
Outside the Slaughter Room/ Covenant Main Capital Ship/ Slipspace
Ando Mormoslee leaned against a purple wall and slid down. Purple blood swelled out of his wounds, his shoulder ached painfully.
"Don't worry Gold Commander; we'll take care of it." One of the Elites said. The Elite pulled out a field medpac and took out a small purple device from it. A defined beam of red laser shot from it and Ando felt a cool, numbing sensation. Then, using a complicated tweezer-like device, the Elite pulled out the three bullets. They had punched three very deep holes in the Elites shoulder. After filling the wounds up with some bad smelling paste and wrapping it up in a battle wrapping, Ando recharged his shields, thanked the Elite, and returned to the battle.
The fight had ended, not a single Brute or Jackal was in sight. The dead bodies of Elites were laid out in a neat line, their weapons beside them. Ando shook his head; so many lives had been wasted in the war. But now he had to find a way to free the prisoners.
"Look! That panel! Maybe we can find out how to release the prisoners!" The Commander exclaimed. Ando walked towards it, observed it for a few units and slowly shook his head.
"We need an authorization key in order to free our warriors. I will find the jail keeper." Ando finally said.
"Right, we will stay here and hold off any Brutes that try to stop us." The Commander replied. Ando nodded in agreement and made his way to the door when two Elites joined him. One was the sword wielding Minor Elite whilst the other was a dual wielding Spec. Ops Elite.
"We will aid you Commander." The Minor Elite said.
"Thank you, your aid is most welcome." Ando replied. Together, the three exited the large room. They entered a narrow corridor where two Brutes, who were easily silenced, were patrolling. The three Elites turned and came across a battle in progress, a single Zealot followed by two Minor Elites were holding off against a large pack of Brutes. From the sight of two plasma turrets that were strategically positioned in the corridor, Ando knew that they were trying to guard something… or someone.
"Wroooaaaaaarrrr!" The Minor Elite roared. He charged forward and easily silenced the Jackal gunners who were manning the gun emplacements. Next, the Spec. Ops Elite opened fire with his two plasma rifles. A pair of Jackals was brutally battered by the overlapping plasma beams followed up by a slash of an energy sword from the Zealot, they ceased to exist. The other four Minor Elites fell back behind a charging Ando Mormoslee who cut through three Brutes and together, with the combined efforts of the Zealot, the energy sword wielding Minor Elite, and Ando himself, wiped away the remaining Brutes.
But just as the last Brute fell, a quartet of Brute Captains followed by five minor Brutes entered the corridor. There was a brief exchange of overlapping fire in which carbine shots and blue-white plasma was exchanged with red plasma and ballistic grenades. One of the Minor Elites fell under the enemy's mighty barrage while two of the Minor Brutes and a single Brute Captain fell under a wave of superheated plasma.
After the exchange of fire, the three sword wielding Elites charged forward and ripped the remaining Brutes to shreds. Ando nimbly ducked under one of the Brute's fist and slashed at it with his energy sword. ZWAP! The energy sword's blade flickered and faded. Dropping the empty sword, Ando pulled out his plasma pistol and put a plasma bolt into the last Brute's forehead. Soon, the corridor was littered with Brute bodies.
"Gold Commander! Thank our ancestors you have come!" The Zealot exclaimed as he passed Ando one of his spare energy swords.
Ando excepted the powerful weapon and replied, "Yes Zealot, but we do not have the time for this right now. Lead your troops back to the Slaughter Room; we are trying to find the jail keeper."
"But Commander! I know where the jail keeper is! Follow me!" The Zealot said. "My Elites, stay here and make sure no Brute can follow us!"
"Yes sir!" The remaining three Minor Elites replied. Then Ando, the Spec. Ops Elite, and the Minor Elite continued their path towards the jail keeper now joined by the Zealot.
"What is your name Zealot?" The Minor Elite asked.
"Ordo Ignorslee, what's yours?" The Zealot replied.
"Igna Orgnosla at your service, nice to meet you." The Minor Elite said.
"Hmmm, and how about you Spec. Op Elite?"
"Bordo Lignaraa, why…" The Spec. Ops Elite started when Ando cut him off.
"While these introductions are nice and all, we must continue our task at hand. Are we there yet?" Ando said.
"Wait, there, the sniveling Brute is hiding in that armory with two Brute Honor Guards." The Zealot replied. Ando acknowledged the statement and crouched near the armory's door. The other Elites took up their positions. Ando hit the control panel for the door, and it silently slid open. Two plasma grenades exploded, and Ando's shields flickered down to half. But they didn't prevent the other Elites from entering the room. There was a brief struggle in which Bordo Lignaraa assassinated one Honor Guard while Igna Orgnosla and Ordo Ignorslee tackled the other Honor Guard, and easily killed the hairy beast. Ando seized the moment to charge forward and put the jail keeper in a headlock.
"Mercy! Please spare me!" The Brute pleaded. But in one fluid movement, its throat was slit and its corpse was thrown aside. There were going to be no prisoners in this war.
Ando picked up the prison key from the floor and announced, "Okay, we have the key, now let us free our brothers!"
Ando Mormoslee, Bordo Lignaraa, Igna Orgnosla, and Ordo Ignorslee quickly ran through the corridors and arrived at the Minor Elite's position. But there were no more Elites. The corridor was filled with several dead Brutes and Jackals. Among the corpses were the four smoldering bodies of the Minor Elites.
"By the Prophets…" Ordo murmured. Igna and Bordo quickly ran to check each of the four bodies, but none of them were alive.
"We must continue on, their lives will be avenged." Ando Mormoslee quietly spoke. After laying the bodies of the four Elites in a row and crossing their arms, the four Elites continued on to the Slaughter Room. When they arrived, they saw that several more Elites had joined the original team of Elites.
"Welcome back Ando, we've been quite busy without your presence." The Commander grinned as he nudged the smoldering corpse of a Brute with his right foot.
Ando grinned the best an Elite could and replied, "Business is good today my brother, now… let us free the prisoners and get off this accursed ship…"
Chapter 27
1100 hours, January 25, 2552 (Military Calendar)
En route to Alpha Base Beach/ Australia/ Earth
Three Pelicans flew across the blue ocean, the rain had parted and soft sunlight glittered upon the water. It seemed rather quiet, on a day like this; one would forget that Earth was under attack and losing a long lost battle. That's why Earth needed one thing: Alpha Base. Being the Main Supply Base of the UNSC on this side of the planet, it housed more than 1,000,000,000,000 kilos of the UNSC's weaponry, artillery, and medical supplies. So Captain Corbec, the captain of the Generation, and Admiral Clark had cooked up a plan which was going to rid Alpha Base of all its assailants.
Andrew looked out the aft section of the Pelican and went over the plan mentally in his head. First, a team of UNSC soldiers would land in Alpha Base's Beach and clear it of any Covenant troopers. Then, more UNSC soldiers and techs would land on the beach and fortify it so it could easily ward off any Covenant that tried to send more troops to attack Alpha Base. Meanwhile, a fleet of Warthogs and Scorpion tanks which would be filled to the brim with UNSC soldiers would make their way to Alpha Base, clear it of any hostiles, rescue any surviving humans, and await further orders.
Andrew cocked his Sub Machine Gun and looked around the aft section. There were 11 other humans, all Marines who were armed with SMGs and Assault Rifles. Nothing too fancy, but would get the job done. Andrew wished there were other Spartans with him, but the majority of them had been sent to Alpha Base… and they all could be dead at the very moment. Katy and Monica had stayed onboard The Sparta for some "secret" reason, so Andrew would have to rely on the Marines at the moment.
"Okay people! We've reached the beach and are receiving enemy fire! Get ready for a fast drop off!" The pilot yelled over the COM. The three Pelicans landed nose forward and guns blazing on the beach. Several Brutes, Jackals, and Drones fell under the tidal wave of bullets. Other Covenant troopers hid behind rocks, trenches, and any other cover they could find. Andrew aimed his SMG and leapt out of the aft section followed by the Marines. Andrew quickly looked to his left and right, noted that all the other Marines had landed, and was just about to engage the enemy when three lances of plasma shot out and cut down two Marines.
"Snipers!" A Marine yelled, "Take cover people!" Andrew turned and ducked, just in time. A purple beam of plasma cut through the air where his head had been moments before.
"Drop off successful, returning to-…" The pilot started, but several defined beams of plasma shot out, melted away the shockproof glass of the cockpit, and killed the pilot. The Pelican nosed over and sent ripples of sand flying through the air. The other two Pelicans started to back out when several ballistic grenades slammed into the cockpit of one Pelican, and a Wraith tank finished the job. The remains of the Pelican slammed into the sand. The last Pelican took several plasma shots in but nevertheless managed to retreat… safely out of harm's way. The 34 remaining Humans, however, spread out in clusters around the beach using whatever cover they could find.
"There are some Brute hiding in that small rockslide, they'll be able to shoot at us from a safe distance, you'd better take them out." Bastila warned. Andrew kneeled down next to one of the pair of Marines that were killed in the start of the mission, took the time to close his eyelids, grabbed the fallen soldier's SMG, ammo, and grenades, and replied, "Sure thing." Now dual wielding SMGs, Andrew led five Marines forwards to what seemed too had been a small rock slide and were immediately attacked by several Brutes. One Brute fired its Brute Shot and the grenade detonated on the ground near one Marine. He screamed in pain as shrapnel peppered areas of his face and hands. The Marine dropped to the sand and lay there, groaning in pain and clutching his face. Blood flowed freely from his wounds.
"Suppressing fire!" Andrew shouted as he took up his position in front of the wounded Marine. The other four Marines kneeled around him as well, together they fired a steady stream of 5mm and 9.5mm bullets at the Brutes, who, after taking in several shots, dove for cover.
"Hold your positions Marines!" Andrew shouted over the shutters of automatic fire. The Spartan ran up the beach and jumped into the small rockslide. He walked forwards a bit, and came across a rather surprised Brute. The Spartan lashed out his fist and punched the Brute's face. The beast's neck snapped and its lifeless body fell to the ground.
But another Brute came, and unlike its deceased companion, it seemed angry. Andrew kneeled down, dropped his second SMG, and fired an entire clip into the hairy beast. But it didn't drop; the Brute charged forward and elbowed Andrew directly into his visor. The powerful shields of his MJOLNIR armor saved him, but nevertheless Andrew staggered backwards, fumbled with his SMG and dropped it, and barely regained his footing when once again, the Brute put its entire mass on Andrew and sent the Spartan flying into a large boulder. ZWAP! Andrew's shields failed as the Brute charged again. Andrew looked for a way to take out the Brute… and found out how. Combined with his immense strength that was multiplied by the MJOLNIR armor, the Spartan leapt up in the air and landed firmly on top of the boulder. The Brute stopped short of the boulder and looked up, knowing that its enemy would have to come down sooner or later, and then… it'll strike. Andrew looked at his two SMGs that lay abandoned in the sand, and primed a fragmentation grenade. While the Brute could have easily jumped out of the way of the grenade's blast radius, Andrew lobbed the grenade not at the Brute, but at one of the SMGs. His plan worked perfectly. The grenade detonated and sent the SMG flying into the air… and landed straight into Andrew's arms. The Spartan ejected the empty clip, slammed a fresh clip in its place, and unleashed a hellish hellfire upon the Brute. Soon, Andrew jumped down and the Brute was dead. Andrew continued up the beaten path and found that the rest of the Brutes had been killed, most likely by one of the Marine's grenades. The Spartan was just about to congratulate the Marines when he came across their dead bodies; they too had been killed by a grenade.
Andrew, after taking the time to close the Marine's eyelids, ran back to the beach… only to find that the rest of the Beach Clearance Team had all been killed.
Kyle lashed out from his hiding spot and put a trio of three round bursts from his BR55 rifle into the Brute's, which had been sneaking up on Kyle's team, head. The moment the Brute's dead hulk slammed into the ground, a pair of shield totting Jackals burst from their cover and fired several plasma bolts at the humans.
"Gaaaaghhhhh!" A Marine screamed as a plasma bolt connected to his face. The human fell to the ground clutching his face for a short time before finally laying still on the ground. But two other Marines, who were unharmed, chose the moment to jump out from their cover at hand and unloaded two full clips from their SMGs into the Jackals. Both Jackals fell to the ground and lay still.
The defenses of Alpha Base had turned to a deadly game of hide and go seek among the debris of the remains of destroyed vehicles, broken walls, and many other things that had been destroyed during the battle. Now, Marine defenders and Covenant attackers alike scurried among the debris looking and running from one another, isolated automatic fire and whines of plasma fire was heard throughout the area.
Kyle kneeled down beside the dead Marine and grabbed his ammo, leaving such valuable ordinance around was inadvisable. The humans continued on… ever since they retreated from the advancing Covenant they had performed a series of hit and run exercises, and, of course, looking for other humans. This managed to keep things alive, but no word of the rest of the Alpha Base defenders had been heard.
"This is Recon Team number two, can any UNSC personnel respond?" A voice yelled over the COM. Kyle cautiously peered over a large piece of debris and spotted one Scorpion Tank flanked by two Warthog LAVs enter the battlefield.
"Blue two! Blue two! We're under attack! Agghhh!" Another voice screamed over the COM as a mortar which was fired from a Covenant Wraith tank and utterly destroyed one Warthog. At the very moment the remains of the Warthog slammed to the ground, an entire team of Brutes ran out from their hiding spots and fired their weapons.
"What are these guys playin' at?" The Marine near Kyle whispered, but then another voice rang in over the COM, Spartan-266: Cameron.
"Okay everyone! Get ready to skewer these bastards!" Cameron said. Three Warthog Personnel-Carriers drove in dividing the Brutes from the Marine controlled Scorpion Tank and a total of eighteen Spartans filed out. Then, two Pelicans flew overhead and a total of twenty four Spartans dropped down from above and landed on the other side of the human vehicles. In a total of 42, the Spartans fired their BR55 rifles at the crowd of Brutes and skewered the beasts inside out.
More Spartans, who were armed with rocket launchers, rushed in from Alpha Base's debris and sent an entire volley of rockets at the Covenant Spectres, Wraiths, Shadows, and parked Ghosts. Plasma fire stuttered through the air as the human barrage battered them back. Finally, the Brutes and Jackals regrouped and, closely followed by their Drone comrades, charged forward, roaring savagely for the human's blood.
"Okay Marines! Let's help them out!" Kyle said thinking, like they'd need our help anyways. The Spartan led his Marines to Cameron's position.
"Kyle? Good to see you! We'll show you our HQ after we deal with these guys." Cameron grinned. "Spartans! Form up in front of the vehicles! Rocket jockeys, take up your positions, spread out and aim for groups of these alien bastards. Mr. Tank driver, blast them all to hell. Move it up everyone!" The humans quickly took up their positions with Battle Riflers kneeling down in front of the vehicles while Spartans armed with rocket launchers scattered about. Soon, multicolored plasma and ballistic grenades were exchanged with armor piercing bullets, rockets, and powerful tank shells.
Kyle shouldered his BR55 rifle and fired a smattering of rounds which were caught by an unlucky Brute while Jackals raised their personal shields in vain of blocking the rockets and tank shells sent by their human enemies only to be blasted apart by overlapping fields of fire.
Meanwhile, Drones crisscrossed in every direction, occasionally getting caught up by armor piercing bullets but nonetheless stood strong… Cameron changed that for them.
"Traitor-617, get your butt down here and burn those buggers." Cameron ordered.
"Roger that ground team, on my way." The pilot of Traitor-617 replied. A Pelican soared in overhead and flew straight for the swarm of Drones. Those who hadn't been splattered across the windshield of the Pelican were burnt to crisps by the dropship's engines.
"Mission accomplished ground team, better make your way back to HQ." The pilot said lazily.
"Roger that, party favors for everyone when we get back Traitor-617, on me." Cameron replied.
"Good to hear it, 617 out."
"Okay people! Haul ass back to base!" Cameron said.
Chapter 28
1200 units, January 25, 2552 (Covenant Military Calendar)
The Highest Prophecy/ Elite Fleet HQ/ In orbit over Installation 05
Ando Mormoslee climbed out of one of the many Phantoms that had landed in The Highest Prophecy's hangar and immediately walked towards the hangar's entrance. As the Elite walked through The Highest Prophecy's main hall, Ando quickly noticed how badly they needed more warriors. Minor Elites led small squads of Patrol Grunts while Hunters, who usually traveled in pairs, stood solitary at doorways, thinly spread out. But when hundreds of Hunters, Elites, and Grunts alike poured in through many of the hangar entrances, it seemed so that they wouldn't be so short handed any longer.
After rescuing the prisoners onboard the Brute controlled Main Capital Ship, Ando had led a small squad of his Elite commandos around to rescue any stragglers while the Commander, Ordo Ignorslee, Bordo Lignaraa, and Igna Orgnosla, who was now unofficially promoted to a full honorary veteran, took over the many hangars the ship held and loaded the Phantoms and Seraphs inside with personnel.
"Good work Zealot Commander." A tired voice said behind Ando. Ando quickly spun around on his axis and was rewarded with the sight of the Arbiter who was surrounded by his High Council Guards.
"Thank you holy Arbiter, I did what I must." Ando replied.
"Then you'll be surprised when I tell you this, the Main Capital Ship abruptly exploded when your 'fleet' of Phantoms and Seraphs did a merge slipspace jump. You were lucky to get out at all… but… do you know what had done this?"
"The humans' sir, I saw them with my very own eyes. They killed a few of my warriors and ran for it. I was wounded by a particular Demon I had captured a while ago."
"Just as I had feared, I guess we cannot expect to ally with the humans so early on, it is our fault that so many of their kind are dead." Ando was bursting to yell out that the humans were not to be trusted, that they were a despicable race that must be annihilated, but he could not find himself to do it.
"Yes Arbiter, I agree." He said.
"Good, now then, I understand that an attack had been launched on the planet that humans call 'Earth' and attacked a particular area which they also call 'Australia'. Is this true?" The Arbiter asked.
"Yes, we had been successful until the Brutes came and took out many of our forces. We hadn't known that they were going to betray us. No doubt many of our troops are scattered around that area."
"Yes, well Zealot Commander, would you like to lead a part rescue part recon mission?"
"If it is the Arbiter's wish your Excellency." Ando replied.
At the reply, the Arbiter laughed and replied, "It is not my choice, and we are not the Prophets. Only if you want to you will lead this mission."
"Then I will accept your Excellency, tell me what to do."
"Well first-…" The Arbiter started when a loud explosion sounded a little ways off.
"Status report!" The Arbiter yelled.
"It appears that large boarding parties have slipped through the Fleet's sensors and are now coming to our positions my lord!" A nearby Elite screamed.
"Then take out as many as you can, Zealot Commander, alert all of our men to get ready to repel boarders! I will protect the bridge!" The Arbiter commanded, with that he lashed out his energy sword and ran off.
"Boarding parties are closing in! Warriors! Prepare for combat!" Ando yelled through his COM mike. Immediately the newly rescued Elites, Grunts, and Hunters ran to the armories, the hangars, and any defendable position they could find. DONG! The ship started to shake.
"They've landed sir! Get ready!" An Elite whispered. For a second, the purple lights went dim, everyone fell silent.
"Yim Yam! Get over here!" Ando whispered harshly at the Grunt, who was cowering behind a waste disposal container.
"Yes your Excellency?" The Grunt squeaked.
"You are my second in command of the Grunt warriors, are you not?"
"Yes sir!" Yim Yam whispered in reply.
"Then I have a task for you. Get some of your men and head over to the main armory. Tell the guards that you have permission from me and get as many turrets, plasma weapons, and grenades here a soon as possible… GO!" When Yim Yam had scurried off with several Grunts at his heels, Ando looked at the hangar entrances only to be awarded with the sight of the doors and great purple walls exploding.
"They're here! Make combat my warriors!" Ando roared.
"WORT WORT WORT!" The rest of the Elites chanted. At that very moment, Brutes, Jackals, and Drones poured out of the destroyed walls and doors and started to open fire. The Hunters, who had been stationed up front, raised their shields in protection for the rest of the Elite and Grunt army while they let loose several powerful beams of bright green plasma at the enemy Covenant.
While fuel rod beams shot through the swarms of Drones, the packs of Brutes, and the squads of Jackals, the Grunts, who were very good at climbing, crawled and climbed to the highest areas of the main hall and started to lay down a canopy of covering fire. After a few seconds of the merciless barrage, a hole opened up in the enormous force of the enemy Covenant which the Elites quickly exploited.
"Zealot Commander! Catch!" A voice yelled nearby. Ordo Ignorslee quickly tossed a pair of plasma pistols at Ando who quickly plucked them out of the air. Nodding in thanks to the gold armored Elite, Ando, who was now dual wielding plasma pistols, fired a full auto barrage of bright green plasma at the crowds of Jackals and Drones, who, unlike the Brutes, seemed to be greatly effective by the Covenant sidearm.
After a few moments of triumph, the plasma pistols overloaded and quickly depleted their energy. Now Ando was left with no weapon at all.
Yim Yam you incapable Grunt, where are you? Ando thought grimly. The Elite was about to run back in search of any other weapon when more Brutes entered the battle.
"Die! Die! Die!" Yim Yam yelled as he fired his needler at the advancing Jackals and Brutes. The fight seemed laughable since a squad of Grunts didn't usually last long against the standard Brute and Jackal squad, but luck seemed to turn in favor for the Grunts. The shots fired by the Jackals cleanly missed the Grunts while the Grunts return fire did not. Brutes abandoned their weapons and charged forward only to be put down by a barrage of needles. Soon, only the Grunts were left standing in the corridor.
"You want more? Okay!" A Grunt squeaked at the dead Brutes, he then started to fire randomly into the mass of corpses.
"Save your ammo, Grunts might need later." Yim Yam warned. What the Grunt said soon proved to be right when they were ambushed by several Jackals. Yim Yam overcharged his plasma pistol, knocked out a Jackal's shield, and finished it off with a barrage of needles. When Brutes entered the scene, the Grunts were just about ready to give up when two of their comrades fell when a total of five Elites, an honorary veteran in red-orange armor who was recognized as Igna Orgnosla who led four regular veteran Elites, ran in and easily took out the Brutes with a combined assault of energy swords and plasma rifles.
"Hmmm… you're the Grunt who helps Ando right? Lead the way, we'll escort you." Igna said as he reloaded his Covenant carbine. With the help of the Elites, Yim Yam managed to get through the corridors and finally arrive at the Main Armory where several Elites, Grunts, and Hunters were stationed.
"Authorized personnel only Grunt." The Elite warbled, he obviously looked bored while the Grunts looked perfectly happy.
"Oh great Zealot Commander gave me strict orders to bring extra supplies to the battle." Yim Yam squeaked in reply.
"Oh very well then, Boras, open the door." The Elite sighed. Yim yam and his Grunts quickly scurried inside the armory, gathered what they could, and came out heavily burdened with plasma weaponry. The Grunts who were stationed at the armory shrugged their little shoulders and grabbed some supplies as well. Now, after the armory Grunts joined them, the Grunts and Elites made their way back to the battle. Little did they know that the battle was just about done.
Ando kneeled down and grabbed the needler a Grunt had dropped when he was shot in the head as plasma flared at the edge of his shields. After taking the precious time of recharging his shields, Ando withdrew from his cover and fired a full barrage of 30 pink, crystal like needles at the enemy soldiers. Muffled pink explosions were seen and heard in the main hall, Brute's and Jackal's dead bodies flew into the air and occasionally whacked a flying Drone before falling back to the ground.
The Brute forces had just barely managed to get through the line of Hunters before making battle with the Elites, and before that Grunts leapt from their spots and sprayed the closest enemy with plasma.
Nonetheless, the Brutes seemed to be winning. For every Brute, Jackal, or Drone taken out two Elites, Grunts, or one Hunter would fall in retaliation. Ando fired his last needle from his needler and knew that they were going to lose. Reinforcements where 30 units away and they were dangerously low on weaponry. If Yim Yam didn't make it back soon, they would inevitably lose and die.
"Zealot Commander, I am sending you a team of my most experienced warriors, do not squander their talents." The Arbiter said over the COM. Ando was puzzled for a second until a total of five Ghosts and two Spectres, all piloted by red-orange armored Elites, drove in from the vehicle hangar and started to spray plasma at the Brutes with liquefying speed. After a few seconds, the Elites leapt out of their vehicles, which had been greatly damaged after a few seconds of return fire, and fired their Covenant carbines at the enemy Brutes, Jackals, and Drones.
The Arbiter said they were experienced, but Ando had never seen anything like them. They moved in such speed, agility, and nimble strength to match Ando's original squad, watching them fight was magnificent. After a few second of fighting, the Elites had managed to get behind enemy lines and were wiping them out. The Brutes and Jackals turned to face the Elites and presented their backs to the rest of the Elites, Grunts, and Hunters. They were now winning thanks to the arrival of the Elites.
At that very moment, plasma rained down on the confused Brutes, Jackals, and Drones and Ando saw that Yim Yam had silently placed the plasma turrets around the main hall's wall balconies. Now, Yim Yam and his Grunts were tossing plasma weapons into the crowd of Elites and Grunts who had gathered to collect some more firearms.
"Catch Commander!" Yim Yam squeaked. Throwing as hard as he could, Yim Yam threw a pair of plasma rifles at Ando, who immediately caught them and fired plasma at the Brutes.
Brutes fell under plasma while Jackals were cut in half by energy swords, powerful beams of bright green plasma cut through swarms of Drones until all was silent, and the Elite, Grunt, and Hunter defenders stood victorious…
Chapter 29
1200 hours, January 25, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Alpha Base Beach/ Australia/ Earth
"Reinforcements are thirty minutes away… we're alone on this one." Bastila said after a while. Andrew looked around the beach as he crouched behind a large boulder, dead Marines and their weapons and grenades lay strewn all over the sand. Occasionally, a dead Brute or Jackal's body would show up. Otherwise, nothing moved.
"I don't think we're totally alone, someone must've survived." Andrew said firmly, and just as to prove what the Spartan said, a fragmentation grenade exploded nearby a pack of Brutes and showered the area with sand and shrapnel.
"Told ya' so." Andrew said. The Spartan quickly stood up and emerged from his cover as he fired several bullets from his MA5B at the Brutes. At the same time, a total of three Marines ran out from their cover and fired their SMGs at the aliens. Together, the humans quickly took out the Brutes and had time to catch their breaths.
"Good to see you sir, we thought we'd be alone on this one." The lead Marine said.
"Same here sergeant, but enough of that, we need a plan." Andrew replied.
"I know that, but outgunning a whole platoon of Brutes and Jackals who have vehicle support is a whole lot harder than outsmarting them." Andrew nodded grimly, no matter what, with only a few assault weapons, the humans couldn't take out all the Covenant. The Wraiths would either gun them down or the Brutes and Jackals would overpower them. Andrew was still deep in thought when the idea hit him.
"I need a distraction, when you see that one of the Wraiths had gone hectic, take cover. I'm gonna' make a hell of a lot of fireworks." Andrew said.
"Aye sir, stay sharp." The Marine replied, "Okay you two, this Spartan needs a distraction and we're gonna' give him one." At once, the three Marines ran out and started to throw grenades into the rocks where the Covenant was stationed. Plasma darted in the three Marines direction but none found a mark.
"Good luck sir!" The Marine grunted over the COM.
"You better get moving, but I have to say that what you're going to do is quite risky." Bastila cautioned.
"It's better than sitting here and waiting for reinforcements." Andrew replied. The Spartan ran from rock to rock, making sure that nothing was behind him, he finally made it to an old rockslide the Brutes and Jackals were stationed. Andrew quickly slung his assault rifle and drew his SMG, which was better to use a close rang if he needed to use it, which he hoped he didn't. Kneeling down beside a boulder, Andrew saw the shadow of a Brute along the sand and knew he only had one shot at it, or risk being discovered.
The shadow grew bigger, soon the Spartan could see the beast's hairy foot.
"NOW!" Bastila yelled from inside the Spartan's helmet. Andrew lashed out and slammed the butt of his SMG into the Brute's spine. There was a loud crack of the Brute's spine cracking in half and the beast's corpse fell to the ground.
"Nice job, now hurry and get to any Wraith you can find." Bastila said. Andrew nodded in agreement and ran past the dead Brute and into the old rockslide. It was quite dark; the sun didn't make it through the rocks and boulders. Signs of Jackal and Brute footprints lay scattered all over the sand.
"Watch out for any Covenant in here, you don't want to be discovered." Bastila warned. Just as to prove the AI's words, a Jackal loomed into view. It had its shield at ready and its plasma was glowing with an eerie green glow. Obviously the bastard thought it was going to knock out the Spartan's shields. But the Covenant Jackal was wrong.
Andrew jumped down from a rather large boulder he was crouching on and twisted the alien's neck in one swift solid movement. Andrew laid the Jackal's corpse down on the sand and ran forward though two boulders. The Spartan came out back into the sunlight came face to face with a Covenant Wraith tank. Andrew's first instinct was to shoot at the vehicle with his SMG, but immediately knew that the sub machine gun would prove futile to the heavy bulk of the Wraith tank. But the purple, beetle-like vehicle didn't move. The Brute who had been piloting the vehicle had probably gone off to try to shoot at the three Marines.
"Good, let me interface with the Wraith's controls… excellent. I'm in; you go get into another Wraith and let's see who can get more kills." Bastila chirped happily.
"You're on." Andrew grinned. The Spartan ran to the next Wraith parked in line and climbed into its cockpit. The Spartan took the time necessary to get used to the foreign controls of the alien tank and, with some help from Bastila, started it up and immediately turned to the other three Wraiths parked in line.
"Take this!" Andrew grunted, he pressed the Wraith's 'fire' button and launched six comet-like plasma mortars at the parked Wraiths. All three Covenant tanks blew up in quick succession and the two human and AI controlled Wraiths pushed past the wreckage.
Soon, the humans had driven to the Brutes and Jackal's locations but didn't take any plasma fire. Apparently, the Covenant though the human and AI controlled Wraiths were allies. Andrew hit the 'boost' button and felt several dull thumps land onto the Wraiths nose before the smashed bodies to Brutes and Jackals flew into the air before landing dully onto the sand. Bastila fired a continuous string of plasma mortars at the Brutes and Jackals, who didn't know where the plasma fire was coming from. After a few moments of confused plasma fire, the remaining Brutes and Jackals regroup and charge in en masse only to be gunned down by hundreds of bullets.
Several Pelicans flew into view from the sky while hundreds of human ground vehicles drove into view. HEV pods landed into the sand as much, much larger Vehicle Entry Vehicle pods landed several kilometers away sending ripples of sand flying in every direction. Ground troops ran towards the old rockslide and came out holding several surviving Brutes and Jackals hostage.
The Alpha Base attackers didn't know it, but the humans had made landfall…
1200 hours, January 25, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Alpha Base/ Australia/ Earth
God damn this, thought Sgt. Major Tray Wooten as he hit the Warthog's gas pedal and drove further in the 'Warthog tunnel'. The moment the large force of Covenant hit Alpha Base, Wooten knew that they were screwed. The Marine and his squad had survived the first wave of Covenant attackers only to witness the hundreds of Elites, Grunts, and bad ass Hunters falling back as even more Covenant dropships fly into battle and drop off thousands of Brutes. Having already encountered the hairy beasts, and egged on for retreat by the arrival of a new enemy that was deemed the Covenant Drinol, Wooten had loaded a total of five 'Hogs' with his squad and a few ODSTs and immediately took off through the Warthog tunnels. For some time now, the humans had been driving through the Warthog tunnels shooting any Covenant they passed by before taking off and picking up any human they saw that was in trouble.
All was going well until they almost drove into two Covenant Wraith tanks that were blocking the tunnel. The Warthog driven by his second in command, Private O' Riley, crashed head on into one of the Wraiths, which exploded in sapphire blue flames, while the other Wraith, which the pilot had immediately noticed the other four Warthogs, sent one plasma mortar at the caravan. The mortar didn't find its mark, but sent two of the four remaining Warthogs rolling on their sides and sending their passengers to the ground.
Wooten didn't have time to hear the unlucky bastards who fell off their vehicles, he grabbed the nearest Marine on the ground and was about to drive off when the same Wraith sent a volley of small, blue plasma rounds as its secondary fire at Wooten's Warthog. The Warthog didn't take any serious damage but had its gunner killed and one of the side passengers wounded.
The Marine Wooten had rescued climbed to the gunner seat and manned the turret only to be on time to see one Banshee scream into the tunnel and send a boiling blob of a Banshee bomb and directly impact Wooten's neighboring Warthog. The hard pressed Sergeant pushed on the brakes of his vehicle and waited for the only survivor of the Warthog that got bombed to get on the Warthog before taking off once again.
They drove blindly for a few minutes, taking enemy fire and sending return fire in retaliation. But soon their luck was thought to have run dry. They drove right into a Covenant Drinol and were almost crushed flat by its fist when a whole squadron of Shortsword fliers flew in and bombed the beast with rockets. The beast fell flat on its back and Wooten thought they were safe when the whine of the Drinol's fuel rod cannon's failsafe sounded.
Wooten hit the Warthog in full reverse and just barely got out of the blast radius… they were safe. The Shortswords flew away and three Ghosts drove toward Wooten's damaged Warthog. The gunner was about to open fire when a COM transmission came in: "This is Spartan 271 with Spartans 265 and 277, do you copy?"
Wooten, who was now stupefied from their close encounter with the Covenant Drinol, replied, "Yes sir we copy."
"Are there any other with you?" The Spartan asked.
"No sir, we're all that's left."
Wooten heard the Spartan mutter softly 'damn' and then, "Alright Marine, follow us to HQ, we could use some more help."
"Yes sir." Wooten replied.
"Oh, make sure we aren't being followed, the Covenant don't know about our HQ inside an HQ…yet." Wooten nodded as gave the Warthog some gas and followed the three Ghosts through another Warthog tunnel and out to the Center Wing of Alpha Base. The Center Wing was heavily guarded by Scorpion Tanks, Warthogs, anti air defense platforms, and the lone MAC gun installed on the fortified building which was now designated as HQ. Wooten drove past several hastily dug trenches, turret pits, Lotus anti-tank mine traps, and bunkers and finally entered what looked like a vehicle garage where several more Human and scrounged Covenant vehicles were parked.
"Welcome to HQ." The Spartan said as he got off his Covenant vehicle. "You've done a very good thing for us."
"With all due respect sir, what did we do?" Wooten replied.
The Spartan cocked his head quizzically, "Why, you have one of our recon Warthogs, aren't you in the recon team?"
"No sir, we came across these hogs when we tried to escape from the Covenant." Wooten said.
The Spartan laughed, "Oh well, you did a better job than the recon team, we installed a radar on those Warthogs and Intel reports that a large 'fleet' of Covenant dropships are inbound on our vector, get ready soldier…"