Author's Notes:
This is, I guess, the not too awaited last chapter of my second trilogy. I hope it's not a disappointment, as I do with all my work. This is written under the extreme pressure of time and of course I need the support from those who review my fanfics. For my ever-growing fan base I now complete this story seeing as my fans are due their share of my writings. Please read and review. And for those of you who don't know who I am, I am All That Is Legendary, none are like me.
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Captain Sandler looked for a moment more at the halved Carrier. This is risky, if one of my teams is killed, I will not cease to eradicate the Prophet, regardless of my orders. My men are my family. He turned toward the Master Chief and Lt. Baker. "You two are to proceed to the loading bay and board three flights of Pelicans to invade the enemy Carrier. Lt. Baker, your men, Master Chief, and Colonel Mendoza's men will take the last two Pelicans. Three of my own ODST teams will take the first Pelican ahead of you to secure a perimeter around the landing area. From the LZ make your way through the ship to the Central Chambers where the Prophet and the Chieftain are meeting. Take five-minute surveillance, then kill them. Get out in less than twenty minutes before we launch a SHIVA nuke to vaporize the ship. Am I understood?"
Lt. Baker and the Chief nodded, while Colonel Mendoza merely grunted. Lt. Baker was just a teeny bit nervous. Holy shit! What if we die!? Can my men really do this? I…don't know, oh God we're screwed! I did not join the Marines for this!
Captain Sandler turned away to look at the computer data scrolling down the glass screen. Green symbols flashed and disappeared to give way to more symbols. Captain Sandler gazed past them to the space beyond. Ships from the UNSC and Covenant Separatist ships flew together. He remembered watching a video about the Earth in the early 2010's. They didn't have these massive ships, not even Shaw Fujikawa slipspace generators. Their culture seemed so primitive, yet for them it was the most advanced yet. How the world has changed, the Captain thought to himself. I wonder how the people five hundred years ahead will look at us. Hopefully not with disdain, for they would know things we don't. Hopefully they will not look at us with regret for the mistakes we've made. We are only human. Captain Sandler heard the Master Chief and Lt. Baker walk away. Godspeed Marines.
Lt. Baker clung to the bar jutting from the ceiling of the Pelican's passenger bay. Clenching his teeth he looked through the glass of the pilots cockpit. The Carrier loomed ahead of him. Several of its plasma cannons were still online. It fired wild shots in every direction, which was probably in itself more dangerous than if the Carrier had spotted them. He saw through a porthole the second Pelican, carrying Mendoza and his men, perform a barrel role and shot away as a searing purple plasma beam arced through the space that they had just occupied. Lt. Baker could've sworn that he could feel the heat burning his face. It was close.
They made it to the plasma exhaust vent. As the entered the vent, streams of blue coolant dripped from the ceiling. The cylindrical tunnel was about three hundred meters wide. Markings and pipes lined the walls, labeled in alien languages. As the Pelican slowed, Lt. Baker noticed that greenish gasses spewed in bursts out of certain pipes, while superheated plasma spluttered out of others. This vent must connect to the power core… that is no longer there, so that means that if we traverse the whole tunnel, we'll come out the end of the halved ship. He hardly noticed the pilot call for the Marines to put on their oxygen masks. "The ships atmosphere," the pilot explained, "is made up of methane dioxide."
Lt. Baker nodded. "Pilot, state your name and rank."
He heard the pilot's reply over the radio, "Private 1st Class, Jacob Caraballo, sir."
"Private Caraballo, up ahead there should be a small pad connected to a large doorway of some kind, drop us off there and await further orders." Lt. Baker cracked his knuckles. He turned on his supply of oxygen as the Pelican pulled up to the pad. It looked to be made of some shiny silver metal, but then again, so did everything. He and his men stepped to the gun rack and chose their weapons. Lt. Baker pulled and MA5C assault rifle off the rack and strapped it to his back. I don't think a pistol is an appropriate side arm. So instead he grabbed an M7 Caseless Sub Machine Gun. Captain Sophia went for a more practical approach. She pulled an assault rifle over her shoulder and went straight for an M90 Shotgun. Miller and Greggory both took two M7's and dual wielded pistols. Lt. Baker grinned at the wide array of weaponry. This ought to be fun.
The Pelican twisted around so that the back was facing the pad. Lt. Baker and his marines jumped off and hit the ground running. Sophia was first to the door. With strength she didn't think she had, she aimed a ferocious kick at the door. It blew off its 'hinges' and flew halfway into the next room. She smiled. She raised her shotgun and stalked into the room, closely followed by Miller and Greggory. Lt. Baker was last, SMG fully raised he crept into the room. He lowered his weapon and stared around the room. The walls were covered in blue glowing hieroglyphs. The walls themselves were a metallic purple. A bright light shone on the floor. Lt. Baker stepped closer to it. THUD. A brute flew up from the light and grunted in surprise, seeing the humans. Sophia jumped up and fired a round into its face. Green blood spattered her armor and face. It roared in agony, not yet dead. The enraged brute fired its brute plasma rifle blindly, its face nearly gone. Several rounds struck Sophia in the chest and Miller in the leg. She yelled in pain, blood flowing from the large burnt hole in her armor. Her armor fell of and her jumpsuit underneath was burned away. Her breasts were badly burned. Lt. Baker yelled out angrily firing into the Brute's chest. I thought Sandler's men already came through here! After the damage the brute sustained, it keeled over. Lt. Baker ran towards Sophia. Corporal Greggory was already there. He crouched next to her. Greggory sniffed, "She's gone." Lt. Baker looked at Sophia. Her face was contorted in pain. A large hole lay open between her breasts. Greggory yanked off her dog tags and pocketed them.
Miller hopped on one leg and tossed a grenade. It flew into the Brute's open mouth as it screamed its war cry. Its head exploded splashing brain matter all over its companions. Miller pulled out a plasma grenade he had found after they had moved on from the room Sophia had been killed in. Miller told Lt. Baker that he was useless on one leg. So he made himself the decoy. Twelve brutes stood in that room, Miller wasn't planning on killing all of them, and he wasn't even planning on surviving. He just needed to give Lt. Baker enough time to sneak around and rendezvous with the Mexicans in the Central Chamber.
Miller pulled out two more plasma grenades and triggered them all behind his back. He began hopping towards the Brute Captain. Several Brute Spiker rounds caught him in the chest. The pain was unbearable as the searing hot spikes penetrated his Aortic valve above his heart and his lungs. With a scream of anger, revenge, and agony he threw himself at the Brute Captain. All three plasma grenades detonated. A blue flash thundered through the cavernous room. A great heat melted the skin and outer showing organs of five brutes while the kinetic shock wave threw the others into nearby walls and furnishings. Two were impaled on a statue and one cracked its skull open on a wall. Lt. Baker threw his own grenade to try and finish off the rest as he hurtled through the adjacent hallway.
Colonel Mendoza heard Lt. Baker coming and signaled to his men to cover him if he was being followed by hostiles. Fortunately, Lt. Baker was the only being to run out of the hallway. He put his hands on his knees and stood panting. After a few moments they heard the dull thuds coming from the enraged Brutes. Colonel Mendoza hefted a rocket launcher that one of his men passed him. He stood at the entrance of the hallway. Mendoza saw ahead the silhouettes bouncing along. One of the Brutes saw him and fired a single Spiker. It sizzled through the air and sank into Mendoza's chest. A true Marine, Mendoza didn't even bat an eye. Instead he fired the rocket. It flew with a gentle swish, before impacting on a Brute's chest. The explosion incinerated the Brute and the resulting flame swallowed the other two. Green blood evaporated in midair and the once blue, pulsating walls now were scorched with soot. Surveying the carnage, Mendoza pulled the Spiker round out of his chest. Closing his eyes for a moment he prayed an ancient prayer said by his Mayan ancestors. He opened his eyes again and turned to face Lt. Baker. "We have a little way to go. Let us go, rapido por favor. Quickly please."
Lt. Baker nodded absently as he followed Mendoza and his marines. Why the hell are all these Brutes still alive? What happened to Sandler's men? He had little time to think before he received his answer. He ran into the back of the Mexican Captain, not noticing that she had stopped. She whipped around and covered his mouth as he tried to voice his surprise. He ceased struggling at the site before him. Oh God. Before them hung on thick green ropes were nine naked and savagely mutilated bodies. Lt. Baker stood horrified.
A cruel and merciless laugh cut through the silence. About fifty meters above the terrified humans, descending from a gravity lift, were the Prophet of Truth and the new Brute Chieftain. The massive Brute laughed again. It said in a deep, throaty voice, "You pathetic humans could never stand up next to the Covenant, why do think that now is an exception?" It smirked at the tiny pink creatures before him. Save for the brown ones, which the Chieftain swore gave off pure almost uncontrollable rage. Why did this frighten him.
Lt. Baker nearly shit himself. Before his asshole got a say in the matter a though struck him. Where the hell is the Master Chief? I haven't seen him since Sophia…he trailed off. He glanced at Mendoza, who was also thinking the same.
The Prophet of Truth sat in his hovering throne, scrutinizing the humans. "I do not understand," it said, "why is it that these humans have attempted to kill us without the help of the Demon? I watched as he arrived with you, but he has since gone from sight." It pondered its own words for a moment. It didn't get too long to ponder. Chk-Chk. Truth gulped loudly and rotated 180 degrees to face the Master Chief's raised shotgun. John didn't give Truth a moment to scream. He fired twice into the alien freak's chest and face. The Brute Chieftain yelled and jumped at the Chief. Lt. Baker opened fire on the Brute, peppering him with bullets. The temporary pause allowed the Chief to bring his elbow to the Brute's face, smashing the bone into the Brute's brain, killing him. John fired an extra round into the Brute's face. Lt. Baker allowed himself a small smile. That was fun.
Mendoza was less impressed. "Have we found out anything about the Covenant's plans, eh?"
Lt. Baker's heart sank, "fuck."
"No, no, the Covenant are trying to figure out how to use the Ark, and so far they don't understand anything about it. That's all they're concentrating on currently." Master Chief said.
Mendoza cocked an eyebrow. "That's what they've been doing for the past week, so we've learned nothing new. Ah well." Mendoza checked his watch. "We have five minutes to get out." He said calmly. He turned on his heel and ran, signaling to his men as he went. They turned and followed him out.
Master Chief turned to Lt. Baker, nodded once, then followed the Mexicans. Lt. Baker turned and took a quick piss on Truth. He shook twice then followed the Master Chief.
Author's notes:
Hope you like the story. I worked hard on this one, but I'm working even harder on my next venture. It'll come in a few weeks so be patient. By the way, this is the end of the story, but I will publish and epilogue soon for those who need the more completed version. I am All That Is Legendary, none are like me.