Garrett watched as the armoring on the wall was cut open as the guards around him aimed with their rifles.
"I've got contact on point 2-D!" one guard yelled nearby.
"second hole at point 6-C! next room!" a security officer said around the corner.
"third one! 2-A! heads up!" a close combat specialist said as he cocked his shotgun.
The wall fell down as Milido marines poured in, some of them cut down before they could exit, but more piled over and fired, killing a few guards instantly before they ducked behind cover and continued the fight.
Garrett became a sharp shooter as he systemically fired triple round bursts from his BR-55P Battle Rifle at the helmeted heads coming out of the hole, making them rethink the charge maneuver they were hoping would overwhelm the forces inside.
"AMWS! Heads up!" a guard yelled as he fired up, before being smashed into the ground by a huge mace, and Garrett flipped around and ran into the next room with a rocket launcher on shoulder and locked, firing one round before leaping up to the second tier railings and firing a second round at the next AMWS.
"we're being overrun in 2-A! we need backup!" one of the officers yelled as Garrett told them to fall back to the secondary cargo doors, and jumped straight at another AMWS, grappling it and smashing in it's cockpit before pulling the broken panels away and throwing a grenade in, and then jumping right as it exploded.
"we're sending AMWS squad 13 and 96 to cover you Garrett, hold on until then" Miyuki said over the coms as Garrett sprayed an SMG at an incoming AMWS, not to hurt it (lord knows it wouldn't) but to screw up it's lock on sensors and keep it from firing the very deadly looking laser on it's shoulder.
Garrett leapt behind a cargo box and somersaulted, slamming his shoulder into the side and taking cover as the AMWS sprayed death around him, a guard caught in the leg before pierced through the chest and falling.
"squad 4 is down, squad 8 and 7 are losing ground, we can't hold this position" Garrett reported as he checked squad vitals on his HUD, before scratching off certain names.
"that's terrible! Garrett, we'll come to help" Shion said as she and KOS-MOS battled outside.
"negative, the area isn't defensible in the first place. COVER ME!" he barked as he sprinted straight towards the opening of one of the boarding ship entrances, and primed an anti-matter satchel and threw it in, before running back and sliding across the ground as he rolled left, ducking behind another box as an AMWS tried to fire at him.
The Dammerung's soldiers got a lock on the AMWS with their own weaponry, and fired an anti-tank round from a shoulder rifle, and punched into the cockpit as two more came up behind it.
"damned war zone in parts of the ship… how's it looking at your end Magen?" Garrett asked.
"so far they can't punch a hole through our barricade, but these guys are bringing up the mechs to try their size on us. They're walking right into… PRIME FOR DETONATION! FIRE FOR EFFECT!" she yelled as the lotus anti-tank mines burst from the ground and exploded, ripping apart a whole squad of AMWS as the Scorpion MBT behind the barricades fired, punching clean through the next AMWS and slamming into the next one behind it, the depleted Uranium shell ignoring the armor.
"they're pulling back! We did it!" Magen cheered as the guards wooted and hollered behind her.
"are they running back to the boarding ships?" Archerson commed in.
"I don't think so, it looks like… no way… Greys! Check for explosives yesterday!" she ordered as Greys scanned the area.
"nothing, I got jack on the signal rings. We're clear" Greys responded.
"phew, then I guess they are just regrouping to hit us again" Magen sighed.
"heads up Shion!" Jr. yelled as Asher pushed the Dinah out of the way as a large beam flew from an incoming U-TIC cruiser.
"thanks Jr.!" Shion yelled as KOS-MOS looked frustrated.
"KOS-MOS, What's wrong?" Shion asked as the Dinah flipped around and fired a burst of lasers towards an incoming fighter.
"I don't have sensors anymore… I can't track everything that is moving anymore… I feel… handicapped…" she replied as she piloted the E.S, pushing it forward as a volley of missiles tried to hit them.
"hehe, don't worry KOS-MOS, you'll get used to this. You can still fight right? You aren't handicapped, you're human!" Shion said as she fired her beam rifle.
"I understand… I… I'll just have to fight like everyone else" KOS-MOS responded.
"don't worry, you still have faster reflexes than anyone else, and stronger. You're still my friend, and I know you'll pull through and adapt" Shion chuckled.
"understood. I… will do my best" KOS-MOS looked over her shoulder and smiled, Shion smiling in turn.
"now, let's see if we can't thin some of these fighters out and save some of these ships!" Shion yelled as the Dinah rushed forward, the Reuben cleaving down the side of the same cruiser who shot at them before bursting away, dodging missiles as it went before regrouping with the others.
"pathetic. They dare challenge me? This isn't even a real fight!" she yelled as she sliced an AMWS in half.
"no mercy!" Jr. yelled as he unloaded a flurry of rounds into a squad of fighters before they broke away, two of them destroyed.
"Jr., be more careful, we aren't invincible!" Allen said as he piloted the E.S.
"Allen, you're such a drain on my cool…" Jr. sighed.
"hey! That's not fair! It's the first time I've actually piloted this thing, I just want to be a little bit more safe ok?" Allen responded.
"ya ya.." Jr. mumbled as the Asher brought it's cannon to bare on a destroyer coming to attack them, and fired a single round that punched straight through the armor and depleted shields and flew out the other end.
"we've got two frigates attacking the Dammerung! The Oredos and the Miranda can't hold them off!" Momo suddenly said as she checked the status of the cruiser and the super battleship, already under heavy strain to keep the transports nearby safe.
"Momo! Ziggy! Look out!" Shion yelled as two fighters fired missiles at them, only to be intercepted by an aerosol grenade fired by a flanking Federation AMWS, before the AMWS retaliated and destroyed both fighters.
"thanks for the assistance!" Momo said as the AMWS saluted, only to be cut to pieces by the remaining fighter squad.
"no! damn it, die!" Jr. yelled as the AMWS floated majestically as the rounds punched into it, the left arm broke away as the mech exploded, the pilot unable to escape.
"no, he just saved us, I hate you! Leave us alone!" Momo yelled as all of her lightning pods popped from the armor to attack multiple targets, not doing as much damage as she wanted, but slowing them down and scattering three squads.
"Sergeant Mack is down! Sergeant Mack is down! Squad 9 regroup!" was heard over the coms as the party realized the AMWS was in charge of their escort.
"how many do we have left on our side?" Ziggy asked.
"counting the three AMWS still left in squad 9, we have six fighters still helping us, but they just gave a request to assist their respective mother ships."
"hmm, Shion, we should let them do what they can to defend their ships, we should clean up in this sector and protect the outer transports" Ziggy said.
"agreed. We'll let them go. Thank you for the help everyone" Shion said as the AMWS winked green lights in response before speeding away.
"running cause the fight is too hard for them… they aren't defending, they're cowards…" T-elos suddenly said.
"hey! That man just gave his life to protect us! And those pilots out there are trying to defend these people, despite the fact the federation is shattered, they still hold their ideals! Their humanity! You could at least show some of that towards them, show them some respect for their honor and bravery!" Shion responded.
"the day one of them saves my life is the day I will show any respect to them…" T-elos smirked.
"this is Corporal Spartan 003, boarding forces in cargo bay are neutralized, and yes, they did bring a present… or three…" Garrett said over com channel 7.
"a present? What present?" Shion asked.
"he means a bomb Shion, three of them. Did you disable them? How much time was left?" Archerson asked.
"two minutes. We caught them ahead of time. Status near the bridge?" Garrett asked.
"currently? Shitfire in a hell hole. We got wounded everywhere" Archerson sighed.
"is Miyuki ok? What about Mirie?" Shion asked.
"they're fine, they haven't broken through yet. Garrett, we could use a hand up here" Archerson asked.
"understood, be there in a minute. What should I do with the explosives sir?" Garrett asked.
"bring em up here, we could probably make use of them later. Exactly what do you mean in a minute? It'll take you a good twenty to make it through the ship to us" Archerson asked.
"hold that thought" Garrett said as KOS-MOS suddenly saw a decompression of an airlock near the cargo bays and Garrett floated out before shooting a tether line and arcing towards the secret armory doors.
"Garrett, what are you doing?" KOS-MOS asked.
"moving as fast as needed by the Captain" Garrett responded as he flew towards the doors like an armored missile, before a hostile AMWS shot towards him.
"Garrett! Incoming!" Momo yelled as he looked up and blocked just as it slammed it's rifle into him, he crashing into the hull of the ship before sliding a few inches to the left as the rifle tried to crush him again, before he smashed his fist into the arm and braking the armor.
The AMWS tried to pull back before Garrett leapt towards him and clamped onto the cockpit before punching in the armor, the pilot quite obviously screaming and trying to scrape the armored warrior off of him, before Garrett peeled the armor away and pulled the pilot halfway out, before snapping his neck and jumping off.
"whoa…" Jr. whistled as Garrett continued on his journey, as Jr. realized just how deadly Garrett really was when solo and not protecting anyone.
"inbound, sit tight" Garrett said as he locked his boots on the hull near the doors and waited.
"damn it! The operating system for the doors is malfunctioning! Try the manual out there Garrett" Miyuki said as she tried to key in the pass codes.
"no use. Hacking the system, popping it from the inside" he responded as the door locks wouldn't open.
"wait, hacking, hold on just a-" she tried to say before her panel suddenly read error, and multi flashed through thousands of control operations and download grids before a rewire was requested, and the pass codes were redone within the same minute.
"unbelievable. How did you do that so fast?" Miyuki asked.
"you only have nineteen digit 512 bit encryption codes. Child's play, even to Wilson" Garrett responded as Miyuki looked dumbfounded.
"haha, leave it to a Spartan to make a person feel inferior. Come on Garrett, cut them some slack" Magen chuckled over the coms.
"I apologize, insult was not intended. Entering now" Garrett said as the doors opened and he zipped in, before the doors closed again.
"Togashi! Later on we're making our pass codes the new twenty six digits!" Miyuki yelled behind her as the man leapt an inch before agreeing.
"I'm in" Garrett said as he headed up the elevator, before stepping onto the bridge, before putting his hand out and materializing the carried three charges he collected.
"nice work. We just gotta fend off this last couple of squads and we can handle-" Archerson said as multiple com channels opened up in a hail of chatter.
"we've got two huge contacts! Twin super battleships coming for a ramming course with the Dammerung! We can't hold them off! They're breaking through!" was heard as Garrett looked up.
"sir, I believe I'm needed more outside" Garrett said before picking up all three bombs and going back down the elevator.
"have some fun in the sun kiddo. Try not to get vaporized with those things too close to the ship you hear?" Archerson said.
"I'll do my best not to be vaporized period sir" Garrett smirked inside his helmet as he blew the hatch controls and floated out quickly, flying by the Dinah and towards an incoming Battleship, bomb in hand.
"is that strong enough to take out that ship Garrett?" Jr. asked.
"not really, unless I place it just right. Inside their engineering room" Garrett responded as the Dinah and Asher escorted him towards the ship, Garrett clamping his boots onto the front of Dinah as he surfed his way towards the oncoming menace. Beam fire and torpedoes lanced out at the party as they tried to get close before coming inside the weapons minimum range near the engines, as Asher and the Zebulun destroyed any hostile turrets.
KOS-MOS got a face full of armored Spartan butt in her view screen before Garrett detached and latched onto the first ship, and punched into the hull before pulling away a layer of the armor, before weaseling his way through the wiring and second layer of armor as he felt a huge decompression, he braking through a deck of the ship and flew back out.
The Dinah put it's hand out to help him get a grip on the hole he just made before he saluted and made a V over his armored helmet, a sign of a smile and thanks before entering inside.
"good luck Garrett!" Shion said as he blew the door away with a fragment grenade and entered the engineering decks, spraying wildly down the hallway with an SMG as he entered the reactor room.
"intruder alert! Intruder alert!" was heard blaring over the loudspeakers inside, and guards ran to intercept him as he cut them down, the small amounts of bullets they did get off not even noticeable on his flaring shields.
"package is being delivered, exit in 3, two, one" Garrett said as he placed the charges in such a way that it would destroy the right engine, sending the ship smashing into the second battleship nearby.
The armored soldier leapt out of the hole to be caught by Dinah, then they boosted away as Garrett's helmet extended three antennas from the right ear shielding port and winked once.
the inside of engineering blew, destroying the first engine and sending an overload towards the second, a quick burst of speed gained on the left side and turning the huge super ship towards it's comrade. The huge ship smashed head long into the other, smashing through it's hull and impaling through the other side as both started erupting into balls of flame and debris.
"we did it! Both ships are out of the fight! Nice going Garrett!" Momo said as Jr. cheered.
"this is the Magellan! We're losing orbit! The U-TIC blew our engines! We can't regain altitude!" a distress signal rung out as a transport ship started to slip into the atmosphere.
"we need to help that ship!" Momo said as the Dinah started to move towards it before checking it's movement.
"Shion, what's wrong?" Jr. asked as the Asher looked towards them.
"if we head in to help them, Garrett will get burned up in the atmosphere" Shion replied as she looked down at KOS-MOS.
"we can escort him back before we continue on" KOS-MOS said as she started moving towards the Dammerung.
"negative, they're losing height tack fast, they'll lose heat soak in a matter of seconds. My armor can survive it. Move in" Garrett said through coms. As a safety precaution he materialized his drop suit external package and clipped it on, as Dinah headed to try and help.
"so how do we get them out of orbit?" Jr. asked as he tried to maneuver near the huge ship.
"we don't, we skip them into a PFS re-entry, we need to nudge them" Garrett responded.
"a PFS entry?" Ziggy asked.
"Planted Forward Slide, or if you want the slang version, Pretty Fast Shitpile" Garrett answered.
"wha? Uh, but… um…" Momo looked embarrassed.
"it's called that in slang terms cause there will be debris breaking away from the ship, but it will at least survive enough for most of the people inside to survive a hard landing" Garrett said as his heat register told him they were getting close.
"alright, just a nudge" Shion said as KOS-MOS nodded and three E.Ss slowly altered the trajectory of the ship to a decent landing trajectory.
"oh no! we have anti-ship weaponry firing at them from below!" Momo yelled as small missiles started to be seen firing upwards.
"We can't stop those while we're trying to keep this ship from breaking up!" Jr. said as one missile flew by, a dumb fire.
"leave that to me" Garrett said as he braced against the Dinah and leapt off, throwing his arms straight in front of his helmet as he jumped, his shields flaring from the heat.
"Wait! Garrett!" Shion yelled as he blew backwards from the Dinah, not directly connected to their speed anymore before a tether line shot out and connected to the ship, superheating quickly as he snapped at the end like a rag doll, before pulling himself in as quickly as he could.
The line was getting incredibly hot, the tungsten covering slowly chipping away as he fired another to counter the first breaking, and finally landed his boots on the hull of the ship.
"wait, what are you going to do Garrett?" Momo asked as he materialized a Jackal Beam Rifle and aimed it carefully at an oncoming missile. He fired, the rifle not having a lead time and the super charged power coils shot a continuous beam, somewhat dispersed in the re-entry, but held together enough to blast the missile out of the sky.
"go Garrett! He's acting as a point defense system!" Jr. hollered and cheered as Garrett fired another tether line to the side and leapt off the hull, arced and landed on another piece and fire at three more missiles before running forward, keeping track of the hostile beacons coming towards them. He soon came under strain as he took out three more missiles before the rifle had to cool, the atmosphere not helping one bit and doubling the time as he materialized a second one, clipping the first to his back and letting his shields drop slightly from the heat dispensed as he saw twelve more beacons appear.
"this isn't gonna work if we have to defend as well as maneuver the ship" Jr. said as a missile slammed into the shoulder of Asher, rocking them from the explosion.
"last option, plan B" Garrett said as he ran to the front of the ship, standing at full length on the nose as he turned around and fiddled with something.
"Garrett! What are you doing?! There's too much heat at that point of entry!" Archerson tried to say through static.
Suddenly, a huge multi hexagonal shield erupted in front of the ship, taking most of the heat flare with it as Garrett plugged a shield generator into his external armor package.
"he's doing what you did KOS-MOS… but how…" Shion started saying.
"shields are dropping, core is overheating, I can't keep this up for much longer, Momo, time, now" Garrett said as his helmet rattled from the outside.
"one minute more! They're nearly through!" Momo said as Garrett suddenly got hit by a missile in the back.
"Garrett!" Shion yelled as he was pushed somewhat forward, losing his foothold before regaining his position.
"shields are failing, blowing emergency over shield" Garrett said as his shields flickered and died before a microsecond later his over shield clicked on, draining quickly, never made for atmospheric re-entry.
"almost there! Three more seconds!" Momo yelled as Garrett felt as well as heard his external armor groan and idiot lights go off inside his helmet.
"they're through!" Jr. yelled as Garrett leapt off, the over shield dying as he coiled himself in front of the heat shield on his back, trying as best he could to keep from the edges. Heat shielding chipped away from the back as the ship entered nearby and the E.Ss leapt off, the Dinah boosting to catch Garrett before he fell out of range.
"almost… got him" KOS-MOS said as she reached out the arms of the huge mech, desperately trying to grab at the falling warrior.
Garrett's armor was somewhat cooling from the heat it just went through as he reached out, steam rising from the paneling.
Suddenly, a piece of debris from the ship broke away and slammed into Garrett, knocking him past the Dinah before it could grab him, he trying to regain a smooth drop rate as he flailed his arms and legs to get away from the offending piece, and Dinah shot after him to try again.
"KOS-MOS! Duck! Quick!" Jr. yelled as KOS-MOS saw a second debris piece come from behind them, and smash into the Dinah. Warning lights went off as KOS-MOS tried to regain control of the mech, thrusters destroyed on the back.
"controls are damaged, sensors are malfunctioning, we're going in!" Shion yelled over cal chon sirens inside as Garrett fought with his debris, before gaining control of it and riding it like a surfboard through the air, his external armor package already damaged.
"brace for a hard landing Shion, I'll try to maneuver the Dinah into a soft zone" KOS-MOS said as she struggled with her controls, keeping the Dinah barely in a controllable descent as it headed towards what looked like Lake Turkana.
"brace in three, two one" KOS-MOS said as they hit the water, armor breaking away from the mech as both of them blew their harnesses and opened the cockpit, leaping out as Shion splashed into the water before surfacing.
Garrett struggled to keep on top of his piece of debris as he activated the manual controls to blow his parachutes, the crank slowly opening the armor panels before he found parts of the outside were fused. He struggled to reach the paneling and just as he opened it and let the parachutes fly out, he reached his maximum height limit for a safe descension.
Garrett looked below him as he saw Shion through magnification swimming towards the beach, but KOS-MOS was nowhere to be seen.
"KOS-MOS?… KOS-MOS!" Shion yelled out as she looked around in the water, no sign of the woman. Garrett blew his parachute and flew through the air, slamming hard into the lake as he dropped like a high altitude depth charge. KOS-MOS was sinking, flailing, but sinking.
She doesn't know how to swim… Garrett thought as he boosted the hydraulic pressure throughout his suit, making him for the most part buoyant enough to swim, and dove towards her as the magnetic resonators on the outside of his armor tried to compensate for his heavy weight.
Shion looked around worried as no sign of either was above the water, before Garrett suddenly broke the surface, KOS-MOS grabbed around her chest in one arm as she coughed for breath, Garrett swimming hard and furiously to keep up with his weight.
"get to the beach, I got her" Garrett said as KOS-MOS slowly turned around and threw her arms around his neck as he kicked, her legs trying to help but only hitting his.
"KOS-MOS, let me swim, you're impeding me" Garrett said as she held on, slightly panicked as he swam.
They finally reached the beach as Shion fell to the ground, exhausted.
Garrett put KOS-MOS down and let her catch her breath on her side, as he noticed she looked ashamed.
"what's wrong, are you ok?" Garrett asked as Shion looked over from her spot and crawled to her friend.
"I… don't know how to swim… I never had to… before…" KOS-MOS looked disappointed as she stared at the sand near her cheek.
"you did weigh in over two hundred pounds… but I guess that was the reason we never programmed swimming into you before… I'm sorry KOS-MOS…" Shion said as she helped her friend up, KOS-MOS sitting up before looking up at the Spartan, already watching the surroundings with his rifle out.
"we need to get moving, this area won't be safe much longer. Clearing the crash site would be highly advised" Garrett said as he helped both women up, before walking forwards.
"where are we?" Shion asked as both followed.
"Lake Turkana, northwest corner of Kenya, we're pretty far from our original drop zone near Mombassa" Garrett responded.
"shouldn't we let off a distress beacon?" Shion asked.
"won't work. Hostiles would track it before friendlies would find us. We need to lay low and let the rest of the crew contact us. That's going to be difficult with almost no defensible cover to be seen" Garrett noted as he stared towards an endless stretch of arid land and desert, thorn brush and sparse trees.
"alright… I guess we start moving…" Shion said as they walked on.
-------------------------------------
Four hours later
-------------------------------------
"I apologize, but could we rest for a few minutes?" KOS-MOS suddenly asked as Shion and Garrett looked back. She looked tired, not at all used to feeling that way, always capable of moving with the Erde Kaiser Reactor she used to have inside of her.
"alright, we can stop here, though we are in the middle of the desert I warn you" Garrett said as KOS-MOS tried to sit, but realized the ground was too hot, and stood back up.
"here" Shion pulled off her jacket and laid it on the ground, before KOS-MOS thanked her and sat, tired.
"I'm… a bit thirsty…" KOS-MOS almost whispered, but Garrett heard it and sorted through his armory listing for a water bottle. What he found was a listing of water condensers, a mobile filtration system, a tanker truck, water purification pump and everything to clean half of Mexico's water supply before finally landing on two bottles of water. He materialized them and handed them to the ladies, who gratefully took them and drank eagerly.
"aren't you thirsty?" KOS-MOS asked as he stood there, a black silhouette against the harsh landscape.
"internal water supply in my helmet" he replied as he nudged his chin against a panel, a small chewable vitamin C tablet popping from a holder nearby as he took a sip from a water nipple.
"KOS-MOS, can't you summon your monobike?" Shion asked.
"unfortunately… no. I have tried, but something nearby is stopping me from doing so" KOS-MOS replied, ever so slightly embarrassed.
"that's odd… something… stopping you? I wonder what it could be. Garrett, can't you get a warthog out?" Shion asked the armored soldier.
"vehicle listings currently unavailable, the re-entry is causing a full diagnostic of my suit to repair the damaged shield emitters" Garrett replied, not telling them there was far more damage than they realized.
His hydraulics were caught in a taut hold around his left leg, to stop anymore pain. He could feel two muscles were ripped from the strain, and the internal bio foam modules were inoperative due to the heat. The repair systems would have to have some time before his leg would be healed, and even then it would wait until his right lung was healed, bruised and almost collapsed from the crash from so high above. He was hiding his ill health very well indeed. His cells were having a field day just trying to keep him from keeling over let alone repair themselves, as he continued to strain his body to push forward, not showing weakness and ignoring the pain from internal as well as external injury, some 2nd degree burns on certain parts of his skin.
"well, I guess we're walking then…" Shion said as she wiped sweat away from her forehead, and looked around.
"what's that smoke on the horizon…" Shion suddenly asked as she covered her eyes from the sun and stared out. Garrett was immediately in a crouch and aiming his rifle, hoping against hope it wasn't hostiles. His goggles couldn't be seen under the sun's glare, but they suddenly changed to red as his psi eye was concentrated on, and he saw what looked to be something that shouldn't be there. A village.