Spartan 267 stood impatiently, fully decked in his Spartan III Berserker armor, in the elevator that would take him to the hangar bay. For advanced as this ship was the Spartan couldn't believe how long the elevator ride took. Although he hadn't considered that most natural humans didn't have the reaction time that he did, or even come close to his strength for that matter. The others present, ranging from technician to ODST, on the spacious elevator gave him a wide berth. He naturally took no offense to this as he had become accustomed to these reactions. Among Spartan's though he was an anomaly, for multiple reasons. One of the most known was that he had made friends outside the Spartan family. No one chastised him for his out going nature, but found it odd that he would actively do so.
Being bored out of his mind he ran his second diagnostic on his armor since he had gotten on the elevator. His armor was the traditional green with the yellow/orange face plate. His however was customized to fit his more deadly, and slightly crazy, battle tactics. The natural camouflage of the basic Spartan SPI armor had been incorporated into the Berserker variant. On his arms he bore a pair of gauntlets that housed razor sharp blades. The bulk looking pack on his back was a Jump Pack meant for climbing terrain quickly that would be difficult or otherwise impossible to climb. The thickness of his armor had also been increased, after all a Berserker had to be able to take a lot of punishment. The only downfall of his armor was that it lacked any of the shielding that was common on the newer models.
Suit Camouflage…
Running at 100%.
Suit Med Dispersion…
Running at 100%.
Suit Movement and Articulation…
At optimal levels of efficiency…not at 100% but within standard operating capacity.
Suit Jump Pack…
Running at 100%
Built in blades response times…
On his right hand the Spartan triggered three half a meter long blades to pop out with a satisfying shink.
Nearly every one aboard either shut up or turned to stare at the Spartan. Glancing up the Spartan noticed that he was getting a lot of nervous stares. The Spartan smiled under his helmet at the nervous personal around him. If he wanted to he could spill they're guts across the flower faster than they could blink. He couldn't count how many times he had been in this before. The best way to ease the attention was with this one line.
"You guys wouldn't know how much of a pain it is to wipe your ass with these things on."
This had earned a few chuckles from the ODST's, and nervous laughter from the technicians. Eventually the elevator came to a stop and the doors parted. The ODST's walked out of the elevator as if nothing had happened, but the technicians were not as graceful upon exiting the elevator as a few of them stumbled their own feet.
The Spartan was the last to exit into the enormous hanger bay. A low whistle escaped the Spartan's mouth as he examined the entire arsenal of weapons, vehicles, and air craft being launched into this fight.
From the top to bottom of the hangar bay was a bustle of activity. He counted at least of the eight of the Vulture Heavy Gunship. Each was one was armed with 4 GUA-23/A linkless feed .50 BMG rounds and A74 Sylver Vertical Missile Launcher with Anvil IV ASM Missiles. One was nasty, eight was overkill. Then again as a Berserker overkill was not in his vocabulary. Also amongst the assembled air craft was a couple dozen Hornets, a dozen Hawks, and a few suborbital long-range bombers Shortswords.
For ground vehicles the assortment and the range was far larger than the air vehicles. The largest of these was the Mammoth. This was basically double the size of an Elephant and a true mobile fortress. It was equipped with a half a meter of Titanium armor. Five N247 GPMGT Auto Cannon for infantry to air craft, one 8 MJ LRG Rail Gun for armored units, and to top it off it had a missile silo that used the A74 Sylver Vertical Missile Launcher. It was a beast that even a Spartan would think twice before assaulting. Only one of these was present in the hanger. Alongside it were it's smaller cousins, the Elephants. He counted at least five of these.
Next on the list of armored units were the tanks, and there were a lot of them. The largest of these were the Grizzlies. Eight of these sat idly by waiting to unleash death. These monsters had a double 120mm High-Velocity (HV) Gun, M247T Machine Guns, and S1 Canister Shell "Grapeshot". It's smaller cousin was the Scorpion and there was at least sixteen of these. Cobras were next on the list of UNSC tanks. These mobile Anti-Armor units were armed with two 16 MJ LRG Guns when mobile, and an 8 MJ LRG Rail Gun when it's lock down mode. "Absolutely devastating." were the two words used to describe this vehicle. Ten of these were lined up in a row behind the Scorpions and Grizzlies. Only one tank was purposed for Anti-Air, the Wolverine. This Anti-Air killer was armed with Argent V Missiles that were purposed for killing Air units, and in the Spartan's experience didn't mean they could be repurposed, and a XM510 Multi-shot grenade launcher. There were 10 of these behind the row of Cobras. Of these tanks only one stood out from all others. The Spartan equivalent of tanks. The Rhino. It was armed with the 320mm Zeus cannon, which had a 100 kilometer range, that was only used in siege-based heavy weapons bombardment. "Scarab Killer" was all that was needed to be said to describe this devastating weapon. Six of these sat behind the row of Wolverines.
Now there was the light armored units. These were basically Mongooses and Warthogs. The Mongoose was basically an All-Terrain vehicle that had no weapons, but supported a driver and a passenger. Thirty of these were scattered through out the hanger. Of the Warthogs there were four different variants. There was the troop carrier that could hold up to ten passengers. Then there were three different mounted variant Warthogs. There was M41 Light Antiaircraft Gun variant, machine gun. M68 Gauss Cannon variant, which was best used against vehicles. And finally there was the Rocket Mounted Hog that used the M52 Rocket Launcher. There was twenty-five of them scattered around the Hanger.
This was the third largest mobile unit that he had seen in his career. The largest was on the planet Reach, and the second largest was on Arcadia.
"Enjoying the toys?" asked a familiar voice. It was a voice that had some pleasant and some not so pleasant memories of his previous mission. Turning his head the Spartan saw a green holographic woman dressed in an elegant military uniform.
"So Aveon how's it going?" the Spartan asked in a rather casual manner.
"You wouldn't believe the amount of screening I had to go through before those ONI pricks would clear me for active duty. Is it too much too ask for a girl to get a little privacy?"
"Those ONI techs don't get out very much so they take any woman they can get. Besides with your rocking body if you were real, privacy would be a rare commodity."
"Ah, I'm flattered. But if I was real you wouldn't be allowed to touch this." Aveon said as she gestured to her chest and down.
"Ouch. To bad the ONI tech boys couldn't remove your cynicism."
"With this girl your going to get a lot of cynicism." she paused as if receiving orders. "The rest of the team is gathered and your presence is requested at this destination." Aveon finished saying as she set a NAV marker at a point behind the Mammoth.
"Best not to keep them waiting then." the Spartan said before taking off in a jog.
"So who are we waiting for again?" asked a black armored Spartan with the Roman numerals III. This Spartan's voice was male
"Black Three I've already told you." said another black armored Spartan with the Roman numerals IV. This Spartan's voice was also male.
Black Three was quiet before asking "So who is it?"
"Damn it Three." Black Four said staring at his brother in arms.
"Chill Black Four." another black armored Spartan. This one had the Roman numerals II, this one was feminine.
"Black Three his name is.." began the last member of black team, and the team's Leader Black I. She was the leader of this vocal group of Spartans. As she was cut off.
"Spartan-267 present." came a voice that made the gathered Spartan's turn their heads to the newcomer.
All of the Spartan's gathered their began to evaluate the young Spartan and the threat level he presented. They didn't regard him as an enemy, but were just evaluating his strength and weaknesses. Which was hard with another Spartan. This was natural for Spartan's to try and asses their peers while at the same time trying to remain as vague as possible.
"Good to see you brother." said a another familiar voice to 267.
Apollo-103 in his red armor came up to the green armored Jordan-267. Apollo offered his hand which Jordan was all to happy to accept. Behind Apollo in a black metal grey was Eun-300. She approached from Jordan and also shook his hand as well. He couldn't see their faces due to the polarized visors but he could guess that they were smiling like him.
"If your done with the family reunion it's time to get serious." said a stern, hard, and very cold voice.
All the Spartan's gathered snapped to attention as Captain Royce entered. Royce was a tall man even by Spartan standards. Royce stood just a few centimeters under being two meters tall. What was more intimidating than Royce's height was his face. The skin was a dull hued tan, and he bore plasma scaring on the right cheek. His hair was cut down to regulation length and neatly trimmed, like his brown beard. The most intimidating factor was the brown eyes that held back his furious incorruptible will.
"Spartan's at ease." said coming to a parade rest around the Spartans.
"Athena lights." Royce said in his don't-make-me-wait voice.
Immediately lights dimmed an the UNSC emblem appeared just before the Captain.
"As you all know the Covenant have found Earth, and it is our duty to kill every last one of them."
Not a single Spartan twitched as they watched the Captain.
"Intel has gathered that this ship is holding the final leader of the Covenant hierarchy." An image of a triangular ship appeared before them with an analysis of its dimensions.
"This leader, this Prophet of Truth has landed in the mega-city of New Mombassa. The Ship is on an alien artifact that was buried underneath the city. I am not allowed to fully debrief on the nature of these artifacts, but I must tell you this. If this Prophet gets what he wants every single life in the galaxy will end." Royce ended letting the weight of the situation sink in. He looked for any sign of weakness among the polarized visors but found none.
"This mission has three stages. First we regroup with the forces at Crows Nest. From there we will take back the city of New Mombassa with our forces here and any other UNSC forces we find on our way there. Once we take back the city we are to destroy all of the Covenant Anti-Air units so that the Navy can come in and work on destroying the ship. If that fails then all Spartans are to board the ship and ensure that the Covenant threat ends. Any questions?"
Not a single Spartan spoke up. This was a suicide mission and they were attracted to it like moths to a flame.
"Good, well then lets get started."
Spartan Team Black and Ravager were put together as Co-joint unit. It was official that Black I had leadership of all the Spartans. She had ordered all Spartan's suit up and arm themselves with the weapons that they saw fit. If she had known what team Ravager had planned then she might have taken the time to chose her words more carefully. As Spartan 267 strapped two Archer missiles to the sides of their Pelican Drop Ship.
"How did you even get these?" Three asked incredulously.
"I know a guy." was all that 267 said cryptically.
"These are meant for ship-on-ship based combat, what do you plan doing with them?" asked Four.
"I'll find a use." 267 responded just as cryptically as before.
"If he doesn't use for them then I will." spoke Eun off handedly ass she loaded M41SSR Rocket Launcher and M319 Grenade Launcher into the Pelican.
"Are you about as worried about our teammates as I am?" Four asked Three.
"In all honesty I like this group." Three responded.
"I should have asked a smarter person that question." Four said as he rested his head in his hand.
Apollo came behind the taller Spartans and had observed the entire conversation. He made his presence known with a chough. Both Spartans whipped around quickly to face him, it was obvious that they were not used to being snuck up on.
"Which one of you is Black team's sniper?" Apollo asked.
"That would be me." responded Four.
"I'm Apollo, Ravager's sniper." Apollo said extending his hand to the other Spartan which the other Spartan gladly took and shook.
"I am looking forward to working with you and your team."
"Same here."
"I have looked up to you Spartan II's as the forefathers of the Spartan III's."
"Thank you." Both Spartan's said simultaneously.
"But I have to wonder though which group is the better sniper? I mean sure you guys were the best, but I wonder if your age has affected your skills?"
"Are you calling us old?" Four asked sounding almost threatened.
"I'm calling you an old soldier that may no longer be in his prime, and whose skills aren't up to snuff. Well anyways I'll see you guys in action soon enough." as Apollo walked away knowing that he had just set up the ultimate contest.
"Did he just do what I think he did?" asked Four.
"Yeah I think he just insulted you." responded Three.
"Me? He insulted all of us."
"If you would remember his words he said 'you' when he when he was talking to you. He was challenging you specifically."
"I think I'm going to take that challenge. I'm going to show which group has the better sniper."
"Okay then you do that, but my money is not on the old soldier." Three said smartly as he ducked a swipe at his head.
The hanger doors of The Unseen Hand opened and out poured an entire collection of ships. Longswords escorted the group with three different levels protection for each group. The outer most group had the most protection, though it carried the least necessities of the mission. Mainly this was Marine personnel, and the light armored transport carrier. Next was another line of Longswords that protected the heavy armor transport. The last and final level had fewest number of Longswords and carried the most vital equipment to the mission. The Spartans. Except for one heavily burdened Pelican that lagged behind in the first 'sphere' of protection.
All of Black Team was crammed in alongside team Ravager. With the amount of equipment, explosive ordinance, and Spartan armor there wasn't enough room for a fart.
"Did we really need all this?" One asked the Spartan team.
"Yes." they answered simultaneously.
One raised an eyebrow at this but didn't proceed to question it any further.
"I noticed that your files didn't mention a team leader. Why is that?" she asked trying get more familiar with the team she was working with that.
All of team Ravager looked at each other discussing via their suits radios. It was Eun who spoke up first. "Sir, we have no team leader because well, we don't keep the same leader for each mission."
"What?" One asked not believing in what she was hearing.
"In our mission's we aren't sent deep into Covenant held space, and for the most part on are on our own. Since each mission is different, it requires a different plan. Out of the three of us the one that comes up with the best plan is the 'leader' for that mission."
"And that works?" Two asked the question that was on the mind of every member of Team Black.
"752,000 Covenant troops, fifteen Prophets, eight Covenant Corvettes, three Super Carriers, two Destroyers, and one Flagship later." Apollo said letting the statement of their kill record speak for their teamwork.
One immediately grew serious on their version of 'teamwork' and 'leadership'. Her team intermixing with theirs could lead to snags in the field, and snags meant death. She had to get one thing across these younger Spartans.
"I know that your previous method of has gotten you this far. But I need to make it clear that I am the leader of this joint operation. I can't have you giving out orders that could confuse my teammates, our yours for that matter. Follow my orders and I will make sure that you survive this mission. Do I make myself clear?"
"Sir, yes sir." they responded with salutes just as quickly as the question was given. This didn't surprise One a whole as Spartans' were used to taking order from unknown superior officers. What surprised was at how quickly they responded.
"In order for this team to work effectively I need to know what your specialties are. Eun you start first."
"Sir." Eun began giving respect to her superior. "I am the team's explosive expert, tech expert, and Covenant Translation expert. My armor abilities include a standard shield, and Armor Lock."
One nodded to acknowledge her skills. The team didn't really need a translation expert given the new translation software, but a tech and explosive expert would be handy. She then turned her attention to Apollo.
"Sir, like the god of my namesake implies I am the teams medic and marksman. My armor abilities include Active Camouflage, Hologram, along with a standard shield."
One nodded nodding, a Spartan sniper, not something she already had but was still damn useful.
She turned her head to the final Spartan Jordan. She had already read all of their files, but his had the most black ink, and those were just the ones ONI had bothered to give her.
"Sir. I specialize in close quarters combat, recon, and the best pilot of the group. I have no shields, but I do have an Active Camouflage, Jump Pack, and these." Jordan finished saying as his claws popped out of their sheaths.
"Where can I get a pair of those?" Three asked with awe and reverence to the blades.
"You don't have shields? And you do recon?" asked thinking it a little odd for a frontline Spartan to not have shields.
"The thick armor does its job. Besides the Covenant may not see me coming, but all their going to hear is their guts hitting the ground.
"Nicely put." Four said with some admiration.
One frowned under her helmet. As deadly as this Spartan was, in this mission he would need shields in order to survive. This wasn't a mission were the Covenant didn't know they were coming, the Covenant knew they were coming and they would bring their entire might against them. With the Covenant's KILL SPARTANS ON SIGHT FIRST policy, that armor could only take so much punishment before it would give. That's why he needed shields. When they hit ground she would be sure to get him out of that armor even if she had to bodily rip it off him.
One was about to comment on this when the radio crackled on the emergency frequency.
"Hostile contact! We have a Covenant a Destroyer in bound with Sher.." whatever the pilot was going to say was lost as the Pelican was violently shaken.
One immediately started shouting out orders, even as she was in midair.
"Ravager squad get in there and check on the pilots! Black Team secure all equipment!" she didn't know why she had sent Ravager into the cockpit and not her own, other than her gut had told her too. A Spartan followed their gut instinct more closely than followed orders.
Ravager immediately disappeared into the cockpit with a whoosh of the sliding door. Black team meanwhile went about securing any loose items that could be fatal in such turbulence. After everything was secure Eun reappeared through the door with both the pilot and copilot. Unconscious or dead she couldn't tell, not that it was her primary concern anyways.
"What are 267 and 103 doing?" she asked as she helped Eun to strap both bodies into the safety harnesses.
Eun was about to speak but the radio chatter answered her question for her.
"Good morning passengers of Pelican Flight 437 to New Mombassa. I am your Captain Apollo…"
A dark mumur was heard but what was said couldn't be made out.
"Why's that?"
More banter could be heard from 267, but of course was undistinguishable.
" Of course I'm Captain I have the radio…"
There was another pause as 267 spoke.
"Oh, now your just being childish."
A loud curse was heard along with what sounded like a threat.
"You wouldn't dare…"
A single response was all that came back.
"Fine if it means that much to you, you big baby…this is Co-Captain Apollo with Captain cough douche bag cough Jordan. Their seams to be heavy turbulence ahead and recommend that passengers buckle up for code level "HOLY SHIT! WE'RE GOING TO DIE". If you would please look to 300 for instructions on how to buckle up for a code level "HOLY SHIT! WE'RE GOING TO DIE. " We thank you for your cooperation." Apollo finished.
All of team Black looked to Eun as she violently seated her ass next to the pilots. She took every harness and strapped it over herself. Then she quickly clamped the crash harness over herself, before doing the Roman Catholic hand sign of the cross and murmuring the Lords prayer. Black team gave Eun a confused glance before they found themselves on the ceiling. Then found themselves tumbling inside like clothes in washing machine as "Captain Jordan" navigated his way through "heavy turbulence."
If Black Team thought the inside of the Pelican was insane, then what was happening outside would have blown their minds. Jordan-267 controlled the spinning ship along with the forward guns. Apollo had command over missile deployment and the rear turret. The Spartan wove in and out of the hail of plasma fire, trying to keep them alive. He knew that another hit could cost them dearly. The Brute pilots may have been vicious, but they were not that good of a pilots.
Longswords and Seraphs engaged each other in viscous dog fights, with the playing field just about even. The UNSC Longswords had the advantage of better pilots, while the Covenant Seraphs had shielding technology. The Covenant however in like all their previous engagements had superior numbers. That was why a few had gotten pass the first layer of defense and were chasing down the Spartans Pelican like hounds on the trail of a fox. But this fox had a few tricks up its sleeve, not to mention the pilot was as crazy as one.
Mainly the 267 would avoid fire, take down the shields and let 300 finish them off with the missiles. 267 avoided one wounded enemy craft as it tried to kamikaze style dive-bomb on them but missed and ended up hitting a wingman. The purple based explosion shook the battered Pelican.
"We got five hostiles on our tail." Apollo spoke with a calm serenity. After all what did he have to be concerned about? The enemy had superior numbers, superior technology, and zealous drive to kill them all. But they had a Spartan that could actually take his victories into space.
"Arm missiles and fire on my mark." was the cold calculating reply.
Apollo kept firing the rear turrets at the enemy craft to keep them from getting a clean lock. He waited for when 267 would make his move. All the while the Seraphs were getting closer.
The Brute pilots were urging their machines onward as best they could, eager to shed blood and secure their place on the Great Journey. Their Great Journey however was going to be premature.
267 flipped the Pelican and at the same time triggered the rear thrusters avoiding one Seraph by mere inches.
"Mark!" was the order that came.
Apollo was all to happy too comply. Dozens of missiles streaked to the Seraph fighters. Two with weakened shields exploded on impact. A third lost all shields and was heavily damaged. It tried to limp away, but a quick squeeze on the trigger of the Pelican's yoke ended that problem. The last two were not in as dire straights as the others. Their shield's had been perfectly fine, the missiles had depleted their shield strength but otherwise they were unharmed.
The two fighters immediately split know that their quarry turned predator could only go after one of them. 267 knew this as well but was prepared for it. He followed his prey and whittled down the Seraphs shield before they could fully come back online. His prey soon outdistanced him and turned around for a retaliation strike.
267 didn't fire as the gap between the two ship's closed. The Brute had gone berserk with the loss of his clan and intended to end his opponents lives with his own. As the two ships closed 267 banked frequently to avoid the incoming shots at them from behind, while at the same time making sure that the Seraph behind them never regained its shields. When the ship in front of the Pelican was only a few meters away he moved to the side letting the Seraph pass him. The pilot of said Seraph turned his head to trace the Pelican. When he turned around to face the front it was too late. Both Seraphs were destroyed in a miniature sun as both reactor cores exploded.
With the threat gone 267 immediately leveled off and gave everyone a moment to relax. Spartan Team Black quickly recovered from the areas that they had held onto for dear life.
"This is your Captain speaking…" Apollo began.
"Co-Captain." 267 corrected.
Apollo glared angrily at the back of Jordan's helmet. He still couldn't believe that he had threatened him with that incident. If Eun found out she would never allow him to live it down.
"This is Co-Captain Apollo speaking. We have cleared the heavy turbulance and expect clear skies from here on out."
267 tilted the Pelican so that he could see the Covenant Destroyer for himself. He had found it odd that the Destroyer hadn't gone after The Unseen Hand. He soon got his answer as he saw the lateral lines of the Covenant's ship batteries beginning to charge.
"One! The Covenant Destroyer is targeting the convoy! Requesting permission to engage!"
"We can't take on a ship of that size!" One responded.
"We don't have to destroy it. We just need to make sure that they don't shoot down the convoy…we do have archer missiles." he said presenting his reason to the argument.
"The Covenant have to lower their shields in order to fire. Use the archer missiles to target their guns." was One's reply. If they died in this attempt and saved the rest of the Convoy One was fine with that. The mission came first…and the stakes couldn't have been higher.
267 gunned the Pelican's thrusters pushing them too their limits. He pulled up a diagnostic of the Covenant plasma guns and calculated how long it would take them too fire. Needless to say he didn't like the odds. As each second passed they were brought closer to the Destroyer. This wasn't 267's brightest idea but was a necessary one. Once his calculations were complete he sent the details over to Apollo. Only he could fire the Archer missiles. 267 didn't want to risk the time to bark out the order and miss the opportunity. Besides when it came down to judgments like this 267 trusted 103.
103 waited for the right moment. His marksman trained eyes examining everything in detail. Now. The Pelican shuttered as both missiles streaked away. 103 and 267 held their breath. Both missiles streaked passed the shields and into the charged Plasma Turrets unleashing hell inside the Destroyer's own shield.
"Goal accomplished." 267 spoke over the radio.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief, that that crisis had been averted. 267 and 103 stared out of the cockpit at the damaged Destroyer. It was far from dead, but' it had been badly scarred.
A warning alarm blared on 267's terminal as the radar picked up incoming enemy bogeys.
"We got Banshee's and Seraphs coming, and I don't think they want to congratulate us!" 103 spoke his voice cracking.
267 immediately turned the ship around heading back to the safety of the convoy. He knew however that the Covenant forces would catch them before they had even made half the distance. As was soon proven as the enemy began firing at them. The entire space around them was filled with bolts of different colored plasma.
"How much do we have left?" 267 shouted some what more heatedly than he meant to.
"Missiles are depleted and the turrets are low."
267 cursed mentally. They didn't have enough weaponry to fight back, and they were still to far away from the Longswords. That left only one option.
267 began to slow down the Pelican's velocity while not sacrificing his maneuverability. Several of the enemy craft zoomed past him. One of the Seraph's came to close and 267 slammed the Pelican into the Seraph. The two crafts became locked to one another.
"Apollo you have control of the ship." 267 said quickly as he unbuckled himself.
267 unclipped himself from his seat and headed back to the compartment area. Black Team watched him pass with confusion to the rear hatch.
"What are you…" One began before 267 opened the rear hatch and disappeared out into space.
Two was the closet to the controls and slammed the rear hatch shut.
"What is he doing?" One barked over the radio.
"Sir, he's found away to fight back." Eun spoke before Apollo could answer.
Eun was right as 267 climbed from the Pelican to the Seraph. Hand over hand 267 eased his way onto the Covenant fighter. When he got to the hatch of the Seraph he activated both of his claws. With his right claws he got under the armor and ripped the hatch off. With his other arm he lashed downward at the pilot. 267 grimaced as he realized that his strike had fallen short. He had managed to sever the Brute pilots air supply, but it wasn't dead. Using both hands he got the pilot out of the seat and flung him into the void of space. He quickly took the Pilot's seat and unlatched it from the Pelican.
"103 I only have fifteen minutes of air."
"Copy that 267. Good hunting."
The other Covenant fighters soon found themselves under attack from one of their own. Confusion and chaos seeped into the Covenant ranks at the unprecedented assault. This gave the Pelican the chance it needed to pull away. Brute pilots furiously tried to shoot 267 down, but it soon became apparent who the better pilot was.
267 gave out no cheer of victory, for each opponent that he shot down. When he was a pilot he took it as a no nonsense business. Besides he was still greatly outnumbered and couldn't afford to be cocky.
A couple times he had to sacrifice some of his avoidance moves to go shoot down a Banshee or two that would go after the Pelican. A couple of shots had hit him when the shields were down, but most of the damage was cosmetic.
After fourteen minutes and forty seven seconds, all of the Covenant forces coming after 267 were debris in space. 267 gave out a sigh of relief and allowed his muscles a chance to relax.
"267 we got a bogey on our tail and I can't shake him!" Apollo yelled over the radio.
267 immediately snapped the controls of the Seraph toward the direction of the Pelican. He cursed when he saw how far away it was. When he looked at the settings on his weapons he saw that they had been melted under such frequent use. This time he cursed out loud.
He pushed the damaged fighter as fast as it would go. The distance between them grew short.
Eight seconds of air left.
He had closed half the distance,
6 seconds of air left.
267 realized that he only had one choice available to him.
5 seconds of air left.
The Brute pilot had finally acquired a lock onto the Pelican. It grinned evilly.
4 seconds of air left.
Proximity klaxons warned the Brute of an fast approaching object from the rear. Turning his head the Brute saw it was the renegade Seraph. Before he could scream both Seraphs disappeared in a purple vapor.
"He…" Three didn't finish his sentence as he saw both Seraph's disappeared.
The oncoming on depression was quickly swept aside as 267's voice crackled over the radio.
"Two seconds of air left…help." he said his voice weak from the lack of oxygen.
"Where is he!" One barked over the radio to Apollo.
"Directly behind us. I'm slowing down."
One nodded to two who pressed the open button on the controls. Air rushed out of the cabin as it depressurized. Three and Four stood firm against the torrent of rushing air. 267 came into view of the Pelican as his previous velocity had not slowed down. Three and Four extended their own hands while not losing their purchase on the Pelican. 267 had had his hands extended to them to anticipation. When he came close enough they hauled him in. Two then closed the rear hatch doors, allowing the cabin to re-pressurize.
267 ripped off his helmet and deeply sucked in some much needed O2. The relief in the cabin was apparent.
"Good flying kid." One said with some admiration to the Spartan pilot.
"If this is just the beginning of the mission I can't wait to see what'll come at us groundside." Three said a little cockily as he and Four hauled 267 to his feet.
267 grinned at Three before putting his helmet back. One frowned as she once again was reminded of the vulnerability presented by 267's armor. It was outdated, and his connection to it could cost him his life. When they hit ground side he was getting a more up to date armor.
"I hate to break the party, but we got a problem." Apollo began.
The air again in the room soon grew serious as a problem to a Spartan could mean their lives.
"The landing gear isn't responding." Apollo said gravely.
All eyes turned to 267. Everyone's armor could survive re-entry due to their shielding. Jordan-267's armor would not.