Dear reader,

I don't own halo. This is not a part of the halo universe so thing will not match up. This chapter gets back into the action but I will not be dropping the romance part, it will just be tuned down a bit. On that note I would like release these once a week depending on my school and normal life goes. Please review and send some feedback. Thanks.

The Last Mission pt 3

Jake walked out of his quarter in complete Mjolnir armor with his ODST helmet, chest plate, shoulder pads, shine guards, and EOD forearm, thigh, boots. With a SRS99 strapped to his back, two S6Cs on his thighs, and five combat knives and a machete scattered about his armor. Hanging a left he walked up to a lift and taped the down icon and waited for the doors to slide apart. Entering in the lift Jake saw Cassy holding a hollo pad in her hand. Jake pulled off his helmet and greeted her with a warm hand shake.

"What are you doing all the way down here Miss Lane?"

"Oh there was an ODST rave last night."

"Say no more, I been too one or two myself."

"That's a lie."

"What's that supposed to mean."

"You were an ODST for over seven years, and you're trying to tell me that you've only been in two raves."

Cocking and eyebrow and putting a hand on a hip, she looked down at him and started to giggle. Jake put his hand in the air, took a step back, and said

"OK you got me."

"So how long do you think you will be gone?"

"I don't like to guess because it makes it worse when you're about to die."

"Ohh I see, well I wish you luck, and come back soon."

And with that the doors slide open, Cassy walked out, and waved goodbye. After the doors closed Jake said to himself *I won't*. After a few floor the doors parted and Jackie walked in also in her full EVA armor with a silenced SMG on her back and a S6C on her thigh armor. Jackie didn't take off her helmet so Jake would see her face turn red. It was only a few minute ago that they had almost kissed. They stood in awkward silence for a few minutes then Jackie started to say something but Jake pulled out his S6C and shot the camera so fast that it wouldn't even catch it. Jackie started to step back but Jake reach up grabbed the rim of her armor around the neck, pulled her down, knocked off her helmet, and kissed her. Caught by surprise Jackie had her eye open for the first few seconds then closed them for the remainder of it. the kiss was jerky and awkward like a first kiss then Jackie realized that is was his first kiss and she took over. Before she knew it Jake pulled away slide her helmet back on and let go of her, but before she could say anything the doors slide apart and Jake walked out. Dumbstruck Jackie put her hand to her helmet as if to touch her lips and though about what had just happened.

"Are you coming?"

Jake asked after a few seconds. Looking up Jackie saw that Jake was extending his hand with the palm facing up just like it the princess stories. Taking jakes hand Jackie stepped onto the deck and saw a prepped pelican and an old man standing in an UNSC officer uniform waiting for them. As she got closer Jackie noticed that the old man wasn't an old man at all, it was the officer how had given them their mission the day before but he was different. The top of the officer's head was bald and had a French mustache drawn on with a permeant maker on his face. The two Spartans stopped a few feet in front of him, took off their helmet, and gave him a salute. Jackie saw out of the corner of her eye that Jake cracked a smile so faint that only a Spartan could see it. The UNSC officer looking more pissed than usual turned away as if looking at something in the distance and said

"Spartans, I do not need to tell the weight of this mission, so good luck and God bless your trigger finger and souls."

And with that the he walked away. Walking onto the ramp Gunny said

"Let's mount up Spartans."

The Spartans entered the pelican and its bay door closed. Cali walked up to the front and sat in the pilot seat and powered up the engines and started doing routine check as the lifted off. Jake sat in the chair and pulled out a ring an inch wide with a load of dogtages. Jake started flipping through them reading the name and cereal number on them. Jackie took the seat next to them and asked

"Whose are those?"

"Spartan I's, ODST's, and marines I served with. But that was a long time ago. Funny, I've looked death in the face so many times only for it to back off and take the other person life."

"I'm sorry Jake."

Jackie said putting her hand jakes back as their pelican soared down into to the planet's atmosphere. There was radio chatter in the cockpit then the pelican took a sharp left and the speaker blared on with Cali's voice saying

"Change of plane Spartans, the former LZ is too hot so we are doing a pencil drop incursion so Jake you should fell right at home."

Jackie looked at Jake confused and asked

"What is a pencil drop?"

"What is the land scape we are dropping in to?"

Jake asked Gunny, completely ignoring Jackie

"A heavily forested hillside, five klicks closer to the target. Hey you can't win them all."

Cali replied

"What is a pencil drop?!"

Jackie asked again and Jake finally answered

"A pencil drop is when you jump off a moving object to a still object below. Sometimes when your drop pod malfunctioned, you had to abort and jump out using a jump pack but in our case, without the jump pack."

"So let me get this straight, we are jumping off a pelican God know how many feet in the air and landing on a mountain."

"Fifteen thousand feet, give or take a hundred."

Jackie slapped her hand on her leg and held it up in a way that made her look like a little kid even though she was in full armor minus the helmet. Jackie expression was enough for Jake start laughing: head back and shoulder heaving. The sights of Jake laughing made Jackie face go completely red then turned away from him. In the compartment the light changed to red and the bay doors started to depressurize then Gunnies voice blared on the coms

"Bay doors opening in fifteen seconds, check your gear Spartans."

Both Jackie and Jackie stood up and loaded their weapons and slipped on their tactical packs. Jack turned around and let Jackie make sure everything was in place, and Vis versa: Jackie turned around and let Jake check her equipment. She felt Jake tighten something the felt his hand caress down her lower back and then he said

"Good to go."

And with that the bay door opened up and wind flew into the Pelicans troop bay. Jake walked onto the extended bay door and turned with his back to the opening then beckoned Jackie over. Walking to the bay door Jake put his finger in the air and twirled it telling her to turn around. She did so and Jake voice blared over in the helmets internal com and said

"Come closer."

Jackie took one step closer and she could hear Jake sigh then put his arm around she waist, pulling her closer to where they were pushing up against each other and her heart rate spiked.

"Five seconds"

Cali voice erupted for the overhead speakers

"Three, two, one, jump."

Jackie felt a yank on her tactical belt then everything went white then she saw blue skies and a mountain far below cover in green foliage. As they speed to the she looked and say their ride speed away into the upper atmosphere growing smaller and smaller then disappeared from view. Looking back down the mountains seemed to be speeding up toward them at frighting speed then Jack's voice crackled over the internal coms

"Alright when you hit the ground: squat so that the impact won't kill you."

"Thanks for the comforting words."

"Don't worry you'll be fine as long as I am around."

And with that Jake set up a NAV point on her HUD telling her to move thee yards to the left and a yard back to avoid a sheer drop off on the mountain face. Jackie read the yards till they reached the ground. Jake said

"Contact in three, two, one."

A second after Jackie felt a pain start from the souls of her feet and shot up her shines. Her left foot twisted on a loose rock and there was a loud *snap* and lost her balance slipping off the cliff. Jackie started to fall but there way and yank on her tactical belt bringing her back on the cliff and into the embrace of Jake. Readjusting his grip Jake put his arm around her waist yet again and laid her down some grass and started to check her shin. When Jake tried to move it she winced and he said

"It's broken. I think I can…"

Jake pulled off his pack and striped the metal support beam, straitened it out snapped it in half, placed it on each side of the Mjolnir armor and strapped it into place. Extending his hand to help her up to her feet she little walked then trotted around and said

"I good, how did you think about using the support beam."

"What, thirty years in the military has its perks."

Jake let go of Jackie's arm went over to the pick up his pack and slug it over his back. Looking at the heads up Jake saw that they were thirty miles trek to the objective through wooded hills and valleys and Jake didn't know if Jackie would be able to make it. Pointing south Jackie said

"If we can make it to that ridge, we can set up camp for the night."

Jake looked to where she was pointing and saw that there mountain stopped abruptly and a ledge pultruding from the face of the sheer drop off. Jake said

"It's a little out of the way and I don't know if you could make it with that leg-"

"I can do it Jake; you're not the only Spartan out here."

She was a Spartan indeed, but she was a newer Spartan meaning she didn't have the training or the augmentation that older Spartans had. With a slight nod of his head Jake took point and led Jackie down the easiest paths he could find.

After five hours of hiking Jake noticed a slight move to the left. Raising his left hand in a fist they both stopped moving the Jake switched on his internal com and said

"Movement to the left just behind that tree line, switch to thermals."

Jackie acknowledgement light winked blue and they switched to thermal readings but there was nothing there. Jake too a step forward and peered around a tree and said

"Nothing here. Where the freak run off to?"

As if in reply a blue light illuminated from their six. Jake pivoted to see a floating Beam Sword behind Jackie. With one swift movement Jake pushed Jackie out of the way but wasn't fast enough to move clear of the Beam Sword himself. Jackie watched in horror as the sword fell down towards Jake but the thing that happened next was so unexplainable that Jackie didn't even know what to do. Jake shot his hands up and he grabbed on to the Beam Sword. Under normal circumstances the beam sword would have ripped through the Mjolnir armor and this hand, but the lonely thing that burned away was the mat black under armor. Jake fought with the Elite for a bit then kicked it over pulled out his M6C and shot it three timed in the head, two too puncher the shields and the third one lodged itself squarely in the emeries' head. Jake pulled the Beam sword out of the fallen worriers hand, turned it on to make sure it was functional, turned it off, and strapped it to his belt. Jackie looked at him and said

"You should be dead; the sword should have ripped through your body like it was water."

"'Oh thanks Jake for saving my life' 'on problem Jackie, any time'."

"Jake this is serious. Why are you able to hold on to beam swords?"

Jake looked down, kicked the Elites limp body, and said with a sigh

"when they first made the Spartan I program they took amputated kid, like me: I didn't have hands back before and they gave us robotic body parts all I had was a pinky on my left hand but it was cut off back in Harvest. This metal is so valuable that I don't even know what it is. I mean it's so strong it can withstand a MAC round and not even get dented, but they covered it with fake skin so that word would get out about how we were so strong."

"Wow, I so sorry I didn't know. Is all your other body parts human or are they, you know."

"Robotic, no, only my hand and forearm. Come on we've been here too long."

And with that Jake pulled Jackie on her feet and the resumed the trek down the mountain. Five and a half later the reached there destination only running into small resistance. Jake helped Jackie down to the ledge, sat her down, and said

"Let's take a look at that leg, shall we?"

And with that Jake removed the armor and evaluated the wound then said

"If we wrap it up real tight and keep the beam there you'll be fine."

Pulling off his pack Jake took out a needle stuck it in Jackie's leg and a thick blue serum went into her blood stream. Pulling out the needle Jackie asked

"What is that stuff?"

"Its drugs that helps speed up the process of repairing bones injuries and trust me, it's not cheap."

Shuffling around Jake pulled a wrap out of his pack and bandaged up the leg then put back on her Mjolnir armor.

"I'll take the first shift."

Jake said walking over to the edge and sat down pulling out his SRS99.

That's all for this week

(be grateful its three in the morning"