Chapter 3

Always Faithful

Always Forward

"Thomas! We've got Wraiths and Scarabs marching towards us at a rate unmatched by our Scorpions!" Cortana yelled frantically in my ear. "Cortana, calm down. We're the UNSC, Earth's greatest fighting force. We're not going to let a bunch of mutated bugs get the best of us." I said lighting a cigarette and slamming another magazine into my rifle and spreading the chunks of metal down range.

The ground shook and a cloud of dirt flew up around me as an ODST drop pod landed within ten feet of where I stood. "087 has touched down, Sir. What are your orders?" A voice that I hadn't heard in years crackled over my coms as the woman behind it busted the drop pod open and stepped out. I looked over and put two fingers to my helmet's face plate making the traditional Spartan smile. "You're a site for sore eyes, Rabbit." I replied. "We've got incoming scarabs and wraiths. Scorpions can't keep them back. I was thinking we run them crazy like we to the sentinels back on Onyx." She snapped two fingers to her mask. "Aye, Sir."

Before I could blink, she was gone. The speed of the gods in her boots and a rocket launcher in her hands. I grabbed a couple cases of extra rockets and took off after her. "God damn it, Kelly. We aren't all Spartans." I jived as I caught up. I felt plasma against my cheek as a needle flew past. I dropped the rocket cases and popped up my magnum, popping two rounds center mass of the ugly ass jackal who thought he could get the jump on me. "Contact left." Kelly said calmer than could be as three wraiths started charging us. "Pop em." I ordered.

Three rockets, three hits, the ugly alien tech exploding glowing blue and green from the plasma cores collapsing on themselves. Kelly groaned, obviously not realizing her radio was transmitting. "Having fun?" I asked trying to hold back my laughter. Her entire coms readout went dark and she rushed a fourth wraith. Jumping on the shell, busting out the cock pit and dropping a frag in, blowing the pilot out of the hole she'd created in the armor as she jumped back.

The scorpion battalion that I'd brought outside the wall today finally caught up and rumbled past as Cortana appeared on my HUD. "Thomas, we're already ten miles closer to the Covenant base than we were yesterday. I think we should stop and set up defenses for the night and hold this land." I waved at Kelly and her green status light reappeared on my team read out, flashing twice for the "Ready" signal. "Copy that Cortana. Order the ODST and Marines to dig in." She nodded and blinked away again.

I lit a cigarette and sat down against the treads of a Scorpion who's driver was eating with his squad around a small make shift camp fire. Kelly walked over and sat down next to me, taking her helmet off and motioning for me to bum her a cigarette, so I tossed her one of my spare packs. She lit it and inhaled. "You know, Spartans who take off their helmets while in an active combat zone can be martialed by their commanding officer for violating SOPs." I chuckled. "Bite me." She replied. I laughed and set my helmet visor to full shade nodding off to catch even twenty minutes of sleep before hell broke loose again.