It's Reader again with a new chapter! A matter I must address. I don't seem to get many reviews anymore, so if your reading this story, then please review. Also, you stupid idiot reviewers out there that insult us. If your want to read something, then read something that's not trash in your opinion. I don't see why you would read a story you DON'T like if you want to read something on website that's got thousands of stories to choose from! Now, onto happier terms. This is going to be a dialogue chapter, so yah. Anyways, read on!

Chapter 4

As the helicopter flew towards the general area of attack. I polished, loaded, and generally upgraded my shotgun. I even "borrowed" a knife from the weapons cabinet to add a little more fun to melee fighting. While I worked, I started to feel guilty for leaving my friends behind. I should have told them before I left. I HAD sent a message to Mike, but I wasn't sure if he had gotten it or not. I also started to feel scared. Had they possibly been captured? Killed? I wasn't sure if we could respawn or not. That made me feel even WORSE.

As we slowly climbed over a mountain to head into the valley, I looked over at what Anthony Pozzeti was doing. He was reading a magazine and rubbing his assault rifle. The pilot was, obviously, piloting, but he seemed to have other things on his mind. He moved a lot, and even muttered to himself. Finally, he opened a small cabinet in front of him and pulled out a picture. It was a small, normal size, and I looked at what it showed. The picture had a couple on it, the guy I assumed to be the pilot, and the woman a slightly short but pretty woman. I checked out the guys name tag. It said Andrew Faulk. I leaned forward.

"So… is that your girl?" I asked him. He turned, looked at me, then nodded once before getting back to piloting. I couldn't see what he looked like, but I had a back-up plan. I looked at the picture once more. The pilot, who I had originally thought to be an older guy, actually turned out to be pretty young. He had short, black hair, and long arms. Andrew soon realized that I was looking at his picture though, and put it back in the cabinet. About two minutes later, things started getting HOT.

Out of the blue, a plasma shot soared through the open gap in the pelican and skimmed my armor. My shields fell a bit, but I dunked down and looked around. Where the forest had been now was a hot spot for covenant troops surging towards our falcon. It was a mix of grunts, jackals, and even some Elites.

"Covenant…" Pozzeti muttered before climbing into the back with me and getting on a gun. I did the same, and together we cut through the troops below us, but in vain. Multiple plasma shots burned through the bottom of the falcon, and it soon went down.

"I'm pulling us into a crash landing. If we hit the snow on the mountain, we might survive. Easier for a Spartan, but not us regular humans." Faulk said as he literally flew in between two Elites that had made it up the mountain. Pozzeti and I then proceeded to blast them into bits.

"Um, okay?" I said, continuing to fire. I looked over at Pozzeti, who was actually grabbing a weird pack. It wasn't a parachute, but something else…

"A Mars ROVER pad thingy?" I asked him. He nodded, then inflated it. It actually took up only a couple of feet around, and I still managed to fit. I looked up towards the pilot. He wasn't doing anything to protect himself.

"What are you going to do? Pull out one of those too?" I asked. He looked at me, gave a thumbs up, grabbed an actual parachute, then hit eject. The cockpit blew open and he flew up in the air before using his parachute. He started floating down the other side of the mountain where the covenant couldn't get him. I was stuck in a crashing falcon with no idea how to control it. I decided that I would just try to pilot it away from where it was heading, so I climbed up front and looked at the control scheme. It was actually pretty simple, and I managed to start a slow descent. Then I realized that it actually wasn't slow. The falcon whizzed by a mountain, and I realized that I no longer had control. I was prepared for the worst when another falcon pulled up along side mine, and I struggled to see who was in it. I squinted my eyes and saw… Mike's arm stretched out to pull me to his falcon, which happened to be the Sky Scraper. I didn't think, just climbed into the back and jumped… and started to free fall. I had missed the mark, and I was plummeting to the snow when I landed with a THUD on the roof of a different Falcon. I slowly lowered myself in the side, and sat down next to a gunner who looked terrified at seeing me. I would to. A Spartan had just landed on the roof, probably knocking the vehicle down a couple of feet, then slid in.

"It's fine. I'm Jared, Gold team 1. Pardon me, but I'm going to lie down for a minute because I think I injured myself from that seventy five foot drop." I said. How did I know it was seventy five feet? My little computer in my helmet did. I slowly leaned against the back of the falcon while EVERYONE stared at me. As I slowly fell asleep, I hoped that Andrew and Anthony had survived…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I woke up later with a large head ache and sore all over. I managed to sit up from the pile of snow I was lying on. I looked around and saw a campfire… and all my friends, every last one. Mike, Ellie, David, Sophia… Amanda… I also saw Pozzeti and Faulk, not to mention the gunner whose falcon I had half crushed and the other people in his falcon. And there were others too. Probably the other falcons and pelicans that had joined in our "quest" to save the rest of gold team.

"Hey guys…" I managed to mutter. My throat was also sore, and the first thing that Mike did before anybody started talking was throw me a canteen filled with water. I realized that my helmet was off, and I took a good, long drink of the water before handing it back to Mike. Then the talking started.

"How the HELL did you run that fast?" "Why didn't you wait for us?" "You really can't fly, can you?". I waited for the questions to die down, then started to answer.

"My armor ability is sprint, so I turned that on and doubled my speed. I couldn't wait for you Gold team because Billy was really hurt and if I didn't get him to the Hospital ASAP, he would have died. Plus, you guys would have slowed me down. And whoever asked the last question, shut up. Now, time for YOU to explain." I pointed at my buddies. Mike started.

"Well," He said "when you left, the covenant started to charge through the forest, looking for us. How they knew we were there, I don't know. Then I got your message, and we decided to retreat. We sprinted the fastest we could up the hill to the Falcon. Luckily, Billy had managed to repair most of the ship, and David here finished the rest." David smiled proudly before Ellie continued " We had to hold off the Covenant waves for a long time before they took a break… for about twenty minutes. We were exhausted and just about out of ammo when you came with the cavalry and the their attack started. Then we saw your ship get hit and the pilot eject, so we took off. Luckily, we managed to catch up to you before you crashed. THENNNNNNNN… you fell, and we decided that you would hopefully survive, so we picked up Pozzeti before leaving." Pozzeti seemed still in shock, and I hoped that he would be alright. David mentioned that he was flying the Sky Scraper, but I didn't care. All I noticed was Amanda. Yet again. Stupid me.

"After we picked up Anthony here," Sophia continued " we flew down to get you. We had heard the thud, so all we had to do was look for a human shaped dent in a falcon or a pelican, which wasn't hard…" She said.

"I think you took out about half our roof!" The pilot of that falcon grinned. I smiled back before turning back to everyone.

"Then?" I asked.

"We're stuck here now because all of the falcons and pelicans are out of commission. This time, though, we had the radio's to get a call into command. They have to get a big enough ship before they can pick us up, so we're stuck here till then." Mike said. I laughed, then actually managed to actually sit down.

"Great…" I muttered. I grabbed my shotgun. " I guess I'll take watch then." I said. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy.

"Jared," Sophia muttered "in Halo we have scanner that detect enemies, remember?" That brought me back to reality. We were technically in a video game. It didn't matter. What mattered was getting back, now that we were together. I turned my thinking from waging war to survivor. Okay then, we'll all just sleep, or what?" I asked. Pozzeti nodded, yawned, then pulled out a sleeping bag. He didn't even make it in before he fell asleep. I grinned, but turned attention to other matters.

"Injuries?" I asked. Everybody shook their heads.

"Actually, you might." Amanda said "That fall might still have injured you. How do you feel?". I shook my head.

"Terrible. I have a head ache and I'm sore. I can probably still do everything, especially with this suit, but it might hurt." I answered. She nodded slowly, then waved good-night before pulling her sleeping bag over to a corner of the circle before getting in and falling asleep. I also knew I needed sleep, but I couldn't, and I stayed awake until it was just Mike and I left.

"Is Billy okay?" Mike asked. I half nodded, staring at the fire.

"So… I think you like Amanda." He continued. I gave him a cold look before staring back down at the campfire.

"Ah. Business." Mike said, and proceeded to be silent.

"Causalities?" I asked him. He knew what I meant.

"Four out of the fifteen pelicans and three of the falcons went down, most into enemy territory. Casualties probably about twenty out of seventy five." He reported. My fist came down into the snow. I wanted to go back to "get home" mode, but I still realized the causalities rate was high, and to me, these were real people.

"I know how you feel…" Mike said "I've met some people who've lost buddies. They've told me all about them…". I nodded.

"I'm not even sure Billy will make it." I said "He was pouring out blood when I found him, and it took me a while to get back to base, even with sprint. Speaking of which, have you tried your armor lock yet?" I asked. Mike grinned, stood up and walked a few feet before punching the ground. A slight explosive sound, and an energy field appeared around Mike. He turned it off and came back over.

"I have to say, it IS pretty amazing what we can do as Spartans. Our armor abilities, our weapons, all these things that help save lives…" He said

" And take others…" I muttered. He nodded.

"I think I'll head to bed. And if you can't sleep, I do suggest you take watch. You can't trust a x-box, you know." Mike winked at me, then pulled out a sleeping bag and fell silent. I did the same, and although I didn't quiet believe it, I fell asleep almost immediately.

A/N So, how do you like the story? Please review. And please, I take criticism, but not insults.