Battle of Reach

by Cossacks250

Follow the story of taskforce member Marcus when the Covenant invade Reach. Set just before and during the early chapters of Combat Evolved. Some OC's.

22. Defending the Michigan

One hour later

In the past hour since the squad had left the Axiom main base, they had seen nothing but devastation. Much of the fields and small groups of trees that had dotted the areas around the base were now reduced to desert-like landscape, only it was not sand, it was hard boiling earth that had been scorched by the Covenant when they had been glassing it earlier on. They had not encountered anyone or anything either. It was as if they were the only living things left on Reach.

Where they were heading to was the base of the Michigan near the mountains to the east, about fifty miles from the Axiom base. They were hoping that the ship would still be there, but that was going to be a hard hope. For all they knew it could have left or been destroyed by the Covenant. Either way brought them panic but they had to check just to make sure. If the Michigan was there, it was probably their only chance to escape from Reach, if it was still there though.

Marcus was still driving the warthog and Stinger was in the passenger with his hand on his chin with his arm being held up by his elbow, lost in thought. In the back seats of the warthog, Alice was asleep, lying against Tyler, who was looking back down the trail they had just crossed as if looking back at the base and wondering what was going on. Across from him, Alima was leaning forward in her seat slightly with her elbow resting on her knee and her hand was in a closed fist in front of her mouth. Next to her, Tanya was looking out ahead of the warthog as if acting like a radar to see if anything was lying in wait ahead of them, or if she could see anything that looked promising that would reassure them the Michigan was still on Reach. All of them had been mostly silent through the trip, the only talk only coming from the four in the back with Stinger sometimes being involved but Marcus had barely spoken. They had all noticed this. He was acting like he was worried about something, but they did not want to task him in case it either upset him or if he did not reply to them.

The truth was, Marcus was worried, but not about something, but someone. That someone was Anya. He had not heard from her, or even seen her since they had left the barracks earlier that morning to prepare to battle the Covenant. It was horrible. He was really worried for her. He had to find out if she was okay.

Of course she is! His mind seemed to tell him over and over. She's alright! She's safe and sound and travelling back to Earth right now!

Still, though, he could not get the thought out of his mind about what might have happened to her. It made him feel really bad and it really scared him, but what if it was true? What if… What if she was dead?

A stir behind him shook the thoughts out of his mind. It was Alice. She sat upright and rubbed her eyes, blinking them a few times.

"How long have I been asleep?" she asked.

"About forty minutes," Tyler replied. He looked back at Marcus and Stinger. "Are we anywhere near the Michigan base?" he asked.

"Not far," Marcus replied. "About another mile or so,"

Tyler nodded, but felt a bit concerned as he faced ahead of him. Stinger glanced a concerned look at Marcus, as did the others, and he probably noticed them but pretended not to. They were all concerned about him. He had barely spoken to them since they left, but then again, they had not asked if anything was the matter so they had themselves to blame for that.

"Is he okay?" Alima asked.

"I don't think so," Tyler replied, keeping his voice quiet so Marcus would not hear him. "I think he's worried,"

"Well he is worried," Tanya piped up. "He's been acting worried ever since we left. And remember when we were on the pelican?" the others nodded and she looked at Marcus. "But I don't know what he is worried about,"

"Shouldn't we ask him?" Alice asked.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Tyler replied. "I mean, we might annoy him,"

"You know, I can hear you guys back there," Marcus' voice said all of a sudden, making them jump, annoyingly. "Can you stop it please!"

"Sorry," Tyler replied.

"Are you worried about something, Marcus?" Tanya asked him.

"What?" he exclaimed angrily, half-slamming his foot on the brakes, making them all jolt forward in their seats. He calmly drove on and half turned his head to look at her. "I'm fine!"

"You don't sound fine," she pressed on. "You sound worried about something,"

"I'm not worried about anything?"

"Well then why have you been quiet for almost the entire journey?"

"Look, I'm fine, okay?" he turned his head back to look ahead of him and sighed. "Just stop it please. I promise you guys, I'm okay,"

Tanya just shook her head but said nothing more and sat back in her seat, looking ahead of the warthog. Marcus also kept his eyes ahead of him, not caring, but probably knowing that they were whispering about what had just happened right now behind his back. It annoyed him, but right now he could let his anger get to him.

He sighed. He hated to admit it, but they were right. He was worried about something. It was Anya again, but he just did not want to worry about her. He knew she was safe, so why should he worry about her. Then it struck him. It was that thought again. He just could not get it out of his mind.

"Look!" Stinger exclaimed all of a sudden, pointing ahead.

The others looked to where he was pointing and their eyes went wide.

There, about a mile from them was a large ship. It was huge with a dome top that held probably a barracks a hospital and other military structures. A bridge was visible about half-way down the front of the ship. Across the side of the ship, in large white letters, was the word Michigan. Hope filled them.

"We made it!" Stinger half-exclaimed, relief in his voice.

The others all sat up to get a look at the ship, smiling in relief. Even Marcus felt relief surge through his body. They had made it. They were finally going to get off the planet, and he was finally going to be reunited with Anya.

"Oh God!" he heard Tanya in a shocked voice

"What is it?" Alima asked her as they all turned to look at Tanya and she replied by pointing ahead back towards the Michigan, though not directly at it. More like in front of it.

They all looked and saw why she was shocked. In front of the ship was a small collection of buildings, most of them against a small river that had somehow survived the glassing, probably because the Covenant ships had been fended off from here. Most of the buildings, however, were smoking and there were many remains of Covenant land and air vehicles scattered about along with several pelican remains. It was obvious a battle had taken place here, but did that mean the area was in control of the Covenant? Was the UNSC that had been here all dead, or were they fighting the Covenant on board the ship?

"I hope we're not too late," Stinger said worryingly.

"Same here," Marcus replied.

He drove down a small hill and onto a dirt path that led towards the buildings. As they approached, they noticed some figures moving about amongst the buildings. Unease began to fill them like water filling up a tank. They did not know if these figures were Humans or Covenant, and if they were Covenant then they would be in a very tight situation for the only thing they had to defend themselves with was their fists and the warthog itself. They did not have any guns with them as they had been destroyed earlier on when they had been defending the Axiom.

"D'you think it's a good idea we go down there?" Alice asked Marcus.

"It's worth a try," he replied. "Besides, it could be our only way to get off Reach,"

"What if we get attacked?" Stinger inquired. "We don't have anything to defend ourselves with,"

"Then we'll be dead, but at least were trying to save ourselves," he replied.

As the warthog got closer to the buildings, the figures around the buildings suddenly started rushing about as if alerted to their presence, which they probably were. Marcus took a quiet deep breath as fear began to engulf him. He was not sure if these figures were Covenant or not, but then again they had not fired on them as they were approaching so that gave him a little bit of hope that they were safe.

Then, when they were about two hundred feet from the edge of the buildings, one of the figures stopped outside the building and began waving It's arm at them.

"Hey guys!" the figure called. "Over here!"

Marcus looked at the others. "We're safe," he said, smiling a little and he drove over to the figure, slowing the vehicle down as it approached the building before finally coming to a halt a few metres from it. The figure was a tall marine with blonde hair and green eyes. His uniform was dusty and torn at the sleeves as if it had been ripped off. In his hands was a battle rifle.

"Glad you guys could make it," he said to them as they climbed out of the warthog.

"What happened here?" Marcus asked.

"The Covenant sent in a strike force earlier on but we repelled 'em," the marine replied. "Well, for the moment, we have, but they'll be back. And we're in a tight situation at the moment,"

"Why, what's going on?" Marcus asked the marine.

"There's a lot of wounded and workers here from the surrounding bases," the marine explained. "And the Covenant are headed this way with some of their ships to stop the Michigan from escaping, and they might be headed here with a load of ground forces as well,"

"Oh, great," Stinger groaned.

Just then, the soldier's radio on his belt around his waist crackled to life.

"All units, this is captain Parker. Report back to the Michigan immediately," a voice said from the radio.

The marine picked up the radio and held it up to his lips.

"Captain Walker, this is Peterson," the marine said. "I'm on the edge of the building area outside the ship. There's a group of taskforce soldiers here,"

At these words, a few gasps and mumbled words came out of the radio. After a moment, captain Walker's voice came back through the radio again.

"Peterson, bring 'em over to the command centre outside the ship,"

The marine nodded as if in response to the order. "Yes, sir," he said. "Alright, follow me," he said to the squad and he turned and ran down past the building in the direction of the river. The squad followed him.

As they passed the buildings, most of which were empty, some partially destroyed, they saw a few more dead bodies lying inside them, both UNSC, some being workers, and Covenant. The battle that had taken place here earlier on must have been fierce. They passed a destroyed pelican as they crossed a small dirt road, that ran through the building area, and saw a few marines searching the wreck for any ammunition and any survivors. The marines went wide-eyed when they saw them, obviously shocked, and probably relieved that they were here. It gave them a sense of hope that maybe they might all finally make it out of here. The squad ran into the next area of buildings and rounded the corner of a small cube shaped building that had been a house.

They screeched to a halt. Finally, about twenty feet ahead of them down the pathway between the buildings, was a large cube shaped building, about three times the size of the normal cube shaped building, with a dark green colour on the outside of it. A large doorway was on the outside wall of the building facing the squad A few marines were sitting down on the ground outside with medics kneeling down next to them, obviously showing that the marines sitting on the ground next to the building were wounded. Through the doorway, the squad could see more marines and workers inside the building.

"That the command centre?" Tanya asked.

"Yep," Peterson replied. "C'mon, captain'll be waiting,"

He ran down the pathway; the squad followed. As they approached the building, they saw a few marines move up to the edge of the building, binoculars in their hands. They were scouting out the perimeter and keeping watch over the skies for any approaching Covenant ships that were, no doubt, heading toward the base to stop the Michigan from escaping.

The squad ran inside the building and were stunned to see a larger group of workers and marines in the building than they had anticipated. The main room was about fifty foot long and about thirty feet wide, but it looked smaller compared to the amount of people here. Along the sides of the walls were overturned desks and a pile of chairs and cabinets was in the corner of the room. A few marines with guns were standing near the main door and a small side door on the left wall at the other end of the room. Along the walls were many more wounded marines, some with bandages on them, others with machines attached to them to monitor blood loss and heartbeat. Medics were working on them, as were a few workers with first aid experience and a group of marines nearby were receiving and sending transmissions from their radios. On the far left wall, next to the smaller side entrance door, was a large portable computer screen that was attached to the wall. it was amazing to see that just a few days ago, this would have been a normal working place for marines and UNSC workers and officers. Now, it was being used a medical post.

"Alright, wait here," Peterson told them. "I'll go and contact the captain," and he ran over to the group of marines with the radios.

The squad received a few wide-eyed and relieved looks from those around them. It was obvious everyone was glad they were here. They might have a chance now, but then again, there were only six taskforce soldiers and even though they had put a good fight against the Covenant in the past few days, they were only just small skirmishes. This was different. This was a full scale invasion where thousands more troops would be facing them, raring to kill them and everyone on this planet, where many more Covenant ships would be coming to completely vaporize them.

This time, they were on the defensive rather than on the offense like they had been before over the last few days, and this time, they might end up like the Covenant they had faced then.

This time, they might be the ones that get killed.

"Marcus!" a female voice called.

Marcus shot round and his eyes went wide with disbelief. A young woman was running towards him. She had black hair, green eyes and looked to be about twenty one. She was dressed in a nurses uniform. Very quickly, he found himself running toward her.

"Debbie!" he exclaimed, embracing her tightly as she reached him. She embraced him as well.

"I'm so glad you're here!" she said. "I'm glad you're safe,"

"So am I," he replied as he released her. "What are you doing here?" he asked her.

"We had to leave Takira base to the north of here when the Covenant attacked," she explained. "We barely made it out of there alive. I've been here treating the wounded ever since whilst the pelicans have been evacuating them to the ship,"

"Debbie!" another voice behind them exclaimed and Debbie turned and they looked behind her to see a marine walking up to them. He had blonde hair, blue eyes and was heavily built. It was Hans. Marcus had heard about him from Debbie. Truth was, he was kind of her close friend because she had once had feelings for Marcus, which he knew about but he was in love with Anya. Debbie was a bit upset when she learned about this, but Hans had comforted her, and Marcus probably knew he loved her. After a while, Debbie had grown used to the fact that her friend was in love with someone else and was happy for them. He and Debbie were still friends, but this was the first time he had met Hans in person.

"Hey, Hans," she said as he reached them. "This is Marcus,"

"Hey man," Hans greeted as he held up his hand.

"Hi," Marcus replied as he shook it. "So anything happened whilst you've been here?" he asked as he and Hans released their hands.

"Not much, just been trying to get the wounded out," Hans replied. "I just hope we'll be able to go soon,"

Marcus nodded in agreement. "Same here," he replied.

"Hey, Marcus," Stinger called from the other end of the room and he looked over his shoulder to see the rest of the squad waiting for him. Peterson was standing underneath the portable computer screen, working on the circuits and wires underneath it to try and activate it. The screen flickered a few times. "C'mon, we've got the captain," Stinger said.

Marcus nodded and looked back at Hans and Debbie. "Sorry, I got to go," he said.

They nodded. "Take care," Debbie said.

"Yeah, look after yourself, man," Hans said.

"Thanks," Marcus replied and he rushed over to the squad at the other end of the room. Just as he reached them, the screen turned on and a man in a grey UNSC captain's uniform with short grey hair, blue eyes and was a medium height but had the look that he was a tough leader. It was captain Parker. He was standing in what looked like the bridge of the Michigan as they could see workers on control panels scattered around the room behind him.

"Glad you guys could make it here," he said. "Thought we would be goners if the Covenant came here. Where abouts have you guys come from?"

"Axiom base, sir," Marcus replied. "We managed to defend the ship from a battle cruiser before it got to it. But then we got knocked out and when we woke up, the Axiom was gone so we decided to try and find another base with a ship,"

"Well we can both thank God you all arrived here," he said. "As you might have been told, we're in a hit of a tight situation at the moment. The Covenant attacked us earlier on but got repelled but we just received word that they're heading this way again, with a much larger force and we've got a lot of wounded from here and the surrounding bases to evacuate,"

"But I swear there was a bridge that led from this side of the river to the bridge,"

"There was, but it got blown up in the last attack," Peterson cut in before captain Parker could reply.

"And with only a few pelicans and a few able-bodied men able to fight, we won't be able to hold 'em off forever," Parker added.

Marcus nodded, taking in what he had been told. So this was a big mission they had to do now. The lives of hundreds, no thousands of their comrades were at risk and with a shortage of defenders left and too many wounded, they were pretty much the only ones left to stop the Covenant, but at least they could hold them off, hopefully long enough to get all of the wounded out of here.

From outside, the roars of a pelican engines filled the air inside the building. That was another batch of wounded going to safety, but there were many more here and probably outside as well to get to the Michigan.

"Sir!" a voice called from somewhere on the portable screen behind the captain and a worker stood up from one of the control panels along the wall. "Covenant forces approaching! Phantoms, wraiths, ghosts and a ton of infantry!"

"Oh no!" captain Parker groaned as he turned back to the squad. "Alright, you have your orders. Defend that base long enough to get the wounded out,"

They all nodded. "Yes, sir," the all said in unison.

Parker nodded and gave them a salute, probably the last they would have. "Good luck," he said and the computer screen turned off.

Marcus turned to Peterson as he stepped out from underneath the computer screen. "Peterson, we need weapons," he told him.

"Over there," he replied, pointing over to a few weapons racks along the back wall a few feet from the side entrance doorway.

The squad ran over to the weapons racks. There were only a few battle rifles, MA5B and MA5C assault rifles with a few pistols. A few clips of ammunition were placed in the racks next to each of the weapons. They all took a weapon and the few clips of ammo next to it. It was not much ammunition, but it was good enough to last a while, providing they used it wisely.

"Alright, where do we go?" Marcus asked as he looked around to try and find a place where they could be most useful.

"Over here," a marine standing by the side entrance door called, drawing their attention. "C'mon, over here,"

They ran over to the marine and he led them outside back into the desert-like landscape. A few metres from them was a large clearing where a large group of wounded marines, about forty with abut fifteen others able bodied marines, a mixture of marines and medics, were sitting down or lying down on the ground in the clearing. A pelican was parked nearby with it's landing gear unfolded and touched down on the desert-like ground, the back of it facing the squad and they saw many wounded being loaded into it by the medics and able bodied marines. Another pelican had taken off as they had come outside. This was just a small portion of the wounded out here. There were many more inside and on the other side of the building and plus there were other able bodied marines about that had to be evacuated.

"Up here," the marine pointed to a steel ladder attached to the side of the building that led up to the ceiling. Marcus ran over to it and began climbing up the ladder. Behind him was Alice and behind her, just getting onto the ladder, was Tanya with Alima, Stinger and Tyler waiting at the bottom.

When Marcus reached the roof of the building, he saw about five other marines up here with him. Two were crouched down by the side of the roof were holding binoculars in their hands and were looking through them into the distance. The other three marines were wielding sniper rifles and had them aimed down at the buildings below as if expecting the Covenant to charge out of them.

Marcus climbed onto the roof and ran over to the marines with the binoculars.

"See anything?" he asked as he reached them.

"Yeah, look," the marine next to him replied, passing him his binoculars.

Marcus took them and looked through the binoculars into the distance. He could see nothing but glassed earth, all of it having once been grassland but was now like a barren desert-like wasteland. Then, from what seemed to be every direction in front of him, large shapes began to head towards the base from the ground. Around them were large numbers of figures. Movement in the air made him look up a little and he saw many large shapes heading towards the base. If he was right, the craft he could see were phantoms, the original L shaped drop ships, banshees and a few seraph fighters and, he gulped at this, at least three, no fourCCs battle cruisers. Marcus swore loudly as he lowered the binoculars from his eyes. This was not good. They were a few miles away yet, but with their advanced technology they would be here in about twenty minutes, thirty or maybe, and hopefully, even forty, if they were lucky.

"You see 'em?" the marine, who had given him the binoculars, next to him asked.

"You bet," Marcus replied, filled with shock.

"What is it?" Tanya asked as he and others reached him and he replied by handing her the binoculars. She took them and looked through them into the distance, quickly becoming overwhelmed with shock at what she was seeing as well.

"What are your orders?" the marine asked Marcus whilst behind them, the rest of the squad began looking through the binoculars at the approaching Covenant.

"We have to stay here and fight," he told the marine. "Try and hold 'em off to allow the wounded to get out of here,"

"We can sure as Hell thank God you guys are here, man," one of the snipers, who was lying down on the floor nearby, piped up. "Otherwise, we'd all be dead,"

"Here they come!" the voice of a marine shouted from a nearby rooftop of a small cube shaped building about fifteen feet ahead of the command centre.

Those on the rooftop of the building looked up to see a wave of six phantoms approaching the base. They were descending as they approached, but their three main cannons were aiming all around and they were the real deadly weapon of the ships.

"Everyone get down!" the marine next to Marcus ordered.

They obeyed and dived to the floor, keeping their weapons close in case the phantoms open fired on them. Marcus watched as the phantoms came closer and closer to the building. Tension rose within him, and it only increased as the six ships suddenly stopped a few metres outside the edge of the base and began to descend toward the ground. One of the snipers lifted himself up from the floor slightly to get a better view of the ships.

"Whoa!" he half-whispered, though his voice was loud enough for the others on the roof to hear him. "They're dropping loads of troops onto the ground," he said.

"How many?" the marine, also a sniper, lying down next to him asked.

The marine sitting up rose up a little more to answer his friend's question. "Uummm," he said. "A few Elites, can't tell if they're minors or majors,… A load of Grunts. Some Jackals, can't tell how many but quite a lot. And-wait," he stopped suddenly and squinted his eyes a little as he tried to get a better look at something on the side of the craft.

"What is it?" Stinger asked.

"It's…It's-"

Suddenly, the marine flew backwards onto the floor, a tiny smoking hole in his forehead between his eyes, which were wide open but showed of sign of life at all in them.

"MIKE!" the marine next him yelled as he pulled the body of his friend over to him to see if he could try and revive him, but it was hopeless. He was gone.

"AAAAHHH!"

Suddenly, the marine fell to the floor next to the body of his comrade, blood pouring out of a wound on his arm. Marcus looked up at him to see the tail line of a purple laser disappear into thin air.

"It's a sniper!" he warned as the marine, who had been the other of the two holding the binoculars, next to the injured marine grabbed his friend and pulled him away from the body of his friend and pushed his hand down on the wound on his arm to try and stem the flow of blood. "Stay down!" he added, hissing slightly.

"What do we do?" Tanya asked him in a slightly panicked tone.

Marcus looked back over at the body of the marine and saw his weapon lying on the floor next to him. An idea popped into his head and, placing his battle rifle on the floor, he crawled over to it, keeping his head low so as not to present himself as a target for the sniper. When he reached the body, he grabbed the weapon and looked through the scope of the sniper rifle at the phantoms. He could see the side of one of the craft completely open. There was something there, but he could not get a clear view of it. It was the sniper, then he would have to try and draw It's fire…but how? That was easier said than do-

Wait a minute. He looked at the body of the marine next to him and, carefully, took off his helmet and, looking through the scope and placing a finger on the trigger of the weapon, threw it up into the air. Just as he expected, something moved out of the edge of the hole and fired another purple laser at the helmet. Quickly seizing the opportunity, Marcus fired a shot from the sniper field at the figure. The figure, suddenly, jolted backwards and held a rigid-like position for a moment before falling from the edge of the craft to the ground, dead. Seeing the figure more clearly, Marcus quickly identified it as a Jackal, a perfect sniper of the Covenant army, no doubt for It's amazing sight and hearing. The phantoms hovered back up into the air, turned and flew back in the direction of the approaching army.

"Alright, It's all clear," Marcus said to the others, who sat up from the floor.

"Nice work, man," the marine treating his injured friend replied. "Alright, let's get him out of here,"

"I'll help," Alice offered, moving over to the two and taking the marine under the shoulders whilst the other grabbed his legs. The marine thanked her and they stood up and moved over to the ladder and climbed down, holding the marine in their hands, and disappeared from sight.

"Oh shit!" a voice from below shouted and those on the roof of the building looked down to the end of the pathway, near the turning that led from the dirt road to this part of the building area, to see three marine run around the corner and down the pathway towards the building. A flew blasts followed them, followed by the deep shouts of the Elites. "Covenant are right behind us!" one of the marines warned as they reached the building.

The rest of the squad and the remaining marines lined up along the edge of the building and aimed their weapons down at the turning. Not even a second passed before a tiny lumbering figure appeared from behind the turning brandishing a needler. It was a Grunt. Reacting quickly, Marcus fired a shot from his sniper rifle at the Grunt, hitting it in the head and causing to yell loudly as it flipped backwards onto the ground, dead. He saw the feet of another Grunt screech to a halt at the very edge of the turning and quickly move back behind it. A high pitched squeak emitted from behind the turning, followed by a deep voice shouting something and another Grunt was pushed out from behind the turning into the pathway. A marine on the ground fired a burst of ammo from his weapon at the Grunt, killing it.

"Hey!" Tyler shouted down to the marine and he looked up at him. "Get the wounded inside! We'll cover you!"

"Yes, sir!" the marine replied. "Alright, you heard him, get 'em inside, quick-AAAHHH!"

Suddenly, the marine fell forwards onto the floor as a light blue blast hit him the back of the head, killing him instantly. Those on the ground quickly dived for cover. Reacting quickly, Tanya and Alima fired down the pathway at the Elite, who had stuck It's head out from behind the wall of the turning to help it find a suitable target. The bullets hit the creature in the head and it roared loudly as it fell backwards onto the ground, dead.

"Nice one," one of the marines lying down next to them commented.

VROM! BOOM! An explosion erupted on the top of a building about thirty feet away to the right of the building, destroying it completely. The squad and marine looked up and saw a banshee fly overhead towards the ship. They watched it fly over the river before a missile flew out from the Michiganand struck the banshee, turning it into a fireball as it exploded and the remains fell into the river, splashing loudly and disturbing the calmness of the surface of the water with huge ripples for a few moments before they finally settled and became still once more.

"They'll be more of 'em," Stinger said as he turned his head back to look back down the pathway.

"Watch it, Jackals climbing over the rooftops!" Alima warned, pointing over to their left at a few large rectangular buildings that were attached to each other. The squad and the marines with them looked and saw about six vulture-like creatures carrying large green shields in one hand and plasma pistols in the other running toward them.

"Fire on them!" Marcus ordered, grabbing his battle rifle and setting the sniper down on the floor.

A barrage of gunfire exploded in the air like thunder as the squad fired at the approaching Jackals. Two of them were hit and screeched loudly as they fell to the floor of the roof of the building they were on, one falling over the edge to the ground. The other four, however, stopped and raised their shields in front of themselves. The bullets hit them but did not break through, though it did stop them from returning fire.

"Somebody throw a grenade!" Marcus ordered.

The marine lying next to Marcus reached down to his belt and took out a fragmentation grenade. He pulled the pin and, rising up onto his knees, drew his arm back and, with an almighty grunt, threw the grenade with all his strength towards the Jackals. One of them screeched loudly and pointed up from under his shield at the approaching danger. His comrades did not hear him and failed to notice the grenade until the device landed between them.

BOOM! The grenade exploded and a chorus of screeches filled the air as the Jackals were thrown over the sides of the roof to the ground below. That was another danger out of the way, but more were coming.

Behind them, the noise of pelican engines filled their ears and they all looked to see another of the craft rise into the air, the landing gear unfolding either side of the resting area, which they could see was filled with wounded and a few able bodied marines. The craft flew forward towards to the Michigan and hopefully towards safety.

"I hope they'll come back for us," Stinger said as he watched the pelican go.

"Same here," Tanya replied. "Speaking of which; where's Alice?" she asked.

"WATCH OUT!" the marine on top of the command centre shouted as something light blue, almost white, came shooting down towards his building.

BOOM! An explosion erupted on the front of it, throwing large chunks of rubble in all directions like pieces of shrapnel from an exploding shell. The front half of the building collapsed, along with almost the entire building that was in front of it. The squad had seen what had caused that. It was a mortar blast, and if it was a mortar blast then there was only one place it could come from.

CRASH! A large dust cloud was thrown up into the air at the end of the pathway as the building opposite the turning caved in. For a moment, the squad could not see anything.

Then, a large shape hovered out of the dust cloud, which made it fade away as if it was fleeing from it. The shape was in fact a large seat-like shaped vehicle with a dark purple/maroon-like coloured armour, a large hole at the top of the vehicle and two small triangular-like pieces of armour sticking out of the sides of the front of the craft, which held the engines. The craft was hovering a few inches from the ground. Marcus swore under his breath and Tanya whispered: "Holy God!"

It was a wraith.

"Get off the building now!" Marcus half-shouted.

They did not need telling twice, most of the squad were already on their feet and running back towards the ladder before Marcus had even finished speaking. He rushed over to join them and Stinger had slid all the way down the ladder to the ground and Tanya and Alima were climbing down quickly after him. One of the marines climbed on next. Tanya stepped off the ladder.

BOOM! Suddenly, the entire roof of the building seemed to lift up from beneath them as another mortar blast hit the building. Part of it caved in but most of the side of the roof was thrown in all directions. Marcus, Tyler and the other two marines were blown to the floor by the explosion. One of the marines, unfortunately, was too close to the edge of the roof when the explosion erupted and the force of it threw him over the side to the ground. However, luck seemed to have won him back from a certain death as Stinger caught the marine just a few feet before he was to hit the ground.

"Whoa!" the marine gasped, obviously shaken, as Stinger set him down. "Thanks, man. I owe you my life,"

"No need," Stinger replied.

"Hurry!" Alima shouted up to the others.

Tyler began climbing down the ladder with another of the marines following him. Marcus looked down at the wraith as it began to move forward. No doubt the pilot had seen them move out of the way so it looked like he wanted to fire again, but he would be too close to hit the roof again. Unless…

Oh no! He was moving closer to the building to fire on those inside!

"Hurry, we gotta stop that wraith!" Marcus warned.

"Why, what's going on?" Tyler asked.

"It's moving closer to the building to fire on those inside," Marcus replied as he began to climb down the ladder, almost sliding down.

Stinger and Tanya ran back into the building. When the third marine, who had been the last to get off the roof before Marcus, got of the ladder, Marcus slid the rest of the way down to the ground and ran inside. The rest of the squad followed him. They were greeted by a scene of chaos as Stinger and Tanya tried to help the marines and medics move the wounded out of the way of the wraith. The others rushed over to help.

"Hans, help me!" Marcus heard Debbie call and he looked over to the doorway to see her and Hans lift up a wounded marine, who had a bandage around his face and chest, both of which were badly blood stained.

Then, movement outside caught Marcus' eye and he looked to see the wraith come to a halt about ten feet from the entrance to the command centre, close enough to score a direct hit in the room.

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" Marcus yelled as loud as he could.

Those that heard him quickly saw the danger and dived to the floor, some pulling their friends down with them, others diving on top of comrades to try and shield them with their own bodies. Marcus ran over to Hans and Debbie, who were one of the few remaining that had not realised the danger and pulled them to the floor and dived down next to them.

"Marcus, what's go-"

BOOM! Another explosion, though this one was much closer and louder, lit up the room. Dust and rubble were thrown everywhere. Marcus gingerly lifted his head up and saw a large hole in the wall to the left of the entrance to the command centre. A layer of dust was over pretty much everyone and everything in the room. Several marines and medics were lying dead across the floor, unfortunate enough to have been killed in the explosion. However, he was relieved to see most raise their heads and/or stand up. He turned back to Debbie and Hans, who lay next to him.

"You guys alright?" he asked them.

"Yeah," the replied in unison.

"Watch out, It's gonna fire again!" a nearby marine warned.

Marcus looked out through the entrance and saw the wraith still hovering there, but two large thin metallic tentacle-like objects sticking out of the back of the craft just behind the hole were raised over it. The wraith was preparing to fire again.

"Get away from the entrance, quick!" Alima, who was on the other side of the entrance inside the building, shouted. Instantly, the other marines and medics began dragging their comrades towards the corners of the room nearest the wraith, hoping that it this would protect them from it. Marcus looked back at the wraith and saw the metallic fin-like objects rise a little higher.

Oh no! He thought in terror.

He rushed over to Debbie and Hans and pushed them over into the bottom right corner of the room.

"Stay here!" he told them, but just as he got up…

BOOM! Another explosion threw those inside the building to the floor. However, this one was different. As Marcus lifted his head up, he saw that there were no other holes in the walls or parts of the ceiling or floor missing, or even any more dead marines or medics or workers. What had just caused that explosion?

"Whoa! The wraith's gone!" a worker exclaimed from the back wall as he stood up, pointing out through the entrance.

Marcus joined a few others, including Tanya and Tyler and Peterson, as they ran over to the entrance and looked out. There, the wraith was now sitting on the ground; only a large section of the side of the enormous vehicle had been blown off and was now lying on the ground next to it. A small light blue/purple fire was burning out of the top of the craft and both of the triangular side sections on the front of the craft were lying on the ground.

"What the Hell…?" Tyler began, stepping outside.

"Thought you guys could use some help," a voice said from nearby and they looked up at a nearby rooftop to see Alice standing there with a rocket launcher on her shoulder. Marcus smiled.

"Thanks, Alice," he replied and turned back to the others. "Alright, let's get these wounded out of here," and they nodded and ran back inside to help with taking the wounded out to the pelicans.

As Marcus ran back inside, he saw Debbie and Hans stand up from the floor in the corner of the room.

"You two okay?" he asked them as he ran over to them.

"Yeah," Hans replied. "What destroyed the wraith?" he asked.

"Alice, one of the members of the squad, did," Marcus replied.

He stepped back a little to allow the two to pass him and they walked over to the entrance of the building and looked out at the wraith.

"That should block the way down here, hopefully," Debbie said as she looked at the burning remains of the wraith.

Marcus and Hans nodded in agreement. It would not stop the Covenant advance entirely, but at least the quick way down here for their infantry was no longer usable to them, at least he hoped it was.

"Alright, c'mon, let's get the wounded out! Move! Move!" Peterson, who was standing by the side entrance doorway, ordered.

"C'mon, let's go help," Hans said and he and Debbie ran over and picked up and injured marine and carried him over towards the doorway. Marcus, however, stayed where he was, looking at the destroyed wraith and the pathway as if in a trance.

"What if they find a way around it?" he muttered to himself.

That was what feared him the most at the moment. What if the Covenant did manage to find an alternative path to get to the pelicans? If they did, then it was going to be a slaughter for the wounded and the medics and workers and everyone behind the building. The only thing he could hope on was himself, his squad and those that were still able to fight.

"Marcus!" Stinger called from the side entrance doorway, snapping him back into reality and he turned to look at him to see him carrying a wounded worker who was bleeding badly from the side even though a bandage was wrapped around it and he had been given a serum. "C'mon, we have to go!"

Marcus nodded and rushed over, following Stinger outside and back into the clearing where the others were gathered. There were now only about thirty five wounded left and there were two pelicans parked nearby collecting those that still remained. Debbie and Hans were on board one of the pelicans, helping to put the wounded inside the ship.

"Is that all of them?" a nearby sergeant asked Marcus.

"Yeah," Marcus replied. "That's the last of 'em,"

"Good. Okay, start helping us load up the wounded and then board one of the pelicans,"

"What about Alice?" Alima, who had placed a wounded man down next to a medic so he could treat him nearby, asked in quite an angry tone. She walked over to them.

"Who?" the sergeant inquired.

"Alice," Alima told him again. "She over-"

BOOM! An explosion almost threw them to the ground and they looked over towards the buildings in front of the command centre to see a woman dressed in a green bodysuit appear out of a small side alleyway between one of the buildings and fire a burst of ammo from her battle rifle down the alleyway. A marine followed her, but as he came out a blast struck him in the back of the head and he fell to the ground, dead.

"Alice!" Alima exclaimed.

Alice looked over at them and waved before firing another burst of ammo down the alleyway, which emitted a high pitched yell, indicating that a Grunt had been killed. Alice then turned and ran towards them.

Suddenly, a tall bulky figure ran out of the alleyway she had just come out of, kicking aside the body of the dead marine. It was a major Elite. Before the others could even warn Alice, the creature fired several blasts from It's plasma rifle at her. They hit her bodysuit, making the shield light up. Alice stared wide-eyed with panic at her wrist as the holographic meter appeared above it, showing the level in the bar lower to yellow, then to red and then disappear altogether. Her suit's protective shield was disabled.

Alice screamed as she was hit in the leg and fell to the ground. The Elite fired at the squad, causing them to dive to the ground to avoid the deadly blasts. The Elite then ran towards Alice, hoping to kill her quickly before her suit's shield reactivated. Alima looked up and saw the Elite running towards her friend.

"NO!" she yelled. "Leave her alone!"

She shot up from the ground, raised her battle rifle and fired a burst of ammo at the Elite. The bullets easily broke through the Elites' armour and It's shield and embedded themselves in It's chest and stomach. The Elite roared and fell forward onto the ground, dead.

"Alice!" Alima exclaimed as she ran over to her friend. Marcus and Stinger joined her. Tanya and Tyler were also running over as well.

"Is she alright?" Marcus asked as he and Stinger reached Alice with Alima, who knelt down beside her.

"Argh!" Alice grunted. "I…I'm fine!" she gasped. "It's just my leg,"

"You've got strong luck," Stinger replied.

Alice gave a tiny laugh. "I wish," she said.

"Is she okay?" Tanya asked as he and Tanya reached them.

"Yeah, she's fine," Marcus told them. "C'mon, let's get her over to the pelican,"

"No need, we were just about to leave. We'll come over to you," a voice said from their ear radios and they all looked up to see a pelican hover towards them, descending toward them. When it was about five feet above the ground, and about ten feet from the group, the pelican turned around the so the resting area was facing the squad, revealing the about twelve odd wounded and four able bodied marines, including two medics, in the pelican. Two marines of the medics stood at the end of the resting area and, gently, the squad picked up Alice and handed her to the marines.

"Look after her," Alima said to the marines worryingly.

One of them nodded. "Don't worry, we will," he replied. He turned his head so he was facing the cog pot door. "Alright, pilot, take off,"

"Roger that," the pilot's voice replied, which the squad heard over their ear radio.

Slowly, the pelican began to hover up into the air. The squad watched the craft go and Alima looked worryingly up at it as the view into the resting area ended as the craft rose higher.

"You alright?" Tyler asked her, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm worried," she replied. "She was a colleague of mine at TechCorps,"

"Don't worry," Tyler told her gently, trying to calm and comfort her. "She'll be alright,"

"Yeah, don't worry, Alima," Marcus, who had overheard the two talking, piped up. "Alice'll be fine. She's in the best possible hands, or will be when she gets to the ship,"

She smiled. "Thanks guys," she said.

"BANSHEES INCOMING!" a nearby marine yelled all of a sudden, pointing into the air in the direction of the command centre.

The squad shot round and saw a group of three banshees heading towards the command centre. At once, fear gripped them. Even though the wounded on the ground were greatly exposed, the banshees would usually go for anything in the air, and pelicans were an easy target.

"Oh no!" Stinger said in horror. The others felt the same way. Alima shot round and looked up at the pelican, but just she did…

BOOM! A light green explosion lit up the sky, throwing the squad and most of the nearby group of wounded and marines to the ground. Those that looked up first saw the pelican spinning around in mid-air, fire eating away at the left wing.

"NO!" Alima screamed as she shot up from the ground, looking up with horror filled eyes at the burning craft. The others, who also got up from the ground, felt the same way. One of their team members was on board the pelican, and they could do nothing to help her and those on board.

"This is Delta 391, We've taken a hit to our left wing!" The pelican tipped from side to side several times before it began to spin around in mid-air. Debris fell from the craft and the squad ran back towards the command centre to avoid being hit by the debris.

Marcus looked up at the pelican in horror. This was not happening! It could not be! No, this was not happening! Next to him, Alima looked as though she was going to burst into tears. Her best friend was on board the pelican ad she could nothing to save her, let alone help her!

Then, as if their worst fears were coming true, the pelican spun round in mid-air towards the river as the pilot struggled violently to gain control of the craft. Then, it fell and smashed into a building near the river, exploding into a fireball.

"NOOOO!" Alima screamed as she began to run towards the craft but Tyler grabbed her and pulled her into the building. Tanya and Stinger went with them, but Marcus stopped at the doorway, staring in disbelief at the burning wreckage of the pelican. Three moving shapes overhead made him look up. The banshees. He glared at them as if he was hoping his very hatred for the Covenant piloting the banshees would suddenly bring down the craft and kill the Covenant piloting the banshees. He watched them as they flew off towards the Michigan, no doubt that they would be shot down.

I hope so Marcus mentally said to himself.

After a moment, Marcus walked into the command centre. He was greeted by a wave of grief so strong it made him breathless. Alima was sitting against the back wall, sobbing and crying in her hands. Tyler was kneeling down to her, trying to comfort her. Tanya and Stinger stood away from them, wiping their eyes clean of a few tears that were coming out of them. They too had been affected by what had just happened.

"Sssshh! Alima!" Tyler soothed her, but he had to admit it was heart breaking for him as well. "Alima, I'm sorry! Sssshh! It's alright!"

Marcus sighed and wiped his eye, trying not breakdown like Alima had done. It was really horrible to see something like this happen. He felt like his entire body was breaking down. He could not believe that this was happening. Alice was dead. Even though he was used to losing men he had worked with before when he had been a marine, this time Alice was a personal friend of his, and now she was gone.

"Kill them!"

The squad looked up at the entrance and saw an Elite run into the room. Anger gripped them instantly and they fired a barrage of bullets at the creature, hitting it in the chest and head, killing the Elite. A squad of four Grunts ran in next but they too were mown down.

"Bastards!" Stinger yelled in anger.

A Jackal ran in next, firing away madly in all directions, but Alima put killed it by firing a burst of ammo at the creature, hitting it in the chest.

"That's for my friend!" she shouted at the body of the Jackal.

Another Jackal skidded to a halt outside the building and ran back toward the pathway. Immediately, like a lion running after a fleeing antelope, Alima got up and ran towards the entrance to the building, anger blazing in her eyes like an inferno. The others made no attempt to stop her. In fact, they joined her, determined to make every Covenant soldier out there pay for what they had done to them.

When the anger fuelled squad reached the entrance to the building, they fired at the Jackal they had seen as it climbed over the remains of the wraith Alice had destroyed, hitting it in the back. The creature screeched loudly as it fell off the side of the vehicle to the ground, dead. Another Jackal ran out from the building to the left of the entrance towards the wraith, hell bent on fleeing towards It's comrades approaching the base. The squad fired on the Jackal before it got half-way to the wraith, killing it.

"We should go after them!" Tyler said, his voice serious. "Kill the rest of 'em before they escape to their friends!"

"We can't risk it, Tyler," Marcus told him, his voice also serious but it wounded more in frustration rather than sternly. "We'll have to let them go. But we'll get 'em next time,"

The look on Tyler's face darkened, as did that on Alima, but neither said nothing, but it was obvious they reallywanted to get back at the Covenant for what they had done, but for now they would have to leave that out of their minds.

Marcus turned and walked back into the building, the others followed him and they walked over to the weapon racks to reload and gather any ammunition. Outside, they heard the engines of another pelican take off and fly away. That was another group of wounded away, but now there was only one pelican and the evacuation time would take longer. Hope was the only thing they all had to help them now, and time.

Then, the portable computer screen turned on, but the squad, who turned to look at it, was greeted by a static scene. Marcus walked over to the computer and looked underneath it, seeing a small opening with several wires inside it, one of them hanging loosely next to a small button inside the opening. Peterson had been working on it earlier and had left it open. Well, that at least saved them having to try and break it open.

"Alima," Marcus called. "Come and help me,"

She rushed over and helped Marcus re-connect the wire and he pressed the button. The screen flickered several times before finally coming back into view of the bridge. Captain Parker was standing there. Behind him, the workers were rushing about, trying to pass orders or keep the weapons of the ship activated and tracing the sky for any nearby threats. Marcus and Alima came out from under the computer screen and re-joined the squad. Captain Parker was relieved to see them.

"Oh God, I'm glad you guys are okay!" he said in a relieved tone. "We heard a pelican got shot down over your side of the river and I thought one of you was on board. I'm glad you're all there,"

"Alice isn't," Tanya replied lowly. "She was on the pelican when it got hit,"

"Oh," Parker said, his voice also a little low. "I'm sorry,"

None of them replied and silence filled the room for a moment before Marcus broke the ice.

"So what's do we do now?" he asked the captain. "There's only one pelican running to carry the wounded out of here,"

"The Covenant are getting closer with one of their battle cruisers," Parker replied. "We've managed to reactivate a large cannon inside the ship in the dome, but the problem is we need a spotter team to target the ship, and what's worse, they have to be on your side of the river to do so,"

"And let me guess, we have to protect them," Marcus cut in. Parker nodded.

"This has to work, or the ship and everyone on it will be dead," he told them. "The team'll be over in a few moments. We're depending on you guys. Good luck,"

He gave them another salute. The screen turned off again, leaving a blank screen in front of them. A gun cocked and the squad looked to see Tyler over by the weapons racks, quickly loading ammunition into his battle rifle.

"We best get moving," he said as he placed the ammo clip in his weapon. "Let's show these Covenant what we can do when we defend,"

At his words, a feeling of power seemed to rise through the squad. Yes! They would do it. They had to! They had to and they were going to defend the spotter team so they could shoot down the battle cruiser approaching the ship. If they failed, then…all they had been defending so far… all of the soldiers that had died here, including Alice,… All of it would have been for nothing. No! That was not going to happen!

"Ready?" Marcus asked when they had finished reloading their weapons. They all nodded. "Alright, let's go,"

He led them back outside. The group of wounded was now only about fifteen with about four medics and three marines left there. Hans and Debbie were among them and Marcus ran over to them. Debbie saw him coming and got up and embraced him.

"I'm glad you're still alive," he said to her.

"So am I," she replied. "One of the marines here told me what happened. Oh, Marcus, I'm so sorry," she embraced him again.

He smiled a little as he rested his head on her shoulder. "Thanks," he said.

It was good to be in a hug with her again, just like before…several years ago when they were both young and eager to join the UNSC, but now this…this war, all this death and destruction on an enormous scale. Mankind being pushed back to It's home system, which it would, no doubt, have to defend soon. If only it could end here…right now, then they could all go back to their normal lives.

"Marcus!" Stinger's voice called and he looked over his shoulder at the squad. "Pelican's comin' in!"
he pointed up towards the ship and Marcus and Debbie looked to see another pelican flying toward the clearing. Sighing, he turned back to face Debbie.

"I have to go," he said. He gave her one last hug. "Look after yourself," he told her.

"I will," she replied, hugging him tightly as if wanting to leave a lasting impression on him. "I'll see you when the last of the pelicans comes to take us out of here," he nodded and broke away from her. "Give 'em Hell,"

He nodded again and ran back to his squad. The pelican that Stinger had pointed to descended down towards the ground, coming to a halt next to them. A group of two marines jumped down, holding radio and co-ordinating equipment in their hands. Both of them had a pistol clipped to their belts.

"Hey guys," one of them said. "Here to stop the battle cruisers,"

Marcus nodded. "Then we better hurry," he said "Lead the way,"

The two marines ran past them towards the alleyway where Alice had come out of when she was being chased by the Covenant. The squad followed, though Alima was a bit quiet going down here as the marines began explaining to the rest of the squad how their radio equipment worked and the others began asking the marines what to do when they reached a high point.

"When we get to a high point, we'll point the laser designator at the battle cruiser and transmit the coordinates to the Michigan," the second marine explained. "You guys'll have to defend us until It's ready,"

"How long's that gonna take?" Marcus asked.

"About two or three minutes," the first marine replied. "Usually, this stuff wouldn't even take a minute, but this is an older version of the stuff and right now we need whatever can shoot down a battle cruiser rather than trying to take it head on with our ground weapons,"

"I just hope we'll still be alive when that thing's ready to fire," Tanya said.

"Same here," Stinger piped up.

They reached the end of the alleyway and turned right into a kind of narrow path with buildings along both sides, the entrances into them either broken down or open. Some of the building had a ladder attached to them or a flight of stairs along the outside wall, all leading to the roof. The marines ran down the path, looking at each of the houses as they passed and muttering to themselves. They were debating which one to use. They needed one that was close to the battle cruiser for their radio equipment to get a clear lock on the enemy ship.

Finally, they picked one of the houses.

"Up here," the first marine said and he and the second marine ran up the flight of stairs of the fifth building along the left side of the path. The squad followed. When they reached the top, the marines crouched down in the middle of the roof, away from the sides of the roof and safe from the Covenant infantry. As the squad came up onto the roof, they saw two rocket shells lying nearby. This was the roof Alice had been on when she destroyed the wraith, just… what, ten minutes earlier before…

"Alright, setting up," one of the marines muttered. "You guys better get into position. The Covenant'll do whatever it takes to stop us when they find out what we're doing,"

The squad obeyed and rushed over to the edges of the roof facing the pathway where the remains of the wraith were and laid down, keeping them set on the end of the pathway or on the surrounding buildings. The Covenant would do anything to get them. They had seen a group of Jackals try and climb over the rooftops of the buildings nearby earlier on so they were not taking any chances in leaving them alone as the Covenant would try again to climb over them. Behind them, the two marines muttered to each other as they set up the radio equipment. Marcus glanced over his shoulder to see the first marine set down a flat circular shaped device and it opened up and a long thin aerial-like wire with a tiny ball at the top of it rose up out of the centre of it. It stopped after rising about a foot from the circular device and the ball opened up into a dish that pointed over to the battle cruiser. The second marine was working on a small computer he was carrying.

"Keep moving! We must continue the attack!"

Marcus turned his head round so fast he heard his neck click as he looked down to the end of the pathway at the turning. A moment later, an Elite and group of four Grunts lumbered out from behind the turning and began walking down the pathway towards the command centre. Marcus turned his head and nodded to his team members. They nodded in unison and aimed their weapons down at the Covenant.

"Me scared!" one of the Grunts whimpered.

"What is there to be scared of, you fool!" the Elite barked at the Grunt. "The Humans are almost defeated. We might even have the last few kills, so liven up a-"

A burst of gunfire had exploded in the air as the Elite abruptly stopped talking and fell to the ground, dead. The Grunts immediately freaked out and began running around the pathway, screaming and waving their arms about in the air in terror. The squad began firing at them as well, quickly picking them off too.

"Okay, It's set," one of the marines said, making the squad look at them over their shoulders from where they were. "Now we just need to leave it for about two minutes for the cannon to-"

"Kill them! Do not let them activate that device!"

The squad and the two marines looked to their right across the rooftops to see two minor Elites, armed with Covenant carbines, running towards them. The Elites fired at the marines, who grabbed the pistols and returned fire, but their weapons were obsolete compared to the Elites', and plus they had no armour to protect them. Both were hit and fell to the floor, dead. The squad went to fire on them but a few blasts struck their bodysuits from below. Marcus looked down to see three Jackals at the turning of the pathway below; their shields raised in front of them and their plasma pistols at the side, pointed up at them.

"Stop the Elites, quick!" Marcus ordered as he fired a burst of ammo down at the Jackals.

Instantly, Tyler, who was on the end of the row got to his feet and fired a burst of ammo at the Elites. The bullets broke through the shield of the creature, killing it and making the Elite fall off the rooftop to the ground below. The other Elite, however, fired a carbine shot at Tyler, hitting him in the shoulder. The blow felt like something had shattered his shoulder bone and he fell to the floor. His holographic meter appeared above his wrist, revealing the level in the bar to be in the red level. Just as he was about to get up, another round stuck his side, making the level in the bar fall down further and disappear from the bar altogether. His shield was gone! Another round and he would be dead!

Tyler half rose up and fired a burst of ammo at the Elite as it was about to jump from the rooftop of the building next to theirs. The bullets hit the creature in the shoulder and disabled It's shield, but did not kill it, though it made it stagger backwards. Tyler smiled. The Elite was an easy target.

CLICK! What the…? CLICK! He swore under his breath. He was out of ammunition, and the Elite heard his gun click and knew it as well. Before Tyler could react, the Elite jumped onto the rooftop and landed on top of him, clutching his neck with It's large armoured hand to strangle him to death.

"GET OFF HIM!" Tanya yelled as she saw her friend in danger, drawing the attention of the others from the Jackals, though they were recaptured quickly as a few blasts narrowly missed their heads.

She rushed over and struck the Elite the side, knocking it to the ground. The Elite growled and shot up from the floor, It's eyes narrowed and It's teeth bared like an animal baring It's teeth to show that it was the boss, which was pretty much what was going on here, only the Elite was doing this to attack rather than to intimidate. It charged towards Tanya and ploughed into her, knocking her to the ground, but just as the Elite went to attack her further, Tyler shot up from the floor and threw himself at the Elite to protect Tanya, wrapping his arm around the neck of the creature. The Elite roared in surprise and stumbled over to the rooftop, almost stepping on Marcus' hand. The others tried to help but before they could do anything, the Elite lost It's footing and fell off the roof, with Tyler still wrapping his arm around It's neck, landing with a painful thud on the ground below.

"Tyler!" Marcus exclaimed as he looked down at his friend, having to ducking to avoid a blast from the Jackals, who Stinger, Alima and Tanya began firing on. "You okay?"

Tyler groaned from under the knocked out body of the Elite and pushed it off him. "Y-Yeah!" he called back as he stood up. "I'm okay!"

"Tyler, look out!" Stinger warned.

A scream pierced the air as a light green blast struck him in the stomach. Tyler collapsed onto his knees, tears forming in his eyes as the pain overwhelmed him like a flood. Blood began to pour out of the wound and trail down his bodysuit through a hole in the stomach where the green blast had hit. As he looked up at the Jackals, another struck him in the shoulder, making him cry out in pain again as he was thrown to the ground. The others fired desperately at the Jackals to stop them, but their shields protected them, enabled them to fire from underneath them at their exposed enemy.

"Hang on, Tyler!" Marcus called down as he reloaded his weapon and stood up to jump down.

Tyler groaned as he looked at his body. The wounds…they were deep and blood was pouring out of them. His bodysuit was starting to turn a maroon colour from the blood mixing with the green colour of his bodysuit. It hurt like Hell.

A hiss caught his attention and, with his weak vision, looked ahead to see of the Jackals, It's shield still raised over it to protect it from the barrage from above, pointing it's plasma pistol at him. A light green ball began to form on the end of the weapon. Tyler knew what was coming and closed his eyes, ready and waiting for the blast to strike him. The ball on the end of the plasma pistol grew bigger and bigger.

Then, the Jackal released his grip on the trigger.

All Tyler's friends could do was watch as the heavily charged light green blast soared through the air and struck him in the head. In an instant, he was killed and his head thudded to the ground.

"NOO!" Marcus yelled.

He and the others fired a barrage at the Jackals, though the bullets just continued to bounce off their shields. The squad then jumped down and swung their weapons at the Jackals, striking their shields aside and then fired at them, filling the air with a chorus of screeches as the creatures were hit and fell to the ground, dead.

Marcus ran over to Tyler's body and knelt down beside it, desperately trying to hold back tears as he looked at his comrade. He had been a good soldier, but now he was dead. That was two under his command that were dead. First Alice, and now Tyler. This was horrible! If one of the others under his command died…he would not able to live with himself.

Stinger, Tanya and Alima walked over, looking down at the body of their comrade, all of them deeply saddened by his loss. That was another member of their squad gone, and, though it was in the back of their minds, they began to wonder who would be next. That was the real question in every soldier's mind though. Whenever he and his friends went into battle, he would always wonder, even if it was at the back of his mind, would he die during it?

After a moment, Marcus stood up, but said nothing. It was obvious he was really distraught about what happened. Alima walked over to him and gave him a hug, which he returned, sniffing a little.

"I'm sorry," he said after a few moments. Alima pulled back from him. "I'm sorry, guys," he said.

"What for?" Alima asked him.

"For letting Alice and Tyler get killed," he replied, letting go of Alima and stepping back a little towards the command centre, half-turning towards it as well. "I shouldn't be leading us,"

"Marcus, it wasn't your fault," Alima told him, resting her hand on his shoulder. "You couldn't have saved him,"

"Yes I could," he replied, his voice starting to turn angry. He pushed her hand off his shoulder and stared down at Tyler's body again as if in a trance. Then, he looked up at his three remaining squad members, a horrible thought etching It's way into his head. It was horrible to think about, but would it happen? With two members of his squad, he began to wonder if they would be killed as well. Another death would destroy him completely. He would not be able to cope with it. He-

BOOM! A large explosion above them three threw them to the ground and rubble and dust was sprayed over them. Marcus groaned as he lifted his head up from the ground and turned over. His eyes grew wide, so much so they looked like they were going to pop out of his head.

The building the radio transmitter had been on had been destroyed. The roof was gone, along with most of the two side walls and a large hole was on the front wall facing the squad.

"Oh no!" Stinger gasped as he, Tanya and Alima picked themselves up from the ground.

Fear began to grip Marcus again. The radio transmitter was gone, and with it possibly their only chance to protect the Michigan and those on board it. He looked over at the battle cruiser. It was getting closer. Another five to ten minutes and it would be directly over the ship and then it would be over. The Covenant would have claimed another victim in the battle for Reach and hundreds more UNSC forces would be added to the total death toll.

Marcus got up from the floor, staring helplessly up at the battle cruiser for a moment. The others looked at each other and then at him, asking themselves: what do we do now?

"C'mon!" Marcus piped up after another moment of silence.

He sprinted back down the pathway towards the command centre. The others followed him. They ran through the building and out through the side entrance. The last of the wounded were being loaded onto the pelican. Debbie had already climbed on board and, with the help of another medic, was setting down the wounded on the resting area seats. Hans was helping another marines put the wounded into the pelican.

One of the medics saw the group. He waved at them

"Hey guys, over here!" he called. "C'mon!"

They ran over to the pelican and the medic stood at the end of the resting area.

"You all did good holding off the Covenant from here," he said to them.

"We need to contact the captain," Marcus told the medic. "Is your pelican's radio in contact with the captain?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?" the marine replied, but he received no answer from Marcus as he climbed onto the pelican and stepped over the wounded as he moved towards the cog pit door. The others climbed on board. One of them asked Tanya what was going on and she told him. Marcus opened the cog pit door and saw the pilot sitting in the right seat. He turned to face Marcus and he recognized him to be one of the pilots that had taken him to the mountains earlier on this morning.

"Whoa, Marcus," the pilot gasped. "What's going on?"

"I need to talk to the captain, quickly," Marcus replied.

The pilot wanted to ask why, but he clearly saw in the fearful look on Marcus' face that it was best he did not ask what was going on and he pressed a small button on the control panel in front of him. A small hole opened in the control panel and a small speaker-like object on top of another thin aerial-like object rose up out of the hole.

"This is captain Parker, I have received your transmission. Identify yourself, over," came the captain's voice.

"Captain, this is Marcus," Marcus replied. "I have bad news,"

"Oh no, what is it, Marcus?" Parker asked, worry in his voice.

"The marines, with the radio equipment, we had to protect are dead, sir," Marcus explained. "And we've lost Tyler as well. And the radio equipment's gone and the Covenant battle cruiser's getting closer to the ship, sir,"

Marcus heard Parker swear angrily from the radio. Then, he heard him breath heavily in a hopeless manner like a general watching his army be defeated, which was kind of what was happening now.

"Then we'll have to leave now and quickly," Parker said after a few seconds. "Get back to the ship quickly!" he ordered.

"We can't, sir," Marcus told him. "By the time we get back there and the engines are ready the battle cruiser would have torn right through us," Again, Parker swore. Marcus could not blame him, though. It was a hard moment. Their only main defence on the ground was gone and now the Covenant battle cruiser was heading towards a ship jam packed with wounded and workers. If the enemy ship got over it, then there would be nothing to stop it.

Hopelessness swept over Marcus like water on rock. It was as if he could feel it coming from all those in the bridge as well. Even from the pilot next to him, though he could not see him, he knew that hope was beginning to fade from him as well. Marcus, the captain and everyone else, though they did not want to believe it, had to accept the fact. There was nothing they could do. It was over.

Unless…

"Wait a minute, sir," Marcus said after a moment, a glimmer of hope shooting through him. "Wait, sir, can't the main cannon still lock on and fire if the co-ordinates have been sent? And can it be done from another different radio?"

"Yeah, but what good is that gonna do?" the captain asked.

"Send over another radio," Marcus said to the captain. "But only another radio, not a team,"

"Why, what do you have in mind, Marcus?" concern began to rise in the captain's voice.

"I'm going to set it up again,"

"But that means…"

"I know! But right now, we don't have a choice," he paused and sighed. "Just make sure someone in the taskforce called Anya in the taskforce knows what happened to me and tell her not to suffer or be upset,"

"Um, Marcus…" Parker began, but Marcus stopped him.

"Sir, don't try and convince me!" he said. "I'll be waiting in the clearing," and before captain Parker could speak again, Marcus turned and walked out of the cog pit into the resting area. The others in the resting area turned to look at him when he came out of the cog pit.

"What's going on?" Tanya asked him. He did not reply and began stepping over the wounded again as he walked towards the end of the resting area. "Marcus, what is going on?" Tanya asked him again.

"I've told the captain to send over another radio," he replied when he reached the end of the resting area. "I'm going to try and stop the Covenant battle cruiser,"

"Marcus, you can't," Stinger told him. "In case you haven't noticed, the first radio's gone and the co-ordinates are most likely gone with it,"

"Not really," he replied. "Captain Parker told me that as long as the co-ordinates have been sent, then the main cannon on the ship can still lock on and fire on the battle cruiser, even if It's from a different radio-"

"But in order to do that, you have set it up again," Alima finished the sentence.

He nodded at her. "I'm going to stay behind and reactivate the radio,"

"What do you mean you're going to stay behind?" a voice behind him asked and he turned. It was Debbie. She had a worried look on her face.

"Debbie," he said, pausing for a moment.

"What are you doing, Marcus?" she asked him.

"I'm staying behind, Debbie," he told her.

As soon as he said those words to her, the effect of them hit her like a brick wall. Her breaths became deeper and she shook her head slightly.

"No," she said. "You're kidding me, right?" she said, hoping that he was.

"No," he replied. "I'm not,"

"Marcus," Stinger said, making him turn to face him. "You can't be serious. Y-you know you won't make it,"

"I know that," he replied. "But I have to," the whir of pelican engines outside filled the air. Marcus looked out towards the end wall of the resting area as if he could see through it at the approaching craft. "I have to go,"

"No!" Debbie exclaimed, getting up and grabbing his arm. "Marcus, you can't,"

"I have to, Debbie, or we'll all die!" he told her, rounding on her and gently pushing her hand off his arm. "Listen, I know you still love me, but I have to go stay here and stop that battle cruiser," he looked into her eyes and saw them filled with sadness. She sighed and embraced him tightly.

"I don't want you to stay here," she said to him as a tear ran down her cheek. "I don't want you to die,"

Marcus placed a hand and lifted her head up to look at him. He wished he could he could stay, he really did, but she was going to have to accept that sometimes in war, some soldiers had to give their lives to allow their comrades to live and fight on. Unfortunately, now was one of those times.

"I'm sorry, Debbie," he said. He looked up into the resting area. "Hans," he said.

Hans got up and walked over. Gently, Marcus pulled Debbie off of him, despite her attempts to hold onto him.

"What is it?" Hans asked.

"Hans, you've got to take care of her now," Marcus said to him, pushing Debbie into his arms. "Promise me: you'll look after her,"

Hans just stood there for a moment, staring at Marcus in complete shock. This was a hard thing to believe, let alone accept. Marcus wanted him to look after Debbie. After a moment, he nodded.

"Marcus, you have to stay though," he protested, but Marcus shook his head.

"There isn't another way," he replied. "I'm sorry,"

Debbie buried her face in her hands and began to weep. Hans wrapped his arms around her to comfort her. Marcus walked over to her and took her hand in his. She looked up at him, tears streaming out of her eyes and he embraced her tightly.

"By, Debbie," he said, sniffing a little.

"B-bye, Marcus!" she replied, gasping for breath a little.

After a moment of holding each other in their arms, he released her and walked to the end of the resting area. Just as he reached the end of the resting area, he turned and took one more look at his team mates and then at everyone else. Everyone was looking at him.

"Good luck," he said and he jumped down to the ground.

Those were the last two words they would hear from him.

The sand on the ground was kicked up into the air, making it swirl around him like a dust bowl, as the other pelican landed nearby. Marcus ran over to the back of it, which was facing him, and a marine handed him a set of radio equipment like that of the radio team he had seen several minutes earlier carrying.

"Here you go, man," the marine said, handing Marcus the radio. "And thanks, man," he added.

"It's alright. Now get going.

"Here you go, man," the marine said, handing Marcus the radio. "And thanks, man," he added.

"It's alright. Now get going," he replied. The marine nodded and the pelican hovered back into the air and flew away back towards the Michigan. Marcus looked down at the radio equipment in his hand.

Well this is it he thought. It's just me now

Overhead, the pelican with Debbie, Hans and the others on flew after the first pelican. Marcus watched it go, as if he could look through the metallic floor up at Debbie, who was probably crying over him staying behind or looking down at him. He wished he could go with her, but fate had decided that could happen. At least what he was doing would ensure she lived, that is if the main cannon came out the Michigan and fired in time.

Suddenly, a hand rested on his shoulder, making him jump. He shot round to see Stinger, Tanya and Alima standing behind him.

"What the…?" he exclaimed. "What are you guys doing?"

"We're staying here with you, Marcus," Stinger replied.

"What? Why? You guys should have left!" he half-shouted at them.

"We wanted to, but you're our team leader and we wanted to fight alongside you!" Stinger replied, his voice also rising a little. "Plus, the Covenant has already taken two of our squad. We're not losing you as well, Marcus. At least, not without us being there. If you're staying, then so will we. Besides, you'll need our help,"

Marcus went to reply but stopped and, after a moment's pause, sighed. He could not argue them to go back to the Michigan, and it would be too late now anyway, but it really did surprise him that they wanted to stay and help him allow the Michigan to escape. He looked up at the Michigan.

"Guys, this is your one and only chance to get away," he said.

"And we're throwing it away to help you," Stinger told him. "We're not leaving, Marcus,"

He turned his head back to look at them. In their eyes, he knew he could see the fact they were scared and probably even a little annoyed at throwing away their one chance to get away, but if there was one thing he saw in their eyes that was the dominant feeling, it was the friendship and bond they all shared. They had lost two already. They were not going to lose any more on their own. This time, if they were to die, then they would all die.

"So where do we go?" Alima asked him.

Marcus replied by looking over his shoulder at the remains of the command centre.