Chapter Three-
The stare of the blue Elite sent chills down Jamie's spine. He didn't think he'd ever forget that blue glare that pierced his insides. He'd turned away, far too intimidated not to.
One of the guys from Jamie's squad, who had led the group that split off to find a safe way to evac, patted Jamie on the back. "McMorrow!" cried the man. "Good to see you're in one piece."
"Anderson! Didn't think you'd made it." Jamie smiled, glad to see familiar faces. "Why didn't you ever call or anything?"
"Waded through some water and dropped my headset. Just my luck, right?"
Jamie laughed.
Anderson continued. "The Elites snagged us pretty early on. Still lost Davids, though, damn those Jackals."
K'vrak stood at the front of the room. "Can I have everyone's attention?"
The crowd hushed, and the Elite continued. "Humans, several of your 'Pelicans,' I believe they are called, are inbound. They will be picking you up and dropping you off on Earth, where the Demon needs your help. My brothers and I will wait on the ship until we have further instruction for the Arbiter. Several of my Sangheili brothers have volunteered to escort you to the landing bay."
Jamie glanced around. About five Elites stood up, all wearing dark blue armor. They motioned for the Marines to follow.
"Well, boys, looks like we're going home!" Anderson cried. He was the first to step up. Others soon followed his path.
Hesitant, Jamie hung back at first. When he realized he was the last Marine in the room, he took off running after the group.
The short walk to the landing pad was silent. When the group of Marines arrived, the Pelicans were already waiting for them. The Elite left the room, and the pilots handed out weapons and briefed their groups. Some Pelicans carried Warthogs, where others carried Scorpions. Right then, the Marines knew it wouldn't be easy.
The pilot who would be dropping off Jamie began briefing. "Chief and Arbiter are fleeing our base near Voi. They need back up while they hunt down survivors. Be prepared for anything. There are a hell of a lot of Wraiths, and there are rumors of a possible Scarab nearby. Later, you'll find Mongoose. Each Mongoose needs a passenger. Rocket launchers do not drive!"
They all loaded on to the Pelicans. Within seconds, they were on their way to South Africa. Jamie could see most of the world from the Pelican. North America was still intact. Jamie gave a sigh of relief.
A few minutes later, Jamie and the other Marines were on the ground. He took the drivers seat to a Warthog. A woman with a rocket launcher sat behind him. "Go! Go! Go!" she screamed.
At first it was simple stuff. They all waited in their vehicles while Master Chief and a few others would clear areas and open doors. When they came into the first lake bed, though, two Wraiths awaited them—A normal Wraith and an anti-aircraft Wraith. Master Chief handled it quickly, and they moved on to the next factory. They handled the Brutes and Jackals quickly, only losing one or two. It was the drones that really massacred them, until it was Jamie and several others remaining. Master Chief was still out in front, leading the way as always.
They found the area with two or three Mongoose, Lake Bed B. Jamie and the woman with the rocket launcher boarded one. Jamie drove.
As they crested a hill, Jamie immediately saw an anti-air Wraith. He braked at glanced at his passenger. "Where do you want me?"
"Behind it. Close, but not too close!" she replied. Jamie nodded and hit the gas.
The Wraith, more focused on The Chief and Arbiter, never noticed the Mongoose making a wider circle around it. Jamie got in behind it and pulled in close, but far enough away that they wouldn't experience any splash damage. He never slowed down. His passenger took aim as they passed. She fired.
Armor plating fell off the Wraith. Jamie cheered. The Wraith was vulnerable! He watched in awe as the Chief pulled in close and Arbiter leapt off the Mongoose. He planted a grenade on the Wraith's hood and ran like hell.
The Wraith collapsed to pieces.
The victory was short lived though. The ground shook.
"What was that?" someone asked.
The ground shook again. "It's getting closer," replied the same person.
Johnson screamed into the headsets. "Scarab! Find cover!"
Jamie glanced around quickly, looking for the Scarab. Seconds later, it crawled over the nearby tunnel. "Shit!" he yelled. He and his passenger exchanged glances. "I'll get you under it, hit the inside of the knees."
"Yessir!" She replied with a knod.
The Mongoose took off again. The Scarab, unlike the Wraith, however, noticed Jamie and his passenger and guess their intentions. It fired close. Too close, close enough that, although they weren't directly hit, the splash damage flipped the vehicle. Jamie had extremely fast reflexes – He was known best for his reflexes among his squad – and leapt off quickly.
His passenger wasn't as fast. When the ground stopped spinning, Jamie looked for her. She wasn't hard to find. She was only a few feet away, and she was screaming bloody murder. It took Jamie a minute to figure out why.
The Mongoose was laying on her legs. The wheels were out pointing to the left, instead of the ground. Jamie had no clue how much a Mongoose would weigh, but it was probably a lot, and he ran to her.
"Tell me your name," he said calmly.
She took a deep breath and answered through clenched teeth. "Private Mary Shill."
"Okay, Private Shill," he said, squeezing her hand, "listen to me. Just calm down. I'm going to go get help so we can get this thing off of you, and then I'm going to put you on the next Pelican out of here. We just need to find cover."
"Don't leave!" She screamed. Tears stained her face. "Please, don't leave me, I don't want to die, don't leave me, I don't want to be alone, don't let me die!"
"You are not going to die. I won't let you die. Your leg bones are probably broken, but that can be fixed. You are not going to die. Just stay with me, Mary, just stay with me."
"Oh, God, it hurts, it hurts man!"
"I know, Mary, I know. Don't worry. You're gonna be fine."
Another Mongoose pulled up. "You guys are in a ba-a-ad spot," said the driver. "Let us help." He and the passenger got off and grabbed onto the fallen vehicle. Jamie came around to the underside of it, the side facing Mary.
"One… Two… THREE!" He counted. He pushed, and the other two soldiers pulled. The Mongoose flipped so it's wheels were now on the ground. The space between the wheels was over Mary's legs, and she no longer had a heavy vehicle crushing down on her. With the help of the three other soldiers, they lifted her up and carried her to a nearby rock. It was only enough shelter for two.
The Scarab began beeping, and Jamie knew that meant it was lowering to the ground. "Get outta here!" he yelled. "She wants me to stay with her, but there's not enough cover to protect you from the explosion too."
They followed his advice. It wasn't long before Jamie heard battles on the Scarab. Then a grenade, following by a screeching that got louder and louder. He clamped his eyes shut and stayed low to the ground. Mary was still screaming.
The Scarab exploded into a cloud of blue electricity. The ground shook and it seemed as if time itself stopped. No one moved. No one breathed.
And then sound returned to the world. Cries of the wounded and their helpers rang out into the sky. A Pelican landed nearby. "A medic!" Jamie screamed. "We need a freaking medic!"
Since they were the closest pair to the Pelican, the medic came to Jamie and Mary first.
Mary and the other wounded were evacuated on the Pelican and taken to the Forward Onto Dawn. In exchange for the wounded, the Marines received back up from the Arbiter.
The UNSC forces fought towards a warehouse. They found several more Marines, just scattered resistance. One of them manned a radio.
Captain Miranda Keyes and Lord Hood were having a discussio0n over the cried, "Admiral, a single Covenant ship has slipped in-system!"
Lord Hood questioned her. "Just one? What's its range and position?"
"Above the artifact, inside the orbital line. Seems to be holding steady."
"Attack will proceed as planned, Commander. We're not going to get another shot at Truth."
"Sir. Yes sir."
The group continued on until they found the periphery of the warehouse. Three Marines crouched behind sandbags. Up above, a pair of Marines manned a Heavy Machine Gun, firing at the Brutes relentlessly.
The storage area was crawling with Brutes. It took a sniper several shots to weaken them enough for anyone besides Chief and Arbiter to enter the area. Two Hunters entered the area. Completely freaked out, Jamie cowered behind cover most of the time, only having the courage to put in a few shots.
When the group of Marines and construction workers exited the factory, they saw what the big deal was. There was the biggest Anti-Air Gun Jamie had ever seen. The group fought their way through hordes of Brutes just to reach it, and then they had to destroy it. Chief and Arbiter knew what to do, waiting to fire until the gun vented it's steam. The gun collapsed and Lord Hood began his attack run on the Forerunner artifact.
There was the sound of mechanical objects at work. They all glanced to the artifact, which was opening up like a starfish. Then, all of a sudden, it fired a beam of light into the storm.
Over the COM, Hood asked, "What did Truth just do? Did he fire the rings?"
Keyes replied. "No, sir… But he did something."
The Arbiter roared as the Forerunner Dreadnought escaped into the portal.
Hood orderd everyone to "Evac the wounded and regroup."
An Officer cried into the COM, "Sir, new contact slipping in!"
A sole Covenant ship emerged from lightspeed. It was clearly in bad condition. The aura it gave off as it passed overhead and crashed a while away gave Jamie a very bad feeling.
"What is it?" The Arbiter demanded. "More Brutes?"
Chief replied with one word: "Worse."
A/N- I totally screwed this chapter up at first, and that meant I screwed up Chapter Four. I couldn't play Halo because of some stupid rules my parents have ((Three hours a week, only on weekends, only if my chores are done. Can't wait until I'm in college.)) Anyways, thanks to ANYONE at Halopedia. Halopedia is like, my new Bible.