Hello everyone and once again I have to apologize for my lack of writing, I have contacted the dreaded writing block for quite some time. I just thought I might as well keep the story moving so you can enjoy it. So at last here is Chapter 7!

Chapter 7: Calvary?

July 26th, 2552

After Angel squad had been driving for what seemed like the longest drive in their lives, they stopped in order to tend to Hammer's wounds. They were all tense after the last attack from the banshees and they intended not to be sitting for too long. Storm kept his rifle held up while the distance sounded off with little more than a couple of gunshots, followed by silence. Cross waved over to him while the rest of the squad kept a perimeter, watching carefully for any covenant that might have heard the engagement. As he crouched down next to Hammer, his groans became much louder as Cross attempted to pull of his chest plate. Storm joined him as it finally pulled free, not being completely silent as Hammer once more gave out a growl between his clenched teeth, gripping the dirt while Storm set it aside. "Alright, grab me the biofoam Storm." Cross ordered Storm, responding with a short not as he set the chest plate aside with a clang. Storm quickly grabbed the canister and tossed it over to Cross, moving back to his place beside Hammer.

"How bad is it?" Storm asked quietly, looking down at the burn in his squad mate's chest, blackened flesh letting off some smoke from the expanded plasma. Cross didn't respond, and instead pulled the safety pin on the foam.

Looking over with only a small glance, Cross pressed the canister nozzle into the wound and pulled the trigger on it, quickly filling up the small hole. Hammer groaned hesitantly as he tried to hold back the pain, but immediately failed and clenched his teeth once again. Shortly after Cross threw the canister aside and retrieved the chest plate, offering it to Hammer while he leaned on Storm for support. "Next time, try not to get yourself so fucked up."

Giving a smirk underneath his visor, Hammer grabbed his chest plate out of Cross's hand and fitted it back into place. Taking in a deep breath to ensure that he could breathe properly, he held a hand up to his wound and chuckled. "Speak for yourself sir; I would have been fine."

Ignoring that comment and whistling, the six of them immediately loaded up back into their trucks but this time with Red in the back instead of Hammer. With that the six of them roared down the road once again, determined this time to reach their destination without faltering. As they continued on, there was complete silence amongst the entire squad while they roared down the dirt roads until suddenly, a signal came through with static over their comms. Once the signal was finally clear enough to be heard, a gruff voice with the sound of plasma fire blazing in the background. "This…Platoon Sergeant Gerid…!" It came through patchy, but whatever was happening on the other end sounded desperate; that was enough for Cross to call out to Gerid.

"This is Sergeant Cross of Angel Squad, do you copy, I repeat, do you copy?" He remained silent while waiting for a response, unsure if his signal was strong enough to reach the source.

"...Under heavy covenant assault…heavy casualties…any UNSC personnel…!" After that the radio cut silent, not another word or bit of static coming from their channel.

There was not hesitation from Cross as he gunned the truck harder than they were before, Snow following his example but speaking out over the radio. "Sir, was that from the base we had orders to assist?"

For a little while he didn't answer, until finally he spoke it out loudly enough that it seemed to rattle Storm's helmet. "Let's kick some asses Angels!" And with that came a roaring approval from the others, incredibly eager to get some payback after what they did to Reach. Storm thought to himself that this wouldn't be a cakewalk, but he was tired of running away from these bastards; it was time to hit them where it hurt.

After the incredibly eager ride towards what they knew as a battle zone, the intense sound of gunshots and volleys of plasma fire pounded through the air, a few turrets letting loose their payload as well. Shifting his truck once again into full speed as Cross drove his truck over the crest of a small hill, they finally got a full view of the small scale war that the covenant had been pushing so hard to remove the UNSC off the hill.

The outpost was built up on a large hill that overlooked a wide flat area, looming over the area that went until trees separated the farmland from the hills and roads. On the hill were marines, dug into trenches and gun emplacements while they attempted to return fire at the oncoming covenant. So far they had held their own pretty well, and most of covenant forces had been put out of their misery from their advance up the hill. But it was at that moment that they all saw what Gerid had been talking about; ghosts. From what they could tell there were quite a few that were alive, but it was obvious that there had been many more at the time of the attack. The marines were getting desperate, firing off shots at the quick and speedy ghosts with hope that they might take one down, but so far it wasn't working.

As Cross then turned off to head towards the base, the radio signal came through but this time without the static. "Sergeant Cross! Sorry for the lack of a welcome party but I need you to take down those god damn ghosts!"

Without a word, the farming trucks went screaming along the open ground as Butch stood up on the back, bracing his rocket launcher on the roof of the truck while Red did the same with his sniper. Once they had got close enough to be within firing range, Cross screamed out to the two gunners in the trucks while the ghost drivers suddenly turned to face them. "Let those fuckers have it!"

Waiting until he had a solid lock on one of the engaging ghosts, Butch let a rocket fly out his barrel as it streaked with eagerness towards its target. The grunt had no time to respond before the rocket slammed into the front of the hovering vehicle, the impact sending the ghost flying into the ground with dirt spewing from its impact. Right after that was followed by Storm firing out the side window, each burst from his rifle striking the side of the ghost as once again the driver turned to them. The grunt held the trigger down as a burst of plasma fire streaked towards the truck, putting cindering holes in the body as they continued driving past. Several more ghosts had begun their approached as suddenly; plasma struck the front right tire on the cheap vehicle and suddenly lurching to one side. Digging itself into the dirt, Storm felt himself lurch forward and smack his chest into the dashboard before being the truck rolled again. Pain shot through his body with every impact the truck did until with one last smack on his helmet, it stopped moving.

Ringing filling his ears, Storm glanced over at Cross who was clutching his shoulder. From the looks of it he was beat up bad, but still breathing. As Storm then tried to get his bearings, he looked up at the front with his head spinning too much for him to focus on anything. Suddenly something grabbed him by the shoulder and began dragging him out, yelling going on around him with something distant that seemed to pound his ears painfully. Right as whatever was dragging him stopped moving, his head cleared while he was looking into the eyes of Butch, yelling right at him. "C'mon man, get your ass up!" Storm shook his head as he looked around for his rifle, still lost in the confusion as he grabbed it and took in his surroundings.

From the time they crashed, Storm now realized he was sitting right behind a barricade made out of the two trucks which the squad was now using to shoot out at the remaining ghosts. As Hammer let out another laser shot, Storm stood up to the top of the barricade and began firing at the ghosts. Compared to when they had first driven in, only a couple of them were left as they now began mopping up the few that remained. Once the last ghost had collapsed into the ground, the six of them moved their way up the hill, seeing if they could find the Platoon Sergeant. As the rest of them approached the small canvas roofing that gave away the HQ, there was furious yelling coming inside as a voice chattered on a radio. Cross ignored this and entered the tent; the rest of Angel squad following him until the man leaned over the radio speaker stood sighing. "Fuckin' covenant, got every inch of support we got scattered all over the fucking map."

Storm and the rest of them all stood tensely as they removed their helmets, letting Cross do all the talking as he walked over to the Platoon Sergeant. "I presume you must be Rusty?"

As the man lit up a cigar, he chuckled to himself and glanced over. "Yeah, that's me alright. Let me guess, God sent down my guardian Angels to pull my ass out of the fire?"

"Well, I suppose you could say that." Cross replied, giving a smirk. "If by helping you mean blowing every covenant that lies between here and New Alexandria."

Rusty paused for a moment and nodded. "Trust me Sergeant; there'll be a time for that. But for now we need to focus on pushing back the covenant until reinforcements arrive. Now…" Before the man could finish, there was the sound of yelling from the sentries as they rushed back to the trenches. At the moment they couldn't hear anything but Rusty stood up and looked out his widow, letting a loud curse out. "Another cavalry charge, just what we fucking needed."

Cross gave an odd glance over to Rusty. "A cavalry charge? What exactly do you mean by that?" There was no answer from the Platoon Sergeant as he simply pointed out the window. Cross waved over for Red to check it out, and less than a second later he looked over to him. "Looks like ghosts' sir, a full blown army of them."

There was more cursing from the others while Cross crotched down next to Red. "About how many can you spot out?"

Holding up a hand in order to get silence, the sniper sat there watching as he spoke back. "In the front rank that isn't covered by the dust cloud? Roughly fifteen to twenty of them, and judging by how big it is I'm going to say a whole fuck ton, sir."

Cross looked over at Rusty, who was over on the other side of the room loading up a shotgun. "I'm going to need your squad to assist in holding the line. Until support arrives you are on your own out there so watch your asses, I don't want to have to send home some of the finest in a damn body bag. This is going to be a tough job I'm not going to lie to you, but I expect you to get it done!" Right as he finished speaking there was the sound off chattering machine gun fire as the first ghosts' had finally reached the front of the trenches. Rusty hefted the shotgun in both hands as a single ghost screamed over the trenches towards the inner defenses. Racking the shotgun as he chambered a round, he fired a shot towards the oncoming ghost and struck the elite driver, watching as it slammed into the dirt and landed right between him and the awe-struck squad of ODSTs'. When the elite driving the craft had slouched up off the vehicle, Rusty racked it again and pulled the trigger against its head. Spraying his uniform and the floor with a fresh coat of purple blood and brains, he glanced up at the loose jawed Angels standing before him. "Are there any questions?" Silence answered that as he nodded. "Good, now quit standing around before I start kicking asses."

Immediately grabbing there helmets as they sprinted outside the small shelter, the sounds of screaming agony and the chattering of turrets mixed with the volleys of plasma fire. Storm kept his head as low as he could as Hammer and Butch set up down next to one of the turrets. Hearing their sounds of joy as they blasted off their weapons into the chaos, the rest of the squad began moving into the trench until Snow jerked him on the shoulder. "C'mon Storm, follow me and don't lose your head!" She began sprinting through the blazing storm, Storm then following her as they ducked and weaved through the hell surrounding them. As she bolted out from the trench, Storm leapt up with her and kept some suppressing fire on the drivers while she ran around the corner. When he had got around to joining her, there was the rumbling sound of a roaring engine as Snow pulled up in a warthog. Kicking up a massive plume of mud, Storm ran to the back of the vehicle and jumped onto the turret. Grabbing a hold of the triggers he gripped the controls tight as Snow then roared off through the front lines. "Give em' hell Storm!"

Not even giving that a second thought, he tuned the triple-barreled gun from the side of the 'hog. Then bullets came roaring out of the barrel like a stream of hot led, spent shell casings flying out the side as they ripped through the dirt at high speed. Two ghosts then pulled off from the main battle and chased after them, over the rough terrain as they let loose blue plasma and a few of their shots striking true on the back. Storm then turned the barrel to them and opened fire, the turret tearing right through the light crafts' and blowing bits of metal off. One of them careened off their trail and smashed into the dirt, spinning out before landing on a few unlucky marines that happened to be in the way. The second one tried to find its aim and began firing another burst, but was cut short as a bullet struck the fuel cell on its side and blew it straight in half, the elite crumpling and bouncing off the ground like a rag doll.

The warthog suddenly shifted weight as it sharply spun back around, leaving Storm to tuck in his legs and hold onto the turret as they drove by for another pass. Storm recovered from the maneuver and began spitting rounds towards the now wavering line of ghosts'. Then as he continued his firing there was the sudden sliding of tires as the front end of the warthog slid into one of the trenches and slammed into a dirt mound, throwing Storm right off the turret mount as he impacted into the dirt. Immediately feeling his chest plate pushing into his ribs and breaking a few, he spun across the ground a few more times while pain exploded through his body just like the energy sword had all those years ago. Glancing over at the wreckage, his breath caught as he spotted Snow still in the driver side door. She looked straight at him, leaving him with a feeling of hopelessness as he saw an elite stepping straight towards her.

Fear clutched him as he struggled to find words, watching as her visor flickered and he looked straight at her eyes. There was blood running down her forehead, leaving her simply leaned up against the steering wheel as he watched, unable to move while the split lipped alien drew closer and closer. From where Storm was the elite seemed to be moving so slowly, but in reality his mind knew that it was going to reach her very quickly. He knew that she was going to die; the look in her eyes said it all. The look in someone's eyes when that moment comes is like a beacon to anyone that sees it. But what filled him with dread more than anything is that he knew there was nothing he could do, laying in the ground like a bully standing over a child. It was simply the fact that he knew how fast that the elite was moving, and that he couldn't think of anything to do. However his mind wasn't about to let his squad mate, his friend, be killed while he sat on his ass and did nothing. This was one of those moments that he felt a surge of anger rise up in his chest, burning like a fire from the depths of hell. He wasn't going to let the bastard get her without a fight.

Doing the only thing he could possibly manage, Storm rolled over onto his back using his arms. His body screamed at him to black out and give in, but he forced his will against it. Drawing out his magnum from his side holster, Storm brought his left arm up weakly, straining to keep a sight picture on the lumbering alien as it closed in on Snow. Her eyes seem to widen when she saw him doing this, but he didn't care, right now this was all he was worried about. This split lip bastard was going to kill his friend, but he wasn't about to give it a free one. As the elite pounced on top of the warthog's cage, its plasma rifle seemed to glisten in the sunlight as it leveled its barrel. Finally steadying the gun enough to have a sight picture on it, he pulled back the trigger and felt the side arm kick back from the recoil as the round streaked towards the elite.

Right as he fired off the shot, there was the sound of chattering gun fire that tore the elite wide open, spewing blood everywhere as it flew off and smashed into the dirt. Looking for the source of the gunfire, his answer was brought to light as the uniforms of familiar ODSTs' came from behind him, laying down an area of fire while one of the others fired a Spartan laser towards the ghosts. But these weren't Angel squad; their markings that were placed on their shoulders were a completely different squad. He watched as with perfect unison the men moved rapidly in, firing down upon the wavering lines of ghosts as now the marines roared forth with new found bravery. Two of the unmarked ODST's ran to the warthog as the plasma fire continued to spay towards them, dragging Snow out of the ruined vehicle. Storm looked into her eyes as she also met his, giving himself the feeling he wasn't on the battlefield and that he didn't even feel the pain that was coursing through his veins. He simply watched as they pulled her into the nearby trench.

Letting himself fall back into the blackness, he felt something tug his shoulders and drag him against the ground, hearing distant voices as he slowly began to fade out. Now that he knew Snow was safe, he let his mind fall into the blackness as he finally gave into his pain.

I hoped you enjoyed chapter 7! Sorry for the HUGE delay but I will try and keep chapters coming in faster now that my writing block has moved past. Thank you for being patient and stay tuned for next time, and if you have any reviews or advice for me don't hesitate to ask!