Misrata, Flint
August 13, 2558
Traffic maintained a steady pace as it winded around the skyscrapers like a coiling python. Aegis could see Bruce's armored black car picking up speed as it weaved through the few cars heading on the highway as well.
"You'd better hurry Trip," Drew had sounded worried and relieved at the same time on the other line, "I'm already hearing police chatter about scrambling cruisers and an overwatch towards your location."
"Acknowledged." He switched channels, "Let's pick up the pace people!"
"Say how long until they recognize who we are with a big ass tiger driving on the street?" Pyra asked from the armored vehicle's covered gunner seat.
"Cut the chatter, we've got armed contacts! Bruce must have called for backup!"
Four sleek cars all came to the sides of Bruce's vehicle, all of them bearing a rotating turret similar to the warthog. Trip's Spartan augmentations saw the barrel spinning up as it warmed the gun for firing.
He reached across the side, yanking the wheel hard to the right. In the driver's seat, Luke Riley jerked his hands back as if the steering wheel had been like molten metal. Right at the pavement where the warthog was came alive as bullets chipped at the asphalt, spraying black bits everywhere. The gunner shifted his position, trying to get a bead on his pursuer. From her stance on the turret, Laura let out a five second burst from her own gun in a warning to who they were messing with. The other smaller cars honked horns and swerved, trying to get out of the shooting zone.
Luke mashed down on the accelerator, slowly creeping up to Bruce's car as well as his escort vehicles. The tiger had taken a side row and was now on an overpass right above them. They could tell because of the dust that fell down when the heavy frame crossed over the aging bridges.
To his right, Aegis saw a beam of light cut through the dense night sky as the police hornet monitored the chase. The hornet shifted its attention to the tiger, which happened to be switching roles with now Bruce on the upper bridge and the APC on the lower.
More headlights blinded Riley for a second and he swerved to the left an instant before one of the escort cars missed its attempt in trying to ram the warthog. Aegis looked back, firing his A9 at the front glass. Laura pivoted the turret around, putting bullet holes into the sleek metal. The vehicle shrieked as it spun around trying to keep up. Trip emptied his second clip into the engine hood, satisfied that the flames licking over the car's cover would ensure its detonation two seconds later. The fireball illuminated the pursuing hornet, which then cast a light over their ride.
"That light is really starting to piss me off!" Riley shouted as he took the exit onto an east bound highway that Bruce and his men had gotten off of earlier. The hornet stayed on them as if shadowy hawks goading its prey.
Trip fired a round from his pistol that went way off. At the turns that the warthog was going at, there was a near impossibility of trying to aim straight.
"Pyra, we've got the hornet on our ass!" He shouted over the frequency, "Get that thing to turn off its light!" Riley moved the vehicle away as one of the other escort cars began firing its machine gun at them.
"Yeah we know. Vaal's about to make his entrance."
Aegis thought Vaal was the one inside the tiger. Further speculations were dismissed as he heard the familiar screeching sound of the type-26 GSA. Known better as the banshee, it was among the most feared in the Covenant arsenal, although this time, none of the Blades had anything to fear from it.
Vaal dove down, activating the wing's boosters as he zoomed past the hornet, leaving it in the dust. Almost instantly, the light was taken off of them as the pilot attempted and failed to catch the rogue aircraft.
In front of the warthog, two more escort cars had slowed down so that they were now within range of their guns. The tiger joined Aegis with the warthog, targeting the hostiles. The autocannon barked out explosive rounds, peppering their sides and forcing them to try and avoid being destroyed. It was evident that Bruce's men did not care about the state of civilians because his car rammed a van out of the way to provide an obstacle. Riley moved the warthog out of the way just in time.
"I need the turret." Aegis stood up, emptying the last of his A9 into the escort vehicle's rear end to no effect. Without even him requesting her, Laura stood and grabbed his hand. Like a pair of dancers, he swung her around until they faced one another in the passenger seat. When she squeezed his hand to let him know that she had his back, Aegis jumped out as she changed her fulcrum until he landed on the turret. He jammed his fingers on the firing button, controlling the recoil as the rounds stitched through the car. Glass chipped everywhere as the men inside ducked. When the car's occupants aimed again, Trip pointed up front. Without any time to react, the men could only watch for a split seconds before the car smashed into the pass' barricade. The entire vehicle went airborne before crashing into a disfigured metal hulk. All three occupants died instantly.
"Look out!" Someone shouted, Aegis couldn't tell if it was Riley or Laura. Out of the corner of his eye, another escort car sped towards them with the intent of ramming. Riley steered, cursing as the other car mirrored his turn, machine gun blazing. Trip squeezed off a few rounds when he saw the banshee up above. Instinct immediately told him to duck and he found himself automatically into a crouching position even as Vaal dove towards the ground, firing the banshee's bomb. The green fuel rod explosive hit right in front of their pursuers, causing a bright flash to anyone in view. The vehicle listed as it sped up its pursuit. The gun rattled as Vaal swooped down and peeled off, ascending to avoid the hornet and the gunner. Trip centered the vehicle in his sights and let down on the trigger. The M41's barrel rotated as hundreds of rounds pelted the car, causing it to explode in a violent manner. Riley saw that they had cleared all escort vehicles and weaved through the light night traffic, overtaking Bruce's car. The glass windows were reinforced and polarized. Trip saw four heat signatures in his thermal scan, not counting the engine. The motor was likely one taken from a sports car from the very fast speeds the driver took while he raced into another overpass that connected to another highway.
"Pyra, slow the tiger down and start shelling the bridge. That ought to encourage our friend to lay off the accelerator."
"You got it." The APC veered off to the left lane where it was avoided by the other cars even when heading well below the minimum speed limit. The autocannon pivoted slowly as the onboard computer tracked the speed of the target. Pyra pulled the trigger, sending explosive shells onto the bridge. To Trip's surprise, Bruce's car sped up rather than slow down. Riley must have known the same thing after mashing down the accelerator. Laura remained motionless as she aimed her sniper at the vehicle's tires, waiting for the perfect shot to pop them. Aegis fired another barrage to the wall on their left, showering the front of the car with chipped concrete and steel. The warthog's armor deflected a few shots taken from someone inside.
"Get them to speed up." Vaal told Trip.
"Why?"
"Just do it."
Knowing he had something nasty in mind, Trip opened up with the LAAG at a nearby truck. The massive vehicle shook as it suddenly lurched towards Bruce's car. Just as he predicted, the driver probably had floored the pedal as it sped out of the way to prevent being crushed by the much larger wheeler. They were coming out of the curve when Trip saw Vaal's banshee swoop down, releasing another fuel rod. He had calculated the trajectory perfectly, Bruce's driver had no time to stop when the explosive hit right in front. Cartwheeling through the air, Trip aimed at the driver and the gunman riding shotgun, opening fire with the LAAG. Dozens of rounds easily punched through the unarmored canopy, mincing the forward occupants to a meaty red paste. With a tumble of torn metal the car flew off the road before coming to a stop on the concrete parking lot adjacent to the highway.
Vaal turned around and slowed his speed so that he could land. Without warning, a flurry of bullets stitched his craft as the police hornet accelerated back into view, now with a wingman on the side holding a light machine gun. The antigravity pods exploded, releasing purple smoke everywhere. To help draw attention from the real action, he boosted upwards, with the VTOL in hot chase. Trip saw the banshee's interior rapidly blinking red, a means that it was close to being destroyed.
"Get out of the banshee now!"
Vaal threw open the hatch at nearly two hundred feet up, hurtling himself at one of the nearby Misrata skyscrapers. He must have survived when he smashed the glass of one floor, tumbling to a stop inside. Inaudible to Trip, the sangheili's hearing was then replaced with the howling of the building's security alarm.
He had no time to try and rescue him; Bruce was still alive and needed to be captured in such state. Riley stopped the warthog just short of the wreck when Trip dismounted to look at his handiwork. He retrieved some more magazines for his pistol, aiming it square at the armored door that was slightly off its hinges. He waved to Laura, who fired her sniper once again at the weaker point. Once she joined him and after she reloaded her rifle, Trip circled the wreck, making sure that there were no exit points that Bruce could take to escape.
"Oh no." Laura gasped, pointing to the car's front. It was aflame, their window was closing fast.
"Bruce, hold up your motherfucking hands and get out of the motherfucking car! You have three seconds!" When he got no response, Trip nodded to Laura. "One, two, three!" Both of them fired several shots. Several bullets splintered on the Metsker armor and others took whatever shattered glass clung to the window to the floor. Laura reloaded and moved back slightly as Trip ceased fire, clearing his pistol and approaching. Bruce gave out a cry of pain.
"Help me! I'm hit!"
"Put your hands out of the window or I throw in an incendiary grenade!"
"I cannot move. You have shot my legs!"
Laura and Trip looked at one another nervously. Although he couldn't see her face past her visor, he knew that neither of them could trust the dirty head of Metsker. Trip reached his hand to the door and pried it open, using his muscles because the bottom had scraped against the tough concrete. The moment the door was opened, the interior lights snapped on. Bruce's pants were bloodied from rounds that passed through his legs. As soon as he could draw a line, he raised an automatic pistol, firing wildly. Trip jumped out of the way even though his aim was even worse than the machine gunners they faced earlier. The rapidly firing bullets stopped by his own armor, saving his life in the process.
"Commander!" Laura shouted and pointed to the car's front. The flames were now starting to overheat the engine.
"Son of a" His last words were cut off by a massive explosion that enveloped the car. Aegis was thrown back, finding himself face down on the concrete with a throbbing knot on the side of his head.
"Trip!" Laura rushed over to him, a little scared about the amount of his blood flowing onto the hot ground. "Are you alright?"
He sat up, observing the crackling flames. "Get Sofia ready with her equipment. I can be patched."
Another engine was heard as Pyra pulled the tiger up beside the smaller warthog. Adrian was the first out of the hatch. Glancing at the burning wreck without obvious surprise, she strode over to Trip, placing her arm over him.
"Well this turned out to be a dead end." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Laura give him a look of curiosity. He made a nearly unnoticeable gesture for her to stay cool.
"Actually it didn't." He waved to the car, "Bruce is inside."
"He's dead."
"If he's not, then he's being grilled right now."
"I hate to interrupt the chatter," Pyra waved from the top hatch, "But knowing Misrata's police, they'll be here any second. It is especially when Vaal took out the two officers looking for him when they shot down his banshee."
"Did you guys get him?"
"He's onboard taking a snooze."
Trip started back to the warthog, the others in tow to their vehicles. There was no need to conceal the evidence of what they did. "Then let's get the hell out of here."
Well that's one villain down, plenty more to go! He got exactly what he deserved.
Thanks for reading and reviewing everyone. You give my writing purpose.