Hey guys! Sorry for another several month delay, but finals are this week and I've been having huge homework loads, alongside my sports. But Chapter 3 is finally here! Enjoy!
Six sped down the hill with Carter in the passenger seat and Jorge on the bed, and Seven, Eight and Nine tailing close behind.
"Damn, Jorge. That gun sure does hold its own weight." Nine remarked as Six swerved around a corner in the road.
"Nah, it's just me. This things weighs little more than a Moa. And they aren't very heavy." Jorge replied nonchalantly. It was obvious he was bluffing, as Six could tell Jorge was barely holding onto his weapon as it scraped around on top of the Spade's roll cage.
"Hostiles spotted." Seven called out as the two Spades turned another corner. 3 Skirmishers were patrolling the dirt path along the creek.
"Running 'em down!" Six responded with eagerness. He floored the accelerator and practically glided into the avian aliens. The first was hit in the stomach and was carried along with the vehicle, plastered to the hood like a splattered bug on a windshield. Blood sprayed everywhere. The second Skirmisher was sucked underneath the truck and flattened by the tires. The third attempted to jump out of the way, only to be greeted by the grill of Seven's Spade. It was launched over the vehicle and landed with a splat behind, rolling into the creek. "Whoo! Nothing satisfies me more than splattered Covie parts!" Six remarked with satisfaction. He continued down the dirt path until the group came to a bridge.
The radio opened with the familiar crackle. "Noble leader, I'm seeing heat sigs in the structure ahead." Jun reported over the airwaves.
"Copy that. We're on it." Eight replied. Six and Seven slammed the brakes right before entering the property. Seven spotted a squad of Grunts as well as 3 Jackals, and Six eyeballed an Officer and 4 Ultras. Everyone piled out of the vehicles and engaged. Jorge provided suppressing fire while Carter made sure none of the Covenant troops escaped, capping 2 Grunts before engaging the Ultras. Six and Eight went straight the Officer, who had retreated inside the civilian structure. Seven and Nine went after the Ultras, with Nine busting the shielding and Seven putting a bullet into each one's head.
Six broke through a window and Eight entered through the backdoor, cornering the Officer in the upstairs area.
"Filthy demons. We will slaughter you all! Mankind shall be exterminated!" the Elite remarked before being shot in the temple by Eight. The event sent a chill down Six's spine, however. He had never heard an Elite speak English before. And this one seemed fluent.
"Ever seen something like that? A split-jaw speaking English?" Six asked with obvious discomfort.
"Nah, man. Gives me the creeps. Where'd he learn it? They don't take prisoners." Eight responded.
I don't know, and I don't like it, either." Six looked back at the purple-covered corpse. He had another scene appear in his head: a massive Covenant ship, obviously a Supercarrier, hovering over the obliterated remains of a UNSC frigate. The hull plate read "Grafton." A destroyed unidentified Covenant structure loomed in the background. Charred remains of Hogs and Scorpions littered the plateau below the supercarrier. It lasted longer than the last one; a few seconds, maybe 3? Six wasn't counting.
Eight's voice snapped him back into reality. "Hey. Six. Look at me." He snapped his fingers in front of Six's helmet. That brought him back.
"What? What?" Six responded, surprised.
"You alright? You kind of spaced out there," Eight responded.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get moving," Six assured Eight. They walked back out to the Spades. As Six climbed back into the driver's seat, he thought back to that moment he saw. It felt…..familiar. Like it was going to present itself to him on a silver platter. Whatever it was, it made Six shiver. It made him feel like the day his home was bombed. It just feels….off. Like it's going to happen. And what the hell was that, anyway? An Elite talking? And in English? The fuck is going on? Six thought to himself as he sped along the base of the mountain towards the net hotspot.
"Contact! 2 Spirits, dead-ahead!" Nine called out to his teammates, as Jorge opened up with his chain gun. They had just gotten a radio distress signal from a stranded squad of Marines; the missing troopers. They had been forced back into a farm complex along the ridgeline, and were under heavy siege by Covenant infantry. They had been dug in since last night, and were down to 5 members, as well as dwindling rations and ammunition.
Seven plowed through a line of Grunts, spraying their cyan-colored insides all over the hood and a few nearby trees. A plasma grenade flew through the air and landed on the bumper of Six's Spade.
"Bail out!" Six yelled, and Jorge, Carter and Six all dove away from the compromised vehicle. The sticky detonated, and Six's Spade flipped from the downward force of the detonation. The vehicle skidded a few feet, killing more Grunts along the way, hit a tree, exploded, and slid off the edge of the cliff into the basin below.
"Open fire! Give those troopers a hand!" Carter ordered, as Seven skidded to a halt in front of the advancing hostiles. Jorge spun up his weapon, and began suppressing nearby Covies. He mowed down a few Jackals and busted the shields of an Elite before the others could duck and cover. Another plasma grenade was lobbed by an Ultra, but Seven was prepared. She grabbed a piece of shredded bark, caught the plasma bomb with it, and threw it back towards the Ultra, sticking it to its leg and killing it when it detonated. A pair of Jackals returned fire, knocking out Nine's shields. Six dove in-between the two aliens as he drew his knife. He slashed the leg of one, crippling it, before stabbing the other in the throat, its deep-violet blood spilling onto Six's hand, and killing the first avian hostile with his M6.
"Commander! You've got two Banshees closing in!" Jun called out over the comm. The loud hum of the alien aircraft matched the gunfire, and the craft fired a fuel rod into the fray. The explosive projectile struck Seven's Spade, incinerating it, and throwing Seven and Eight against the wall of the residential structure. Both Spartans' shields were drained, and the pair were forced to take cover behind a boulder, while the rest of the team fell back inside the structure to meet with the Marines.
"Seven! Eight! Can you make it to us from your position, over?" Carter said over the radio.
"Negative. Those damn split-jaws have us pinned. We can't move." Eight responded heatedly over the comm. He popped up for a second and lobbed a frag grenade into the Grunts, killing several. Another Spirit was arriving, and the twin Banshees were still a problem.
"Damnit! We can't get to them with those Banshees there," Carter announced. "Troopers, do you have any heavy ordinance, like a rocket launcher?"
"Yeah, but we've only got one rocket," the leading Marine, a Captain, responded.
"That's all we need," Six reassured him, and took the launcher. "Commander, I've got an idea."
"Shoot, Six," Carter responded, while Jorge and Nine continued firing at the remaining Covies.
"I'll use the launcher to take out one of the Banshees. Jorge, Nine, keep that other one occupied. Commander, I'm asking you and the troopers to suppress the infantry. Once the Banshees are out of the way, Seven and Eight can make their way to us. Sound like a plan?" Six explained.
"Whatever works," Nine responded, reloading his M45.
"We'll keep them occupied," the Marines agreed.
"Alright, let's do it," Six acknowledged. Six primed his launcher and took aim at the Banshee closest to the structure. "I've got a lock! Jorge, Nine, open fire!" he ordered. Nine and Jorge opened fire upon the other Banshee, and Carter and the Marines began to lay waste to the Covenant forces from the safety of the gathering room.
Six unleashed the flying death tube known as a rocket, and the built in tracking system automatically found the Banshee's signature, blowing it into hundreds of flaming pieces. Nine and Jorge's combined fire managed to ward the remaining attack craft off, while Carter and the troopers mowed down any infantry in the open, blood flying everywhere.
"Seven, Eight! That's your que!" Six yelled to the Spartans under fire who were no longer under fire. They practically ran through the back wall at the speed they were moving, and Six closed the workshop door.
"Commander, the Spirit is pulling back. You've got one more dropship in your area, and you've got a few minutes to prepare. Be careful! I'm reading Hunter sigs inside," Jun voiced over the intercom.
"Copy that Jun. Get over here with that Falcon. We found the missing troopers. Kat and Emile at the relay?" Carter responded.
"Yes sir, but Kat is having some trouble with the doors. She's working on it," Jun answered.
"Copy that. Carter out," the Noble Commander responded. He started back in towards the kitchen, where the other team members were waiting.
"So, what's our new plan?" Nine asked, shoving shells into the breach of his shotgun.
"Jun said we've got a Phantom inbound with a pair of Hunters and a squad of Elites, with 2 squads of Grunts a numerous Jackals. It'll be a fight alright," Carter responded, pulling out a holographic schematic of the relay outpost and setting it on the table. "Kat is having some trouble with the blast doors at the outpost, but she is getting close. Once we're done here, we'll fly to the outpost with the Marines, clean up any local hostiles, and reactivate the relay. Got it?" he explained, looking at everyone in the room.
"Got it," Nine responded.
"Roger that," Eight called out.
"I'm down," Seven cracked.
"It'll be easy," Jorge remarked.
"We'll follow you, sir," the Captain, whose name patch read Locklear, responded.
"Six? You good?" Carter asked.
"Understood, sir," Six responded, picking up his MA5, which was leaning against the counter.
"Alright. Let's get it done, Spartans," Carter ordered, and the squad moved into defensive positions, ready for a fight.
So that was Chapter 3! Will Six's visions get worse, or will they alleviate? Will they come true? Are you surprised to see Locklear? As always, be sure to leave a review down below and tell me if you enjoyed it, as well as what I could improve upon. I am also going to be changing my (probable) upload schedule, which is now going to be every month or so, at least until school quiets down a tad. See you at the next upload!
-Docson810