Chapter 6: Longshots
Linda scanned the woods ahead of them. So far no movement, but that could change in a heartbeat with the Covenant about. They were still a few clicks away from the beacon. If only the lifeboat had landed in a clearing instead of a densely packed forest. From what she could tell it was approximately close to a rather large tree that towered over the canopy. With any luck the Marines had somehow managed to use the overgrown sprout as cover. It would be hard hoofing it back to the landing zone with all the Marines in tow regardless. First things first though, she had to find them.
She contacted Jun for a report.
"I'm clear here, any sign of activity on your end?" she asked him as she slowly moved through the brush.
"Negative, motion tracker is clean." He replied. "Kinda wish we brought a jetpack. We could get above these trees and into a better vantage point."
"The beacon isn't much further." Linda assured him. "We should be getting something on our scopes soon."
Linda wasn't used to having a spotter. She'd always been something of a lone wolf when it came to sniping missions. But she knew, even though she was good enough to now need one, it was still smart enough to have one. She was just happy that Jun was as good as he claimed. They had already located two other squads in the area and got them up to the Normandy. In that timeframe, Jun had capped two elites in the head with one shot, took out a jackal sniper hiding in some rocks and killed three grunts in one shot. She could only assume he was using a special kind of ammo, probably the expensive kind. At the very least it seemed to motivate him to make each shot worth every credit.
They soon closed in on the giant tree. From Linda's angle she could only see the towering stump and several large roots sticking out of the ground. There were a few rocks off to the side, but she couldn't see any sign of the lifeboat or the Marines. Maybe Jun had a visual from his position.
"I'm near the beacon, can you see the lifeboat?" She asked quietly.
"Yeah, I'm looking at it through my scope right now." Jun answered her. "It's crashed into one of the upturned roots, but it's in relatively good shape."
"What about the Marines?" She enquired.
A few seconds passed before Jun replied.
"I see them." He spoke up, quickly but still whispering. "Looks like the tree's roots form a hollow space of some kind under the main trunk, the Marines are huddling inside."
Linda circled around as Jun explained the situation. She needed a vantage point of her own. She kept her eyes on the trees above as she moved though. Chances were the Marines were taking shelter from something. If there were Covenant nearby, then the lack of shooting could only mean one thing.
"Any sign of enemy snipers?" Linda asked Jun as she made her way around the trunk.
"I'm seeing some burns on the tree from here, could be plasma." Jun answered back.
Linda soon reached a good little vantage point, a small log resting against an evergreen. She looked through her scope and sure enough saw the Marines huddled in their little shelter. The plasma burns were all over the tree's front. It wasn't hard to tell what weapon had made them. She had seen that kind of plasma scaring before.
"Found one." Jun updated suddenly. "One jackal, he's sitting atop one of the trees further back, across from the lifeboat, V-shape branches."
Linda followed the direction, tracing the plasma scoring back towards the area indicated to help her further. Sure enough she spotted the jackal, his beam-rifle still aiming down straight at the Marines' position. Where there was one jackal there were usually more, so she searched the surrounding area. She spotted one taking cover behind a tree, slightly exposed. Another was nearby, his rifle laid against a rock face, still staring at the Marines. She reported their positions to Jun.
"If they're not going in for the kill they must be waiting for back-up." Jun surmised. "That means we don't have a lot of time before more Covenant arrive to finish the Marines off."
For all they knew they had no time left at all. Depending on when they made that call for reinforcements the elites could be marching through the woods right this second. They needed to exfiltrate this area and fast.
"I don't think they know we're here yet." She surmised while she spoke to the Spartan III. "But I'm positive there's more out there than just those three."
"Tree is pretty burned up from a lot of plasma shots." Jun seemingly agreed. "If there are more we'll need to draw them out."
She had already come up with a plan.
"Hold your fire and watch the trees, if I take out the first three on my own that should get their attention." She began to explain. "He'll probably locate me by then and try to fire on my position. When he does you can zero in on him. He'll be too focused on keeping me pinned to look for you."
"That's pretty risk, Five-Eight." Jun warned her. "If he gets a bead on you you'll be open to a clean hit. You sure you don't wanna at least relocate between shots?"
"I got good cover and my shields will hold out." Linda assured him. "We need to give him a chance to take a shot or we won't find him. Just watch the trees, I'll be fine."
She knew this whole plan went against everything in the sniper's handbook and she'd never try it on her own. But she was dug in enough to give her some confidence in the idea, however little. She quickly set up the rifle for the shot, placing her crosshairs on the Jackal in the tree.
The alien was barely visible except to the trained eye. He was covered in the foliage and leaves of the tree, his feet and claws the only parts you could see clearly. Linda could also see his rifle though and managed to track the gun's barrel up to find his eye peering down the scope through the branches. Once she took the shot it wouldn't be long before his friends figured out what was happening, so she'd have to be quick.
She fired the shot and watched as the jackal's head went back and his body slumped out of the tree. The one near taking cover by the tree looked over as he heard his friend fall. Linda quickly moved her crosshairs to him and fired center mass. The jackal fell to the ground, his guts blown wide open. Linda moved to the next target near the rocks just in time to see him taking aim. She fired again and caught him in the neck. The jackal fell over, clutching desperately at the wound.
With three jackals down, Linda ducked low into cover, falling on her back. A few more seconds and she would've been hit in the shoulder by a plasma beam. It ripped through the bark of the tree and log. She watched the blue beam sail across her plain of vision. From the angle it came from she quickly determined where the shot had been fired and notified Jun.
"He's on my eleven and your one." She quickly informed him.
"I got him on scope, thanks." Jun hastily replied.
Linda rolled to the side slightly and looked around the evergreen to see Jun take his shot. She had to watch his back now after all. The jackal took the bullet to the small of his back and stumbled out of his tree top. When he hit the ground dead, Linda bolted up from her position and moved. She dashed over to another tree and slammed her back into the trunk. Then she heard another plasma shot.
"Another one!" Jun called out anxiously. "He just grazed my shields! He's bounding!"
Linda pulled out of cover and looked through the scope into the trees. She could see the jackal jumping from branch to branch, trying to flank around Jun. He wouldn't get that far. She watched his movements, followed his path and moved her crosshairs over the next likely jump. The jackal leapt from his tree but he would never land in his new perch. Linda fired one shot and it pierced clean through his eye. The jackal fell dead to the forest floor in a heap.
"He's down." Linda informed Jun. "You see anymore?"
Jun took a moment to examine the trees before he answered.
"None, we're clear." He assured her.
With that done they moved to secure the Marines, who were shaken but alive more or less. Unfortunately, there were only four. The rest had either died in the crash or were lying in a pool of blood with a hole in their skulls. Nevertheless, the Marines were grateful.
"We thought we were going to die out here." A private said as he scrambled out of the hole. "Thanks Spartans."
While she appreciated the gratitude, there wasn't much time to bask in it. They were not out of the literal woods yet after all.
"We need to pull back to the shuttle for evac." Linda informed them. "Follow me and keep your eyes up."
The Mariens fell into formation as Linda contacted the Normandy. The signal was still choppy, barely getting through, but it got through nonetheless. Damn static, the sooner they got rid of it the better.
"Lawson, we found another batch of Marines." She informed the Normandy XO. "Get ready for pick-up."
"Excellent," Miranda's grainy distorted voice replied, "we're holding position to the south of your location. We've picked up another beacon. It's far off and just barely showing on our scanners, but we're checking it out. You're free to continue searching your area."
"We'll send the Marines back on the second shuttle and head to next closest beacon then." Linda replied. "We'll keep you apprised of our progress. Zero-Five-Eight, out."
It would be a bit of a hike back to the shuttle, but they'd make it. She just hoped they'd be faster with the next batch of survivors. That they wouldn't lose so many before they arrived. But this day hadn't exactly been going there way so far, why would the next hour or two prove different?
Jack ran out of the forest, following Jacob and Thane as they made headway to a small box shaped structure in the middle of the small valley below them. It was a puny little building, with what looked to be little outstretching tips around the edges, resembling tips on a crown or the battlements of a castle. Some castle, Jack thought, it was barely even one story off the ground. Besides a few odd trees in the clearing down below, along with a log and some rocks, there wasn't much to say about the area. The only other thing worth mentioning was the slight hill which they had to descend in order to reach the building.
"I don't like this." Thane said as they hurried down. "The area is surrounded by high ground. If the Covenant follows us they'll have a tactical advantage."
"Better than being out in the open I say." Jacob replied back.
As they got closer to the structure they saw the crashed lifeboat just a few feet away from the building on its north side. They also heard a gunshot fire clean over their heads. They ducked and looked down to see a small squad of UNSC soldiers, their guns trained on their position.
"Identify yourselves!" one of them ordered.
"Well we ain't Covenant you dumbasses!" Jack shouted back at them. "Do we look like aliens to you?"
Thane gave her a slight dry look at that comment, which she quickly brushed off.
"You know what I meant, stop fucking staring at me." Jack growled at the drell. "Your big black eyes are creepy."
A grimacing Thane looked back to the UNSC soldiers. The small squad carefully motioned them over, their guns still trained on the group until they came into full view. They could see the group was a mixture of Marines and some of Holland's Army men, an odd grouping to be sure.
"We were starting to wonder if we were the only ones who made it." said the Marine at the head of the little group. "With comms down we expected the worst."
Jacob gave the small squad of soldiers a good once over, peering behind them.
"This all your men?" He asked.
"Most of us are inside the structure." The Marine replied. "We're on rotation guard. These army boys had their own lifeboat, crashed down about mile east of here and trekked here. Other than them, you're the only other people we've seen in hours. I guess we're kinda jumpy, been waiting for the Covenant to attack us forever."
Jack still wasn't about to forgive that warning shot. Honestly, their guns had scopes and shit. How hard would it be to tell if the thing running down the hill was a human or not? She did her best to compose herself though. These were probably the only people within miles of here that actually had a place they could hold up in for awhile. It was best not to antagonize them. Sure, she could crush all their heads like watermelons if they tried to throw her out, but then Shepard would probably be pissed and leave her stranded out here. What was it he always said? Being part of a team means you don't always get your own way?
Damn it, she thought, now she was starting to remember his speeches. Worse, she was actually following his advice. This Normandy shit had made her soft.
"Anyway, come inside." The head Marine told them all. "We're in this together for now it seems."
"Well don't worry," Jacob assured him, "we have some of our own friends on the way. May not be an evac, but we'll probably get moved to somewhere more secure. We just gotta hope they find us."
As she stepped over the log, following the others as they headed inside the structure, another thought occurred to Jack. She probably should've mentioned it earlier, what with how small and pathetic this little fort in the middle of nowhere was.
"So, uh, speaking of the Covenant, you guys sure we can hold them off if they show up?" Jack asked them.
"Place doesn't look like much but it can hold out any kind of siege." The Marine assured. "In any case, we can't do much else but wait for them to show up I guess."
At that moment, Jack thought she heard a shot. She recognized it as something a batarian gun, back in the day when the four eyed bastards on Omega had taken a few shots at her. One of the Army boys fell dead to the ground just in front of her, his head was just gone.
The shot woke the UNSC soldiers up and they went immediately into fight mode. The problem was they didn't know where they shot came from and were frantically scanning the surrounding area in fear. The few seconds they wasted with that came at a cost. Jack watched as the Marine they had been talking to took a hit to his shoulder. A horrible gash had been torn into his flesh. Jacob caught the man as he fell, screaming in pain, clutching at the massive bleeding gash. Jack looked up to the only place the shot could've come from. It was on the opposite side of the hill and it was a hell of a lot of jackals.
Instinctively, Jack's biotics flared, but there was little she could do at this angle and distance. Jacob yelled, 'get inside' but she could barely hear him over her own thoughts. It wasn't shock or fear like the Marines and Army men were experiencing, no it was elation. Finally she thought, a way to relieve the pent up aggression from the Pelican crash. Regardless, she followed the others inside and to safety. She'd get her chance to show these fuckers what kind of damage she could do soon enough.
Zek gave the rifle a good once over when his shot was completed. It was hard to tell if he was impressed or still weighing his opinions. Normally, Varvok wouldn't care too much if someone liked a gun or not, but this was different. This was a batarian made weapon, and Balak did want him to impress upon the Covenant how good an ally they were, what they could offer, what they could give. Although, Zek probably didn't give a crap one way or another given what he now knew of the kig-yar's political opinions.
"Hmm, impressive destructive capability." Zek finally said. "Capacity is a drawback. Only one shot and I have to put another of these... what do you call these?"
Zek eyed the thermal clip in a rather confused manner. He was used to power batteries and snipers that fired precise shots of energy. Thermal clips were new to him, as was the Kishock harpoon gun. Varvok knew he'd have to be careful if he wanted to sell it to Zek.
"They're thermal clips." He explained. "A lot easier than waiting around for your gun to get recharged when it goes dead, I say. Besides, a seasoned sniper only needs one shot, doesn't he?"
"True, but it doesn't hurt to have a little extra back up in the chamber either. Just in case." Zek replied, seemingly unconvinced.
He handed the harpoon gun back to the batarian and took out a small knife. He scratched another line onto his armour, marking another. Then he said something that contradicted his previous seemingly dismissive comment.
"My men wouldn't mind a few of them though." He told Varvok, putting the knife away. "I'll stick to my Type-50 for now. It's a lot more... elegant."
Varvok would have to take that for now, he supposed, better than being outright ignored. Even if Zek still preferred his Beam Rifle, his men would take the Kishocks and that would go a long way towards improving relations with the Covenant. If they saw how effective their weapons were in battle, then they'd probably want more from them. Then Balak could ask more of them.
For now, they had humans to hunt down though. Their little fortress wouldn't be too hard to crack. They couldn't be more than a ten or so inside. The addition of the three survivors from the Pelican that they had tracked here still meant the odds were in their favour. Varvok was just happy that they had headed towards the lifeboat they had detected earlier. Otherwise they'd probably have been taken too far off their route when the Pelican turned up empty.
"My men can flank them from the east while yours move to their front and pin them down." Varvok suggested. "We can crush them between the two of us."
"Nah," Zek said waving his hand at the thought. "I got a better idea. We hang back, hit them from afar."
Varvok was disgruntled by the kig-yar's play it safe strategy. He probably didn't give a crap about any of this, but he had a mission. He had to impress upon the Covenant his value. What made Zek think he was suddenly in charge anyway?
"They are a smaller inferior force!" he shouted at Zek. "This is not the time to play it safe! Now is the time for action!"
Zek was unshaken by the shouting match. He remained adamant in his strategy.
"I work on a policy of doing the least amount of work possible, getting the least amount of my people killed while still getting the job done." Zek explained. "Look, move your men closer to their lines. Get in cover around those trees and rocks to their one side. My people will provide sniper cover to keep their heads down. You draw them out and we'll put them down. Easy, quick and doesn't require me to charge into certain death."
Varvok glared at the kig-yar, his strategy was hardly ideal.
"So my men do all the work while yours get most of the kills?" he asked.
"Nonsense Varvok," Zek assured. "You get to show the Supreme Commander you can fight like a Sangheili. Up close, dirty, personal and all that other warrior crap. He'll be impressed with that, trust me, you may even get a medal for slaughtering them all. You get more credit if you assault them by yourselves, using your own weapons."
Varvok was still sceptical, but he supposed if the kig-yar were as good snipers as their reputations claimed he could give Zek's little plan a chance.
"Alright," Varvok relented, "but the second something goes wrong your men are to move to their right and split their focus."
"How about if I send in my shield carrying people early then?" he asked "That way, if something does go wrong you won't lose sniper cover."
A strange, and sudden, compromise, one that made Varvok raise his two left eyebrows just a bit.
"And you're offering that why?" he asked Zek.
"To show you I can actually be a reasonable kind of guy." Zek replied with a grin. "Now get moving already, I got notches to carve and you're holding it up."
Varvok finally led his troops down the hillside. Zek's shield carrying troops moved to the right, their guns at the ready. Zek stood on the hill, his beam rifle out and aiming down at the little structure. This would be Varvok's first real bit of combat in the field with a member of the Covenant assisting him. He hoped it would go right.
Halfway to where they presumed the Pelican had crashed and they could hear gunfire off in the distance. That was never a good sign. The Covenant had caught up with Jacob's group. Although from the sound of the exchanging gunfire, they had also caught up with more of their fellow Marines. Which meant that now there were even more lives at stake and counting on them to come to the rescue. Kowalski just groaned in utter despair. From sound of the fighting, they couldn't have been more than a mile away at this point. More importantly, it sounded like there were a lot of Covenant.
"Well this just turned from mildly difficult to super hard in a flash." Kowalski growled verbally.
"Life is rarely kind to us." Samara informed him. "Rising to the challenge shows one's character."
Kowalski looked up at the asari, trying his best not to sarcastically mock her sage advice. It really wasn't the time for it. Luckily, even she knew that and took time to share her own concerns with Sergeant Taylor.
"Sergeant, we will need another strategy." She informed him. "We cannot simply slip back to base, nor can we overwhelm them. We must find a way to disrupt their attack before we reveal ourselves."
"Surprise is all we got at the moment." Taylor told the Asari. "I suppose we could flank them from behind, but we'll need to get closer before I commit to anything."
As the gunfire raged ahead of them, the small group of would be rescuers weighed their options. Grunt of course called for the most direct approach, mainly running in and crushing the enemy beneath their heels. That was tabled on the back burner quickly. Kowalski had no input at first, for the most he followed, he winged it and he hoped he got out alive.
That changed rather suddenly. Samara was already refining Taylor's plan of flanking when the Private heard a strange sound from the underbrush. He looked towards the trees and bushes. Something, just barely audible over the gunfire, was close by. Kowalski walked over to take a look, and almost immediately regretted it. Sitting in a small little clearing were a group of those armless blind raptor-things. They were gnawing at some kind of carcass ravenously, possibly one of the spike backs they had taken down. Kowalski couldn't tell; the corpse was just unrecognizable.
"Uh, guys." He said, raising his voice slightly.
He didn't know if his fellows heard him, but the creatures did. They turned all at once and growled in his direction. They scratched at the soil beneath their feet and roared loudly. Yet they also backed away, huddling around their kill. Before long the others had caught onto the noise themselves and crowded around Kowalski. When they saw what he was looking at, everyone pointed their guns at the things.
"Christ, these things again." Ellingham sneered.
"What are they?" Ramirez asked, as this was his first time laying eyes on them after all.
"Annoying little bastards who almost ate us." Ellingham informed him. "Let's kill them quick before they decide to lead us on another friggin chase through the woods."
Kowalski was prepared to do the same thing, but noticed something odd. They weren't attacking, not like they had before. They were protecting their food, and huddling together. From what Kowalski could see, behind the creatures was a large rock and in front of them a bunch of Marines with itchy trigger fingers. He didn't know why, but something told him these things still remembered how things turned out for them last time.
"Wait a second." He told the others, trying to convince to stay their hand. "I don't think they want to mess with us."
"They're baring their teeth at us, Kowalski!" Ellingham pointed out to him with another sneer. "What do you think that means?"
"They're like wild dogs, Ellingham." Kowalski replied eagerly. "They're protecting their kill. They must remember what happened to their friend when Legion plugged him. They're already scared of us."
The creatures continued to huddle around their kill, snapping their giant jaws and growling in anger, trying to scare them all off. Neither side of course budged.
"They do appear more defensive now than before." Samara concurred, lowering her own weapon. "Still, we should practice caution. They are still wild animals and still dangerous."
Suddenly, from that one little sentence, Kowalski got an idea.
"Hey, wait a minute." He began to process aloud. He turned to towards the Justicar with thoughtful look. "Sam, you said we needed to disrupt their attack right?"
The Asari merely nodded.
"Well, what if we had ourselves a little distraction?" he asked her.
Samara's gaze turned back to the vicious looking blind creatures as they continued to growl and scratch at the dirt. It was risky to be sure, but no worse than trying to assault a larger Covenant force alone. Perhaps Kowalski underestimated himself. He did have some good tactical ideas, once in awhile.
The Warthog flew into the air, ramping itself off the tip of the slope. It crashed down onto the side of the hill on all four wheels. The suspension sent the Master Chief out of his seat for a moment, but his grip on the steering wheel remained tight. When he settled back into his seat, he went full throttle towards the looming structure before him. There was heavy foliage to the right of the structure that occupied the head of the river, but there was a clear enough path up to hills that overlooked the small valley. And as Cortana pointed out, and from what he could see of the gunfire raging above, that was exactly where he needed to be.
The Hammerhead was right behind the Warthog, already firing missiles like mad. Not to hit anything, just to scare the various Covenant that were currently attacking the Marine's position on the top of the hill. In his own mad dash to get up to the top he ended running down one of the grunts in his wake. The little gas sucker crunched under the Warthog, again the suspension compensated. An elite fired after the Hog, but the gunner spooked him back into cover quickly. The Hammerhead made it halfway up the hill before it turned around sharply and launched a barrage of missiles at the Covenant position.
The Hog rolled over the crest of the hill and finally arrived at in the midst of the Marines. It drove to the center of the hilltop while the Hammerhead rested itself along the edge. Everyone piled out, taking up positions along the hill's ridge as the assemblage of Marines rallied around them. In particular, the towering green armoured Spartan who climbed out of the Warthog.
"You're a sight for sore eyes, Master Chief." One of the Marines greeted, walking beside the Spartan in step. "We're in a bad way. We got a lot of wounded here."
Chief gave a quick look around, propped up around the rocks were the Marines in question. Already Mordin was giving them a look over, administering medi-gel to everyone. That salarian sure packed a lot of the stuff. The "never hurts to be prepared" saying seemed to apply to all species. Still, they would all need to be evacuated and soon. Luckily, Cortana was already on it.
"I've already called a dropship to come pick them up." The AI said. "We just need to hold out."
"With these reinforcements and us holding the high ground that should be easy enough." Shepard noted with his pistol at the ready.
Chief looked around at lines of defence the group had formed. Garrus had gotten out of the Hammerhead, trading places with Kat who now took up the turret. He was already firing down into the cluster of trees just below them. The Hammerhead's barrage apparently had not killed all the Covenant attackers in one stroke. They'd correct that soon enough.
"Yeah, but not all of us are up here." The Marine continued. "We got a sniper down below on the structure."
It was then that Chief spotted Buck, who stood out from the others for he had his gun to his side instead of at the ready. He seemed transfixed on the structure below and had been even before the Marine had mentioned the sniper. When the Spartan walked over to see what the Sergeant was looking at he figured out why that was. There was an ODST pod that had crashed down on the second level of the structure. They hadn't seen it on their way in as it was covered by the familiar large flaring generator that stretched up into the sky from the middle of building. It didn't take long for the sergeant to voice the obvious.
"Who was in that pod?" he asked frantically at one of the Marines.
"Some ODST named Romeo I think." The Marine explained. "He said he was gonna use the building as a sniping position and keep them off us. I think he's hurt, the last radio we got from him sounded bad."
Already Chief could tell what Buck was about to do. The sergeant checked his SMG magazine and cocked the firing pin back. The Spartan held his shoulder in place before he could run off though.
"You'll need some help getting to him." Chief told the Drop Trooper. "That structure is going to be in between two potential Covenant landing zones for their reinforcements on either side."
"Will accompany you." Mordin spoke up, his eyes shooting up from one of his battlefield patients. "Romeo may require medical treatment."
"I can lend an extra gun to the fight." Kat added as well.
Chief was somewhat surprised by the Spartan III's offer of assistance. Mordin was almost a given, considering how he was playing medic so much today. Speaking for himself, Master Chief just didn't want to leave a soldier behind. But ODSTs and Spartans rarely mixed well, and he didn't expect Kat to stick her neck out so much for one. Given what she had gone through, however, maybe her reasons were similar that of his own. Whatever the case, Buck agreed to the help.
"Alright then, guess I can't really say no since you both outrank me." Buck admitted to the Spartans. He looked to his fellow Drop Trooper with a commanding glare. "Stay here until I get back, Dutch. They'll need the extra firepower with us gone."
"Just get Rome back up here, sir." Dutch replied. "We'll keep you covered best we can."
Getting to Rome would be a challenge. There was already a Covenant dropship on approach by the time they were ready to go. It sped towards the ground, eager to reinforce their beleaguered comrades on the ground. They would need to be quick out there, the chance of getting cut off from the hilltop increased every second they spent dawdling.
They made their run towards the structure while those who remained on the hilltop provided cover fire. They were able to keep the Covenant still within the trees pinned down, but that wouldn't stop the freshly arrived Covenant from coming up on their right. A single jackal crested the edge of the slope, firing a fully charged plasma bolt at the group. Kat took the hit. Her shields were able to keep her from taking too much damage. Whether she felt any pain from the hit couldn't be determined. She fired back at the jackal with her pistol as she ran. The alien already had his shield up, so the bullets bounced harmlessly off the energy barrier. The jackal remained huddled behind his protection as he slowly pressed forward, followed by two others of his kind as well as two grunts. The group managed to make it to structure, taking cover behind its towering middle section, but the plasma bolts were already striking close to their position.
"We need to discourage them a little." Buck said aloud, bringing out a grenade.
"Make it quick, I'll cover you." Kat told him.
The Spartan III leaned out of cover just enough to get a few good shots in on the jackals. Their shields protected them of course, but they were distracted enough for Buck to roll out a grenade into the midst. The resulting explosion took the jackals by complete surprise. Even their shields couldn't stand up to the crushing punishment of the grenade's blast. The jackal at the head of the advancing group was killed instantly by the shrapnel, as were the two grunts advancing with him. The other two jackals were far enough back that they only ended up get thrown back, their shields being knocked out by the attack.
With their backs covered for the moment the group pressed on to the front of the structure's overlook. They found Romeo, with a plasma burn on his leg and a dead grunt not but a few feet away from him. Buck and Mordin were the first ones on him. The salarian gave him a quick once over with his omni-tool.
"Detected heartbeat." He said. "He's alive."
Buck knocked the side of Romeo's helmet once.
"Rome, hey, you there?" he asked quickly.
The injured ODST woke up with a start, seeing Buck and Mordin looking him over.
"Ugh, Buck?" he asked as his head turned.
"It's me, hang on, stay awake, we're gonna get you out of here." Buck promised.
Romeo looked to his leg wound. The armour around it was seared black. He shook his head, grasping it with his hand.
"Damn, I must've blacked out for a second." He groaned, following it up with an immediate sharp gasp of pain. He clutched his leg as Mordin made a move to administer medi-gel. "This is embarrassing, surprised by a god damn gas sucker."
Chief stepped over, crouching down to keep his head in cover while he looked at the wounded ODST. At least he was still lucid, but getting him back on that leg would be difficult.
"Someone is going to have to carry him back up to the hilltop." He told them all. "Otherwise he's not going anywhere."
Romeo finally noticed both him and Kat now, and although his visor's tinted mode was still active Chief could tell exactly what he was thinking. In fact, Romeo made sure everyone knew what he was thinking..
"Son of a bitch, saved by Spartans." He growled. "My day keeps getting worse."
"You're welcome." Kat replied in a deadpan tone of voice. She turned to Buck unflinchingly. "Get him on his feet."
Buck nodded and helped Romeo up, putting his arm over his shoulder.
"We don't tell the Major about this, okay?" Romeo requested of Buck.
"Shut up, Romeo." Buck ordered as they began to make their way back. "You're lucky that she isn't reprimanding you for insubordination towards a superior officer right now."
Whether that would keep Romeo quiet would never be answered, only a few steps into their way back and they soon encountered trouble. Mordin turned back suddenly, firing his pistol. Everyone else soon saw why as the jackals had returned, now acting as extra cover for their own commanding officer, an elite wearing blue armour. He began to fire his plasma rifle alongside his subordinates. Chief pushed Buck forward as he and Kat took up defensive positions.
"Get him to the hilltop." He ordered the sergeant. "We'll hold them off."
With Romeo over his shoulder, Buck had no choice but to follow the command. Mordin fell back with him, compensating Buck's inability to shoot at the moment. Kat and Chief kept themselves between the elite and their retreating comrades in the meantime. Even with the barrage of plasma wreaking havoc on their shields, they were still more than a match for a single elite and his two little bird bodyguards.
Kat raised her mechanical arm and the orange glow of the omni-tool embedded within it suddenly formed. An electrical spark shot out and the elite's shields were suddenly fried. As the Covie tried to recover from the loss of his protection, Chief seized the moment and raked his torso with his assault rifle. Although taking several gunshot wounds, the elite still stood upright and only clutched his chest for a few scant microseconds before continuing to fire on the Spartans.
As blood dripped from the elite's wounds, the Spartans pulled back slightly towards the hilltop. As they did though, their immediate left came under attack. An elite in red pulled himself up over the edge of the structure's overlook. Kat wasted no time in igniting her plasma sword and lashing at the alien. The Covie dodged the first strike and struck her hard with a punishing blow to the top of her head. Were it not for her Spartan enhancements, her neck and skull would probably have been broken.
Chief turned, firing his assault rifle at point blank range. The elite was taken off guard, long enough for Kat to stab her sword upwards into his gut. Blue smoke pooled out of the alien's back where the sword's tip exited and the flesh crackled against the energy laden blade. Kat looked the elite in its defiant eyes before pulling the sword out and slashing the alien's head in two. As the Covie body toppled over the overlook's railing and back down to the ground below, Cortana couldn't help but make a comment.
"Huh, I guess you're right, Chief." She spoke in his ear. "Overkill is the best way to deal with elites."
The Master Chief said nothing in response, as he was distracted by more pressing matters. The first elite had regained his shields, thanks to his now deceased comrade's actions, and had ordered his jackals to charge. He was right behind them of course, he didn't want to miss out on a killing a Spartan, what kind of a warrior would he be then? Chief was hardly intimidated by the charge. It just meant they were closer to his gun now.
As his shields drained to half, Chief looked fired another burst from his rifle. The bullets scored a lucky hit, just barely edging over the side of the shield, cutting into the jackal's forehead. With him down, Chief turned to his friend, who had closed the distance. He kicked at the shield, knocking the jackal to the floor. Chief then than pulled out his pistol and fired a single shot into the jackal's head.
Now there was only one Covenant left. By now the elite had gotten close enough to deliver his own powerful kick to the Spartan II. Chief was hit back at least a good foot by the kick. The elite opened fire, killing what was left of his shields and hitting him a few good times. The Master Chief was undeterred by the attempt. He rolled to the side, out of the storm of plasma and fired off his assault rifle at the Covie. The bullets tore into the elite's shields, causing them to spike. As he raised his plasma rifle in an attempt to fire though, another far more powerful shot rang out. The elite's head suddenly jerked wildly as blood splattered out of the alien's skull. As the body fell to the ground, Chief turned to the hilltop and could see where the shot had come from, Garrus' sniper rifle.
"Sorry for stealing your kill." Garrus apologized over the radio. "I just figured you could use some help wrapping things up."
Chief wasn't about to argue, they needed to get back up to the hilltop. He ran back with Kat close to him towards the hill. Already another Covenant dropship had landed and taken off. As far as the Chief could tell, the elite Kat had sliced apart had probably been a part of its complement of reinforcements. Another ship was beginning its own landing and already the Covenant within were pouring out of it, heading straight for their position on the hill.
On their way up, Chief watched as Mordin froze three grunts in place with a cryo-blast. The icy explosion had literally stopped their advance on the hilltop cold. The salarian then shattered all three of them with relative ease. He used only one bullet for each of their head. For an alien who was highly dedicated to saving lives on the battlefield, he was deadly efficient in taking them. It was always nice to have a medic on the field willing to kill for his patients' safety.
Romeo had been delivered back to safety, his leg was still causing him trouble, but at least he was alive. Once inside the perimeter defences of the hilltop, Chief looked around once more to get a sense of the situation. Shepard was alongside his own men, directing them to disrupt the advancing Covenant in any way possible. Kasumi tossed out her flashbang grenades while Tali's drone took advantage of their sudden blindness, blasting them with more volts than electrical conduit. Shepard's biotics sent many a Covie tumbling back down the hill they had climbed up. As for Garrus, well, he had plenty of targets to shoot. Chief didn't envy any of them after seeing what happened to the elite.
Realising they could always use a little extra firepower. Chief directed Kat over to the Warthog. While she got into the driver's seat, Chief went to the back. He ordered the gunner out with a hand gesture and climbed up to the gun. Kat backed up towards the edge of the hill, prompting the others to get out of the way. With full view of the ground below, Chief let loose.
The giant Gatling gun always made one feel powerful when they fired it. Chief remembered when he first used one, probably one of the best feelings he had. He tried to hide some of the fun he had been having when he used it though. He didn't want to look too much like a kid in front of his superiors. This was saying something, considering he had only been twelve or so at the time.
The gun always was a bit unwieldy and shaky, but it got the job done. The bullet hose effortlessly cut down the advancing Covenant, not even the jackals were safe behind their shields, the bullets dislodging them from their defensive stance through sheer force alone. The elites survived longer, but not much. They tried to stay out of the line of fire, but the closer they got, the less Chief had to worry about range.
Before long they were Swiss cheese, plastered on the ground. Chief didn't stop firing until everything beyond the hilltop had stopped moving. There were dozens of bullet hole ridden bodies by the end of it. The machine gun fell silent, its spinning barrels coming to a slow stop as the weapon's cooling systems kicked in.
Moments later, Foe Hammer's Pelican appeared out of the clouds. It flew directly to the top of the hill, towards the cheers of the Marines atop it.
"Echo-419 to Cortana," she said as she brought the Pelican in close, "Foe Hammer's on station and ready for another pickup."
"Affirmative Foe Hammer, we're ready for dust off here." Cortana replied. "Me, the Chief and Shepard's team are going to check out the last lifeboat. When we're done there, come pick us up."
They were almost done here, but Chief knew this had been too easy with their high ground advantage. They weren't going to be so lucky next time. That and the time they were spending on this raised another concern.
"You hear anything about incoming Covenant reinforcements to the area yet?" Chief asked.
"Nothing substantial," Cortana answered succinctly, "but the word that there are Normandy crewmembers in this area has gotten around. They're not sending in more ground troops, still too thinly spread, but they are sending more air support to keep the area locked down."
Then they needed to hurry, if the skies got too thick with Covenant, even with Foe Hammer giving them a lift, getting out of here wasn't going to be easy.
To say this could be going easier would be an understatement. The Normandy could fly in and start bombing every filthy Covenant bastard on that ridge. Shepard could come charging out of nowhere and somehow make everything better with stupidly insufferable Boy Scout can-do attitude. They could have a fucking rocket launcher or something. But no! They didn't have any of that. Because life was not only unfair, it liked to take a dump on you before it took a piss.
At the moment, Jack found herself trapped behind a bit of cover on the roof of the tiny structure. She had come up here hoping to lay down some devastating biotic attacks on the ridge. Instead she found herself getting hit from both snipers and infantrymen who had advanced forward into the valley. They had the entire area covered. The only place that was safe was at the back of the structure or inside. No one dared trying to make a break for the life boat or something. The first guy who tried that got a plasma beam to the back of his head.
Jack had no intention of freaking out and dying a stupid death, not today or any day. So she stayed put and hoped that eventually the fuckers would run out of ammo. They of course did not, because the fanatic aliens had apparently packed extra ammunition, whereas they were running on what was left in the Pelican's ammo lockers they had quickly scavenged before abandoning the crash. In other words, things were pretty bad.
Jack looked out to see the people who were currently popping little craters into her bit of cover. They were batarians with a few jackals scattered about their ranks. They never seemed to let up their constant barrage, intending to keep everyone stuck behind cover for a good long while. There was little they could do to fix that, other than hope for an opening and take it for all it was worth. That was what Jack was currently doing, waiting for an opening to stick her head out and hit them with the biggest biotic throw or shockwave she could muster. Then while they were reeling from that, she'd really let them have it.
She soon got her chance, one of the dumbass batarians started to reload, the perfect moment for her to strike. She leaned out of cover long enough to send a biotic throw that hurtled across the battlefield and struck the batarian right in his ugly four eyed face. The bastard was sent flying backwards, along with a few others nearby as the biotic energy spread out from the initial contact point. The batarians fell back to the earth in crumpled heaps and Jack smiled a little as she pulled back into cover.
Still, she'd need to do bigger and better if she wanted to get out of here alive. Thankfully, she soon found that she wasn't the only one actively trying to accomplish something. Running up from below, their heads ducked down so as to avoid getting them shot off, were two Marines plus Thane. They slid into position at a nearby piece of cover. Thane already had his Sniper Rifle out.
"Jacob says we need to focus on removing their sniper support." The drell began pointing up to the ridge. "But we need a barrier if we're going to pull it off."
Jack grumbled at the suggestion.
"How effective do you really think that's going to be?" she asked. "Barriers aren't really designed for plasma you know? I may be able to slow them down a bit as they pass through, but it won't stop them outright like a regular bullet."
"We need to try," Thane insisted, "as long as they have this area zeroed we can't return fire effectively. You're the only biotic who can pull something like this off here, Jack."
Jack still thought it was a major waste of biotic energy, but if Thane thought it was the only way he was going to make the shot without the batarians blowing his head off, fine. He just better hope that one of the jackals that were with said batarians didn't put his crosshairs over his scaly head. Jack released a sigh and then formed a barrier around herself and began to move over to the sniper team. Some batarians took a few shots, the barrier held. One of the jackals made a try, it didn't work so much. The barrier slowed the bolt down but the energy still passed clean through. Jack was able to make it to Thane's position regardless and hunkered down. The drell and the Marines then aimed up at the ridge, the barrier still held against the gunfire as they lined up shots. Then, they fired.
Three of his snipers suddenly plopped dead on the ridge and Zek ducked slightly. They had managed to get off some good shots, damn them. Looking through his scope, he saw a large blue barrier covering part of the structure's roof. He saw the glint of something next and then quickly rolled to the side, a sniper's bullet just barely missing him.
"Damn we're pegged." He growled. He turned to his men. "Change positions, boys! This area is no longer good ground. Move to secondary, like we discussed."
His kig-yar quickly moved their efforts. This area wasn't suitable for sniping, but they could still provide support for Varvok if they got to the secondary position fast enough. They rushed through the trees and undergrowth, bounding through branches and over logs and rocks. Zek didn't bother to do anything fancy. He just wanted to get to a good spot. He had only added one other notch to his armour so far. He needed to catch more of these humans unawares.
By the time he got to the next position, his men were already in place. Some had taken up position on higher tree branches while others were behind the trees. A few more were lying prone on the ground. He preferred to stand a little ways back from the ridge, that way he'd still get good coverage but wouldn't be too exposed.
He aimed down at the structure. Now he had a clearer view of the snipers who had just taken out a few of his men. Well, he commended them for the marksmanship but he couldn't exactly just let that stand. He wondered if that barrier that was being held up would hold out against a well placed shot though. While he waited to see if it was worth the risk, he let the others pick their targets. They didn't shoot yet though. They were waiting for Zek to do so. While they waited though, Varvok was in a fix.
Through the barrier, Zek could see a bald human wearing rather lax armour over her torso. No helmet, although he doubted that would've helped her anyway if he chose to shoot her there. She was taking cover while the human snipers relocated for a better shot at the batarians. Not long after the bald human started tossing out some kind of energy from her palms. The energy was flung at the batarian lines, sending many flying backwards, some were pulled up in the air and one strange rippling attack cut through the lines themselves. So, this must've been that biotic stuff the batarians kept going on about, impressive.
But, he supposed, his men were down there too and Varvok wouldn't be pleased if he kept him waiting. So Zek decided to gamble. The biotic had retreated to cover, but he could still see the head of one of the human snipers, poking up from behind his little battlement. Zek brought the crosshairs over the head, breathed deep and squeezed. The shot zipped across the sky and plasma beam cut clean through the human's skull. It passed through the bubble shield, although it appeared to have gone slightly slower when it did. Perhaps they weren't made for plasma based weapons? Good, he could work with that.
"Open season!" he called out to his men and they began to fire.
In the meantime, Zek carved another notch on his armour. Still plenty of space, but he'd probably have to start considering getting one of those helmets to complement his eye piece if he wanted to continue the count soon.
As he put the knife away though, he heard a distressing sound, engines. He looked up to see some kind of shuttle craft, not one of the batarians to be sure. The door to it opened wide and Zek looked up with his rifle. He saw a rather upsetting image through the scope. That of a tall human clad in heavy armour armour and a rifle in hand... looking straight back at him.
"Well that ain't fair is it?" he asked no one.
He rolled away just as several shots traced after him. He ran to one of the tree trunks and looked back, only to watch as one of his men tried to aim up at the shuttle with his Type-50. For his trouble, a bullet whizzed right through the scope and embedded itself in his eye.
"Change positions!" he ordered.
Jun lowered his rifle and gave off a small chuckle of amusement.
"That makes four times now I've pulled that off." He said jovially, refering to his shooting of a bullet through the scope of a Plasma Beam Rifle. "Think I can make it five?"
"Save the theatrics, Jun." Linda ordered him. "We still got Marines to pull out of the fire."
She missed the first jackal, but she was able to catch another one as it fled. She fired a shot into the back of his neck and went down just short of the treeline. She didn't get the chance to gloat that much, unlike Jun. Seconds later, the shuttle began to take small arms fire from below. Her focus shifted to the batarians and the sparse detachment of jackals on the ground. She fired down at them, easily taking three of the aliens down with bullets straight to the top of their skulls. The Viper's power even managed to take off the head of one of the four eyed bastards. Still, this was no place to conduct a suitable sniping mission.
"Land us on the structure!" She ordered the pilot.
The shuttle descended and both she and Jun continued to fire on the batarian forces at the front. Eventually they got close enough to jump down onto the roof of the structure. Linda waved the shuttle off, too risky to let it hover above them like a giant target. Both she and Jun got into cover quickly as they met up with the defenders there. One was a scaly green alien with black eyes. The two others were a Marine and a bald woman who was holding up some kind of blue barrier from the looks of it. Her hands were held up high in the air and energy was emanating out from them. The first question that sprung to mind was obvious enough.
"Normandy crew I take it?" she asked them.
"Yes," the green alien replied graciously, "I am Thane, she is Jack"
"Fucking charmed," Jack spoke up in an annoyed grunt. "You gonna save our asses or something now?"
That was the plan, but it would probably be a hot zone if they tried with the shuttle. They needed bigger guns. Linda tried to reach Miranda, but all she heard was static.
"Damn, jamming signal is stronger now. I can't reach the Normandy." Linda grumbled. "We gotta hold out, just for awhile. The shuttle will get back to Miranda and she'll come pick us up."
"Oh well ain't that fucking perfect." Jack groaned. "Why is it everything has to be complicated?"
Linda couldn't really answer that. She was more concerned with the jackal snipers on the ridge. They'd be back, she'd have to counter them, and fast, otherwise this was going to get ugly again real soon.
The banshee screeched out of the sky, firing a furious stream of plasma at its targets. Its dive bombing run was cut unceremoniously short when Dutch's Spartan Laser discharged. The blast blew the aircraft to bits, its pieces rained down on earth, meeting the same fate as its wingman, which had fallen under the combined might of the Warthog's chain gun and the Hammerhead's missiles. Dutch gave the big weapon a pat on the side.
"Seriously, this thing is badass." He grinned. "I really hope someone got a recharger off the Autumn."
As Dutch stood in the middle of the debris field the Warthog pulled up alongside him with Buck in the passenger's seat.
"Just in case, try not fire anymore shots unless you have to." He advised. "Who knows what the Covenant are gonna have at the final lifeboat."
Dutch walked back to the Hammerhead, the doors opening wide to reveal Romeo sitting tight with his leg wound held together by bio-foam. They had been making good progress towards the lifeboat when the banshees attacked them in the open. It wasn't a hard fight, but it showed how little time they had left. Soon the skies would be swarming with those things and they didn't have nearly enough laser cannon shots for all of them.
Shepard had his own concerns.
"Cortana, have you managed to reach the Normandy yet?" he asked the AI.
"I have contacted Ms. Lawson." Cortana informed. "I gave her the information necessary to properly overcome the static signal, but she says it will take time to reconfigure the communication systems. Thankfully, your AI, EDI, is on it so it shouldn't take too long. Problem is our system is only one way until she can get the cloaking program installed. Otherwise, I'm communicating mostly through text-based systems rather than audio. It takes a long time to hear back from her, but I at least know she's working on it."
That was good to hear. Maybe if the Normandy's comms opened up they could use her to deal with the Covenant at the last lifeboat location. Sadly, with every bit of good news there always seemed to be something bad.
"Another update by the way," Cortana continued. "The Covenant have located the Pillar of Autumn's crash site and secured it. The good news is the Captain is alive. The bad news is he and the entire surviving command crew has been captured."
"Since when do Covies take people alive?" Romeo asked.
"Captain Keyes isn't like the typical Marine they just mindlessly slaughter. They recognize him as a high ranking officer." Cortana explained. "My guess is they're holding him in order to extract further information."
Which meant the Covenant could get their strategic countermeasures, their equipment, troop numbers, almost everything they could've gotten if they had grabbed Cortana. Chief knew Keyes well enough to know he'd never give up those secrets, not to the Covenant. And once they figured that out for themselves they'd just kill him. They couldn't let that happen. But Cortana had even worse news.
"There's more though." She began grimly. "Commander Shepard, the Covenant mentioned they were transferring the Captain and the others to where they were holding another human prisoner, the pilot of the Normandy. I'm afraid Jeff "Joker" Moreau is in Covenant custody."
There was a brief silence over the radio at that and then a small audible growl of frustration. Chief could hear the Commander bang his fist against the Hammerhead's dashboard.
"Damn it, that's friggin perfect." He growled. "How soon can we launch a rescue mission?"
"Once we link up with the other survivors and formulate a plan. With any luck, by sundown we'll be ready." Cortana informed him.
"Then let's wrap this up." Shepard ordered. "Quickly."
The vehicles drove over to the lifeboat's beacon, but when they got there they found nothing. The lifeboat was crashed next to a small stream, the earth was ploughed beneath and weapons strewn about the ground. There weren't any signs of the Marines that had been inside.
"No life signs," Cortana announced with a quick scan, "but that doesn't make sense. There should be bodies."
Buck looked over the discarded weapons from his passenger's seat.
"Weapons lockers must've broken open on impact." He observed.
Chief already had a good idea as to why. Looking around, this wasn't exactly the best place to hold up. There were no structures, no rocks, no caves, nothing. Just wide open spaces and plenty of room for the Covenant to pick you off with a sniper or a single banshee pass.
"They must've abandoned the pod and looked for better ground, like me and Shepard when we crashed down." He suggested.
"They'd need to find some place secure where they could hold down the fort." Garrus added.
The Hammerhead suddenly drifted off, its nose pointed off in one direction towards a small incline between cliff edges.
"What about there?" Shepard asked. "Maybe that leads some place."
It was worth a shot. The team drove over and up the small incline to the top of the hill. Once there they beheld a large facility overlooking a cliff edge with a massive flaring generator structure pointing up to the side and two small box-like buildings on either end.
"Yep, looks like a nice little makeshift fort to me." Kasumi pronounced.
But on closer inspection, Chief saw how it wasn't so perfect. Up on top of the structure were two familiar shapes, elites, and patrolling the area below, hobbling along on all fours, grunts. The Covenant had overrun this place.
They should've overrun this place by now, but Zek was finding it more difficult to get his shots in. He soon realised where that heavy armoured human had come from, he had faced it on the human ship. It had been just as dangerous then, just as knowledgeable of marksmanship and he was losing this rematch so far. The humans had spread out along the structure, keeping the vast myriad of positions completely covered. Zek was changing sniping spots more than he cared for and it was costing Varvok men. It would seem being lazy and just sitting back was no longer an option. Zek decided to alter his little plan, just a bit.
It took awhile longer to get around the ridge to the other side, but he managed. He now had a clear view of the backside of the human's position and he had moved his snipers in closer now. There was a small clump of trees just to the north of their crashed lifeboat. He'd make this easy; he'd have a few more of his boys head down to the trees while he and the others suppressed the enemy from behind. Then upon reaching cover they'd force the humans to split their focus three ways. Varvok could then move in and he'd force the humans out of hiding. Then he could rack up some real kills.
The plan just hinged on one thing, getting that bald human's bubble barrier down. No easy task, but Zek had remembered how much he loved that missile launcher. Yes he could try and shoot her with his Type-50, but with that barrier up and slowing down his projectiles slightly; he did not want to take the chance.
He called over Retz and took the lightweight heavy weapon from him. He aimed square down at the human's bubble, using his eye scope as a means of getting on target. He looked to the very top of the barrier. The human had been keeping this up for awhile, it had to cause some strain. With any luck, a few powerful hits would break her concentration.
"Alright little hairless ape," he smirked, "let's see how you hold up against high yield explosives."
He pressed the trigger and launched one missile and then another and just one more for good measure. The projectiles hurtled through space, straight towards the top of the barrier. They struck the bubble with tremendous force, rocking the entire little structure and then the bubble went off.
Jack fell to the ground, her mind racing with pain. She growled in anger, getting to her knees. She could hear a terrible constant ringing in her ears. That explosion had taken her off guard. As if holding it up indefinitely wasn't bad enough, having to take three blasts like that simultaneously had completely screwed her up. Thane rushed over to help her up. She pushed him away, electing to stand on her own.
As the ringing stopped she realised how bad it had gotten, the barrier was down and every sniper on the roof was exposed. They huddled behind cover as plasma beams shot out at them from behind where they had been shooting from. Even that big powerful Spartan chick had been given pause as she huddled beside Jun.
"What's you next plan?" she asked her with a cold glare.
The Spartan didn't answer right away. Instead she bolted from cover and fired three shots in quick succession from her rifle as she moved to another battlement.
"Jun, keep an eye on those trees next to the lifeboat." She warned. "They're going to try and give us more shit than we can deal with. We're already split between two bad guy positions, we don't need a third."
It was at this point that Jack had had enough of this shit. She had been ordered around all day. She had to endure getting shot down and then stuck in this shit hole little death box. Then she got used as a shield generator and now this bitch was annoying her. Well, she thought, fuck it. If the snipers are all the way over at the back of the outpost now, that meant the front was clear of them! Which meant it was time to do what she did best. Get mad and break skulls.
She bolted from her spot making a move for the batarian position. She thought she heard Thane calling out to her, telling her to stop or wait. She didn't listen, of course, because at this point she didn't care. She could break this siege all on her own so long as they kept those stupid snipers busy. She dropped down right in the path of the advancing batarians and jackals. She didn't know what they were doing suddenly rushing the base now, but she didn't care. Everyone right in front of her was about to die, period.
"I will fucking destroy you!" She shouted loudly at them.
Running on adrenaline now, Jack let loose a terrible biotic throw that shoved everyone directly in front of her back at least five yards. She then ran forward, striking out with a tremendous biotic punch that threw one jackal clean back into a rock. She let loose a shockwave that tore into their ranks, forcing the batarians and jackals to fall back. Her little escapade did not go unnoticed as the Marine and Army personnel inside rushed out to give her covering fire. So long as they didn't get in her way, fine. She was in her element now, the full range of all her abilities, now at her disposal and there was nothing anyone could do to restrain her.
Zek watched in horror as only a handful of his people made it to the tree cluster, gunned down by the newcomer humans and their sniper rifles. Their bodies smacked back into the sloping hillside and slid all the way down to the ground. They had anticipated his movements, damn. Well no matter, the stupid bald human had done Varvok's job for him.
The marines were coming out of hiding, confident that the snipers had been dealt with and they could engage openly. Zek knew better, of course. His people could get back into position within minutes and turn the tide back in their favour with relative ease. They could keep this up as long as they wanted. No one was coming to save these humans.
That was when he heard a rumbling. He turned to the woods, as did his men. Bounding out of the underbrush and trees were dozens of strange armless creatures with no eyes and giant gnashing teeth. They snapped at the kig-yar, forcing them back either off the ridge or along the treeline to get away. Zek watched as one of the beasts rushed him and he drew his plasma pistol quickly. He fired a rapid blast of bolts into the beast, killing it instantly, but it was a short lived victory. The next sound he heard were guns, human guns.
Following the beasts were muzzle flashes of the human projectile weapons, as well as what looked to be one giant massive reptilian creature, charging towards his people. He smashed his forehead into one, tossing him aside like a child's toy.
"Oh well this is just cheap, underhanded and sneaky." He complained as he watched the scene with a grimace. Then he suddenly smiled. "Kinda wish I thought of it."
With that, Zek took off, the beasts following him and his men wherever they scattered to. Out of the corner of his eye he watched as two of his people were picked up right off the ground and pulled into what looked like a small black hole out of nowhere. This was followed by another ball of energy that collided into the singularity and caused to explode, killing his men. Zek traced the ball back to its point of origin, a tall blue-skinned creature with glowing blue eyes and the same powers as the bald human. The alien stared at him once and he got a bit of chill for some reason.
"And this whole venture just went south quick." He grumbled to himself.
The blue alien launched something towards him. Not wanting to figure out what this ball of energy would do, he jumped off the side of the ridge and began to roll down. He grasped onto the side of the incline with his talons and pulled himself over to a tree that stuck out of the incline. He had a good overview of the battle from here, as much as good as that did now.
Samara lowered her arm. There was no point in chasing after the jackal as there were more wicked ones to slay than just him. She looked around at the scene before her, the wild blind creatures had been only a few at the start but their pack was large and nearby. Before long they had found most of their former chasers and had herded them in the direction of the battle at hand. It hadn't been easy, firing off guns to keep them running and scared. They eventually didn't have to do it anymore, because the blind beasts soon smelled the flesh of the jackals and leapt at the chance to close in on another potential meal. They had now scattered the snipers and the creatures were spilling over into the fight below.
Samara just hoped the creatures would focus on the enemy and not the people they intended to save. Still, the majority of the pack seemed interested only in the jackals for the moment. Also, they were largely trying to avoid the shootout at the front of the small structure below. She could only assume, and hope, the others were down there.
Before long, Kowalski caught up to her, slightly out of breath.
"I can't believe that this actually worked." He said amazed.
"It certainly provided the necessary shock value." Samara complimented. "Now we best make our way to a better position on the ridge to assist the Marines below."
Kowalski nodded once and they were about to leave when they heard something. There was one jackal running through the woods, firing back at the Marines and one rampaging krogan that seemed to keep dogging him and his little group. On this Jackal's back was some kind of strange radio like device and unlike most of the jackals up here, he did not appear to have a beam rifle. Grunt then got distracted with another jackal who had tried firing his weapon at point blank range, only to somehow spectacular miss the lumbering behemoth. This gave the jackal with the pack time to slip away as the krogan began to pummel the other jackal with the terrible marksmanship to death.
"He looks like he's got important equipment." Kowalski noted to Samara.
"Probably best that he not escape with it." Samara suggested.
With that, the Private levelled his Pistol at the alien as he ran and fired two straight into his back. The bullets penetrated the device, destroying it and killing the jackal.
Linda's channel suddenly became clear, the static dissipating. For some reason, she couldn't figure out why, the comms were clear. Her connection to the Normandy was instantly established and Miranda's voice entered her helmet as the static vanished.
"-Five-Eight, do you read? Can you hear me? The static just seems to be gone. Can you hear me?"
"Yes, our channel just cleared up too." Linda replied. "I don't know how, but it doesn't matter. We're in a bad way, Lawson. We need immediate evac. Zone is hot."
"Copy that, I found some of our people by a structure, UNSC and some of my crew. They boosted the signal on their lifeboat so I could locate them." Miranda explained. "We're still loading them up and their equipment, but we should be at your position in just a few short minutes."
A plasma bolt struck her battlement and Linda pointed her rifle towards where the shot had come from. She didn't even look down the scope. She just found the target and fired, killing a jackal with ease.
"Make it fast, Lawson." Linda requested. "We won't be able to hold out much longer."
It was a bit of a surprise to see Jacob among the fight. Jack knew he wasn't a pushover, but it was just a little weird to see him actually doing shit after being so cautious. Discretion didn't translate to lack of skill though as he proved. He may not have been an expert biotic, but when Jack saw him pull one of the batarians clear off the ground to fire a point blank blast into his stomach as he floated over him, she admitted she was impressed.
The former Corsair was at the forefront of the fight. Although from the looks he kept giving her he probably would've preferred continuing to fight from inside. Well what did she care? It wasn't like she asked for the Marines to start following her. Besides, they were winning anyway. The batarians were falling back along with the jackals. Between her and the Marines, this was a cakewalk.
At the moment, Jacob was directing the Marines and Army troopers among them to spread out and cover a wider range. There were still far more bad guys to deal with than they had people. Luckily, most of the cover was in their favour. The only people who stood a chance were those with their own personal multi-coloured riot shields and they weren't that successful. Jacob was easily able to gun down one jackal as it tried to advance with its shield held upright. With a DMR in hand, Jacob was able to precisely shoot the jackal in his firing arm through the side of the shield. They really had to get passed that design flaw somehow, Jack thought.
Jack also lent her shockwaves to the defence, forcing the batarians and jackals to remain shacked up in their little holes. They fell back to a patch of rocks just outside their range. That was worrisome for sure. They'd probably regroup and eventually storm their lines again given the chance, or at least according to Jacob.
"Thane, reposition yourself at the front of the battlements." He ordered over the radio. "We can't give them the chance to get up to the ridge."
"There are still a few jackals using the tree cluster for cover." Thane warned. "Linda thinks we should cover our flank until the Normandy arrives."
Whatever, as far as Jack was concerned they were in the clear with the Normandy apparently on its way. Nevertheless, their good fortune held out. Gunfire erupted from the ridge above, human gunfire, not more plasma beams. Something was firing on the rocks the batarians and jackals had retreated to, pinning them down for once. The answer as to who was the cause came over the radio soon after.
"Jacob, its Samara. Are you alright?"
"More or less," Jacob replied, "glad you could make it. Normandy is on its way to our position. All we have to do is hold out a little longer."
Samara explained what they had done to deal with the snipers from before. With the batarians pinned down and their sniper cover dealt with, that made waiting for the Normandy to arrive a lot easier to manage. It did feel a bit weird getting help from Samara, but perhaps being surrounded by innocent Marines was enough. Of course that didn't mean they were completely safe. Only a minute after Jacob and Samara finished up their conversation, a plasma beam cut down one of the Army troopers, the blast going through his neck. Everyone ducked and tried to find out where the shot had come from.
"Just our luck that some of the snipers survived." Jacob growled. "Thane, can you and Linda find him?"
"We'll have to wait till he shoots again to be sure." The drell replied. "Stay down, we'll find him, we have time."
They probably wouldn't even need to. Once the Normandy got into position they could just strafe the ridge with cannon fire until they were away. Jack was only disappointed in the fact that she had finally been able to let loose and in the end she was going to back into a stuffy ship. Samara's group on the ridge kept their eye out for anymore snipers and their fire on the batarians below. Nothing much to do for the moment excepct make sure no one came out of those rocks.
Everything had gone from complete shit to going just the way they wanted it. That streak seemed to continue when Miranda came over the comms again.
"Normandy on approach ground team." She spoke. "Mark your positions, we're going to give you cover while we send the shuttles down."
Zek saw the human ship just descend down from the sky, flying from the same direction those blind walking mouths and the humans had come from. The infamous Normandy that was on every Covenant Shipmaster's hit list, crewed with the worst, most loathsome heretics to defy their faith. Honestly, he wasn't surprised to find out the ship was smaller. The hierarchs made it sound like some terrible warship. This was only the second time he had seen it and it still didn't match the hype of some horrifying beacon of death. He was sure it was dangerous though, it was just he expected like spikes and it to be all black or something.
Almost as if on cue, Varvok had to chime in.
"Zek! This has all gone to hell!" he screamed aloud. "Where are your snipers? We need to kill as many of these two eyed bastards as we can before they get on the shuttles! And get these damn reinforcements off us!"
Zek was unmoved by the panicking outburst. Perhaps it was only natural. He should've shared his backup plan with Varvok, well better late than never.
"Not to worry, Commander." He assured the batarian. "The Normandy's arrival is surprising, but not unplanned for. I've had something waiting in the wings."
Zek changed the comms channel and contacted his final little counter-measure. By now the Normandy had flow directly over the structure and turned slightly to port, its nose pointing at the cliff. It was ill prepared for Zek's surprise. Coming out of the clouds from the left, was another ship, Zek's ship. It passed over the batarians' position and then fired at the Normandy.
The Normandy took a direct hit to one of its thrusters as it hovered in place. Everyone below it ducked down and ran inside the structure as the ship lurched in space. Miranda came over the comms next. Jack could just see her gritting through her teeth in frustration as she spoke. It was one of the rare times they shared the same emotional state.
"Damn them! EDI, how come we didn't detect them?" Miranda demanded.
"The enemy vessel must have advanced cloaking technology. I was unable to bring it up on the scanners until it revealed itself." The AI frantically explained.
The Covenant ship fired again, this time grazing the top of the Normandy. There was little room the move and they were in no position to fire back this close to their own people. The Normandy began to veer off.
"We're a sitting duck like this!" Miranda shouted. "Everyone! Fall back to the woods behind the structure! We'll regroup evac efforts there!"
"We're already moving." Samara assured. "We're far too close to the ship as it is from this angle."
Samara's group finally stopped shooting which meant the batarians had free reign once more. They and the jackals with them charged out of cover, firing at the humans that were left. Before long everyone was retreating to the woods, running through the structure itself to get there. Jack growled in anger and unleashed a terrible biotic blast at the enemy as they rushed their position. She managed knock away two batarians with one blow. She was not about to get killed in this shit hole and started her run back to the woods.
The humans were in retreat, even the always so bold bald one. It was good idea to keep the ship close by and cloaked, just in case things got out of hand. Were he an elite he probably would've called down the thunder from the start, but he was never one for overkill. It was such a waste of energy in his opinion. Even though it was unlikely they'd capture or kill them all now, at least he had kept Varvok's people from suffering more casualties. He wanted one more notch on his armour though and while his scattered men would be unable to prevent the humans from escaping into the woods, he could at least take down one.
He had a good idea which. The bald human was taking her time retreating, using every moment she had to fling an attack back at the batarians and his fellow kig-yar. Zek noticed through the scope how she limped to one side ever so slightly. An injury of some sorts no doubt. However so insignificant it was currently, it made her slow enough to be adequate prey. He'd never get another chance to take her down otherwise, she was too powerful. Maybe the Supreme Commander would appreciate the kill even. Normandy Crewmembers were high on the list of valued targets. But as Zek lined up the shot, Varvok interrupted his concentration.
"Zek, the humans are fleeing to the woods." He began "Do you see the bald woman with the biotics in the crowd?"
Oh, the human was a female then? He could never tell the difference between the genders of the human species to be fully honest. Irrelevant now, he just needed Varvok off the air long enough for him to make a kill.
"Yeah, relax she won't be using her weird powers on you soon enough." He assured.
"No Zek, you don't understand." Varvok quickly interjected. "I don't want her dead. Just disable so my people can capture her."
To say Zek was confused by the request was an understatement. Capture? He wanted to capture another human now? Really? Why? What was in it for him? Killing the human would net him some praise from Thel and his stupid Prophet shadow. The Supreme Commander would be pissed off beyond belief if he opted to just wound and capture the human. He'd be cheating himself out of the extra funds for services rendered.
But on the other hand... he'd piss off the grand asshole sangheili in charge and Varvok would probably take most of the heat for ordering him to only wound the enemy.
Really, what was the downside there?
"Alright, Crinkle Head," Zek grinned cheekily, "whatever you say."
He knew just where to shoot anyway, that leg was just about to give out after all. He pointed down and waited for the bald woman to stop. Then he fired, the beam easily sliced clean through her leg. It didn't take it off of course, but it no doubt hurt like hell as the human fell down clutching her thigh.
Jack roared in pain as the searing plasma burn cut deep. Why did the Covenant keep shooting her legs with their damn plasma? Were they just drawn to shooting at them? Honestly. She looked to the others who were still fleeing. She hadn't been keeping up all that well, admittedly, so they were further ahead. Jacob and Thane must've noticed her cries because she thought she saw them turn back. They weren't hard to spot. Thane was the only green person down here. They started making their way back for her and she tried to drag herself towards them.
That proved to be a bit more difficult when the batarians caught up. They poured out of the back of the structure and around it, firing on Jacob and Thane as they tried to get to her. As an added bonus to this sucky situation, a group of jackals had overtaken the structure and had lined themselves up along the battlements on the roof. They fired on the retreating humans and on Jacob and Thane's rescue attempt. Jack tried offer assistance, but it was hard to concentrate on attacking anything when you had searing pain in one leg.
Jack clambered to her knees and tried to walk on her leg, but it was useless. She collapsed back down, stomach first this time. She rolled over to see one of the batarians staring down on her with his four eyes. She let loose a biotic punch that sent him hurtling into the sky, but there were more around her. They kept their distance as Jack unleashed barriers in a nova wave. Their caution proved futile as they were thrown about. Jack wobbled to her feet and tried to hobble after the others. No sense in fighting like this, she was in no shape. And then someone shot her other leg. She fell down and turned to see a batarian and a few of his friends, one armed with an omni-tool.
"Disable her biotics! Now!"
Before she could try anything the one with the omni-tool set off a dampening attack. She clutched her head as her implant twitched. The batarians wasted no time in running over to her. The one who had issued the order to dampen her then slammed his foot down on her eyes.
Everything went black.
Thane tried to fire on the jackals that were blocking their access to Jack, but their shields wouldn't budge. The batarians were advancing and the Covenant corvette just kept getting closer. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the batarians dragging an unconscious Jack away.
His gaze was distracted when the sniper who had shot Jack fired again. Thane rolled to the side, the beam missed him. He then aimed upward and shot at the sniper, but he ducked into the cover of the tree trunk he was clinging to.
With the batarians advancing and Jack out of their reach, they had little choice but to fall back with the others. Jacob looked despondent and defeated at the mere notion. They scrambled up the incline with the others, furiously trying to avoid plasma and gunfire from below. Samara was waiting for them up top, pulling them both up.
"Is that everyone?" Samara asked them.
"No," Jacob relented. "Jack... they got Jack."
Another plasma beam cut at one of the trees as Jacob tried to explain. They couldn't stay here.
"We need to get to the shuttles," Samara said, "I've informed Miranda of a small clearing she can set them down in just a few yards away from us, come on!"
They ran into the woods, the Covenant corvette clear in the sky above them. All in all, a terrible end to a terrible day for everyone, at least six or so Marines and Troopers dead and one crewmate captured. But Thane knew once Shepard found about Jack's predicament, the Covenant would not go unpunished for their transgressions.
Romeo may have had a bad leg, but that didn't affect his sniping abilities. All he needed to do was make sure they had fewer problems to deal with. He took aim at one of the elites on structure's overlook while Garrus, who was right beside him took aim at the other.
"You sighted?" he asked the turian.
"Sighted," he replied, "fire on my mark."
Romeo never had many opportunities to pull synchronized shots, let alone with an alien. To say the least his day had gotten just a bit better now. He waited for Garrus to give the go with rapt anticipation.
"Mark!"
The two fired their guns at exactly the same time and both elites took a clean shot to the head. They collapsed onto the ground below, right in front of a group of grunts. As the little gas breathers screamed aloud, Garrus contacted Shepard.
"Move in!" he shouted.
The Hammerhead gunned it for the opening, speeding clean over right past Garrus and Romeo. The Warthog followed after it. Both launched off the slope and came down on the earth hard. Dutch had the machine gun while Buck sprayed his submachine gun at the Covenant in front of them. The little gas suckers scattered, but their little legs were hardly able to outrun the onslaught of bullets. A few made a dash for the ramp that led up into the structure. Some made it, not everyone did.
Rounding the corner of the structure near the cliff edge were three jackals, their shields over their heads as they rushed into battle. The Hammerhead's turret made short work of them, blasting them clean off the side of the cliff as they made their dash towards the box-like structure. This part of the area was now under their control.
Everyone more or less piled out of the Hammerhead. Shepard was first out, despite being the driver. He was done wasting time, he wanted to get his people out of here immediately. Shepard shared the sentiment and was quick to jump out of the Hog as well and join the huddle.
"Let's search the area." Shepard ordered. "Dutch and Buck, I want you to get up on top of that flare generator structure and kill any remaining Covenant you find."
"On it, Commander." Buck nodded, taking off for the structure with Dutch.
"Kat," Shepard continued, "you take the warthog and pick up Garrus and Romeo. Head to the second box-structure and clear it."
"We'll leave nothing left." Kat replied rushing to the Hog and taking up the wheel.
"Everyone else is with me." The Commander finished. "We got this section we've just cleared."
Everyone followed after Shepard as he moved on the box-like structure. They were careful, but quick. Shepard was on point, leaning out of the corner of building as he pressed himself into it. He bolted out of cover and the rest followed. Before them, right in front of a doorway leading inside, was a dead body of a Marine. Too late save him, but that didn't mean the others were gone.
Cortana quickly scanned the entrance to the structure as Chief's gaze turned to it.
"It seems this leads down under the main structure itself." Cortana explained. "The Marines must've taken refuge inside."
"Then let's move. They probably don't have much time left." Shepard ordered.
Everyone moved in, keeping in tight formation as they descended the twisting ramp into the underground cavern. As they moved downwards, they could hear plasma and gunfire up ahead. The Marines were still alive, still fighting. They reached a large archway and saw a trio of grunts with their backs turned to them. They were firing on something past a large pillar that was centered in the middle of some kind of chasm spanned by two see-through bridges.
Shepard ordered Kasumi to throw a flashbang in and she obeyed dutifully. The resulting blinding blast stopped the plasma fire as the grunts clutched their eyes in pain. Shepard then let loose a shockwave that sent one grunt flying. Everyone stormed the room after that. Tali turned right, catching a grunt in a corner of the room off guard. One shotgun blast and the grunt was smacked against the back wall with a bloody thump. Mordin set off an incineration blast that caught one of the grunts on fire. Chief turned the corner finding another grunt hiding there and finished him with a single pistol shot to the head. He then turned up ahead and fired another three shots into the last grunt. He took every hit and was forced right off the edge into the chasm below.
The whole thing was quick and clean and the team ran across the bridge to meet up with the surviving Marines. They were more than glad to see them all.
"I've already called for an evac." Cortana informed them all. "The Normandy is on its ways as well."
"Music to my ears!" Said one of the Marines, he turned to his men. "Assemble for evac, boys! We're getting out of this dump!"
Chief and Shepard took point again, finding a ramp that led upwards. It didn't take much to figure out that this would lead them to the second box-like structure. There would no doubt be more Covenant up there, possibly being distracted by Kat in the Warthog.
"I should head up first." Chief suggested. "I can clear out remaining resistance fast and you can keep the Marines covered."
"Sounds good," Shepard agreed, "lead the way."
Chief ran up the ramp, it didn't take long for a grunt to get in his way. He pointed his plasma pistol directly at him, only for the Spartan to smack him once across the face and then put a bullet into the back of his head when the hit spun him around. Another grunt, halfway up the next ramp, started running back and away from the Spartan, firing as he went. It was a futile retreat. Switching to his assault rifle as he ran up the ramp he gunned down the grunt with relative ease.
Chief eventually made it out into daylight once more. He could hear the sound of the Warthog's machinegun chattering away as the Covenant tried to counterattack. Chief could hear a plasma rifle up above. Sure he enough he rounded the corner to find a ramp leading ups to the roof of the structure. Up there, was an elite firing at the Warthog as it raced around the area.
Chief slowly made his way up and was about strike the elite from behind. But just as he was about to, the Elite turned, roared in his face and tried to deliver a punch of his own. Chief took the hit hard, his head twisting away from the alien, but he delivered back a punch that slammed the elite into one of the spires that covered the corners of the structure. The Covie was hit so hard he dropped his plasma rifle. The elite roared again and charged. Chief dodged the attack and fired a full magazine of clips into the elites' back. He cut through the shields and then plugged a few more rounds into the alien's back. The elite still didn't fall, but bent over gasping for air. Chief ended the fight with a swift rifle butt hit to the back of the Covie's head.
He dropped down from the top of the structure and walked out into the open. The Warthog sped around the corner stopping just in front of him. Shepard and the others soon followed out of the structure proper with the Marines.
"Clear here." Kat told them all. "Just ran over the last jackal on that final pass."
"Clear high!" Buck spoke up over the radio. "I think we got them all. Last gas sucker will suck no more."
"Then let's pack this in." Cortana told everyone, Foe Hammer should be along any minute.
The Pelican arrived a few seconds later, as did the Normandy. They both hovered at the cliff edge, their back doors opened wide. Even as they loaded the Warthog and Hammerhead up into the Normandy while the Marines took their seats in the Pelican, however, the significance of their victory was undercut but what Miranda told everyone upon her arrival.
Legion, Zaeed, Samara, Grunt, Thane and Jacob were all safely aboard. Jack was not. Two crewmates were captured and they couldn't help but feel like despite all their success they had still failed. Shepard had called a small huddle near the Pelican while the final preparations for lift off were made. He did not look happy.
"How the hell did this happen?" he asked with a grimace. "Two of our people just taken, right from under us, it's like the Collectors all over again."
"It's not your fault, Shep." Kasumi assured him. "We can't be everywhere at once."
"Besides," Tali added, "we saved our people back then. We can do it again now."
Easier said than done, Chief thought. Thankfully, they had an ace up their sleeve, namely a little AI that was listening in on everything the Covenant said.
"Cortana," Chief began to ask, "any idea where they're keeping the Commander crewmates and the Captain?"
"I just might, give me a second..."
Cortana paused for a moment, and came back with jubilant tone of success.
"That's it! I've located where they're keeping the Captain and Joker at least." She told them all. "They're being held on the Truth and Reconciliation. A cruiser I disable before we abandoned the Autumn. It touched down on a desert plateau roughly three hundred kilometres up-spin. Chances are that's where they're taking Jack as we speak."
"Then we need to link up with the survivors and start working on a rescue plan." Shepard concurred. "Good job, Cortana, thanks for your help. I need to see my ship, but we'll meet back up at the FOB."
Shepard stretched out his hand to the Master Chief who shook it slightly.
"Thanks for helping me round up my people." Shepard told him.
"Thank me when we get them all back." Chief replied.
Shepard just nodded and his group parted ways from the Spartan II back to the Normandy. Chief walked back to Pelican which was loading up the last of the Marines.
"So, I think that was a successful first outing with the Commander." Cortana noted to her Spartan companion. "Thoughts?"
Chief had little to say but the obvious at that point.
"He's smart, tactical, cares for his people and knows how to use those powers of his efficiently." Chief answered simply. "Only thing that confuses me is why he's still the rank of a Commander. He should be a Captain with his skills."
"That and he has his very own ship." Cortana added. "Maybe command structures and promotions are different in his universe."
Chief stepped aboard the lip of the Pelican and was greeted by Foe Hammer as they began to take off.
"Welcome aboard, Master Chief." She greeted. "Ready for dust-off."
The Pelican lifted from the ground and into the sky, accompanying the Normandy on its wing.
"We should move out of this airspace as soon as possible, Lieutenant." Cortana informed Foe Hammer. "And then we're going to need your help on a rescue mission."
Foe Hammer responded with a chuckle.
"No rest for the wicked, huh?" she asked.
"You know what they say," Cortana replied, "you can sleep when you're dead."
AN: Ugh, writing this chapter, both this part and the last part, ended up taking longer than planned, more info in my expanded notes on my profile for why. It was really difficult resolving all these little sub-plots for this mission. From now on I'm going to try and limit those if I can.
So, Jack is captured along with Joker. That's a pickle. I decided I wanted to Jack to be caught for a number of reasons. One, I need it to push something I'm working on along and I just like the idea of sticking one of the physically strongest Normandy crewmates together with one of the weakest. Rest assured she won't be a damsel. Jack would probably come right out of the text on the screen and strangle me if I did that, but she will be stuck in a cell for awhile.
I know you're probably all eager to find out how both Jack and Joker get out of this, but with the introduction to Installation 04 dealt with, it's time we check up on Liara and what she's doing. Next chapter we officially start the B-Plot to this instalment of "The Wormhole Chronicles" by going back to the ME Universe. Where we'll be introduced to a certain character you've probably been waiting on since Liara said she was headed to Tuchanka. See you then!