Shocking Spartan
Chapter 4: What the Ladies Like
Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or any of the characters involved except Guardian L. Lightning
Chief, Lightning, and the troopers made their way down the collapsed ramp of the hotel's parking garage. As they set foot onto the beach below they heard a honk echo to them from around the corner.
"Chief!" A voice called.
A trio of warthogs pulled up alongside them, "We heard you were in the area and figured you would need a ride. You're going after that Scarab right?" One of the drivers asked.
Chief nodded.
"Grab a seat! We'll get you there!" the driver grinned.
Chief clipped his rifle on his back as he reached up to the mounted gun on the back of the man's warthog and pulled him up into the position.
"You can come too Spartan," another driver called from the second warthog.
Lightning repeated Chief's movements as he pulled himself up into the gun of the second warthog. The group of troopers moved to take the gun on the third warthog and the passenger seats.
"Let's move," Chief said.
The warthogs peeled out before taking off down the beach. As they approached a massive seawall they turned toward the waves down the short to get around it.
"Expect company. We've been getting reports of Covenant outposts being set up on the beach!" One of the drivers called out.
The squad sat up in their seats, and the Spartans readied their guns as the group rounded the curve of the seawall. A dozen meters ahead of them was a small grav-tower, and as a laser shot past Lightning's head, they saw it was currently manned by a pair of snipers.
"Keep your heads down!" Lightning called as he lifted his gun and opened fire on the tower.
The two snipers quickly ducked into cover behind the large crenellations of the tower. The squad continued forward, with the drivers giving the tower a wide berth to swing around. Lightning kept his sights on the snipers as Chief and the troopers opened fire on the supporting ground troops. Whenever one of the pair tried to peek out to provide covering fire, Lightning would pin them back down with another burst.
"Keep moving, we can't get held up here," Chief said as he saw his driver start to turn back to loop around.
The man nodded as he spun the steering wheel back in the other direction. The two other drivers heard Chief and followed suit. As the group approached another seawall they repeated the maneuver from the first one, and soon the encampment was left behind.
The group did not have a chance to breathe as they soon sped into another encampment.
"Same plan," Chief told them.
The group repeated their tactic of pinning down the snipers and rinsing through any supporting ground troops as they swerved around.
"There!" Cortana shouted.
The group looked ahead to see a collapsed section of a road tunnel.
"Up there men, get us into that road tunnel! It'll emerge out onto the bridge."
The drivers nodded as they turned toward the ramp of rubble. The group sped up the collapsed wall and emerged into the tunnel. They spun around to face the direction of the bridge and took off. The first mile was uneventful as they continued to speed through the tunnel, weaving through abandoned vehicles as they went.
"Any idea where the scarab could be?" Lightning asked his driver.
Before the man could reply the group's attention was caught as another warthog dropped in from a hole in the roof of the tunnel, only to be vaporized by the beam of the scarab. They heard the roof rattle and saw small trails of dust descend as it moved on.
"There, sir," the driver replied.
"Look alive people, we've got company!" The ODST leader shouted.
A trio of ghosts had appeared around a turn in the road ahead and were now speeding toward the group. Lightning lifted his gun and opened fire on the closest one. The grunt driver shied away from the barrage of bullets and turned his ghost to avoid them, darting behind an abandoned car for cover.
"Keep going, we need to catch up to the Scarab," Chief ordered.
The drivers did not answer as they continued driving. Lightning and the ODST on the third gun spun around to keep the ghosts from following them.
"Up ahead!" The ODST leader shouted again.
Lightning and the trooper spun around to see troop transports carrying ghosts moving slowly through the tunnel.
"Aim for the gunners first," Chief said.
Lightning and the Trooper raised their weapons toward the rear-facing turret as a grunt stepped up behind it and took aim. The two groups opened fire, the plasma bolts narrowly missing the warthogs as the drivers weaved to avoid them. Lightning downed the first grunt, and as the trooper beside him continued to pour rounds into the vehicle, they saw blue flames begin to appear on its sides before it exploded in a massive fireball.
The troopers let out a cheer as they sped past the burning wreckage. The remaining two transports of the convoy went down similarly, and as the last one was dealt with the group turned to face the road ahead and saw the end of the tunnel fast approaching.
And in the distance, they saw the tail end of the Scarab advancing down the bridge.
"We're almost there," Lightning said to himself as the group emerged from the tunnel's exit. They slid to a halt as blockades prevented them from going any further. Leaning up against them was a pair of marines.
The group dismounted and approached the pair, and one of them looked over her shoulder to see Chief.
"It blew right through us. Ignored everything we threw at it; .50 cal, rockets. Didn't do a thing."
Chief nodded as he looked up at the Scarab. Then the whole squad turned to see a Pelican approaching. It lowered to the ground on the far side of the barricade and dropped a scorpion tank. Johnson emerged from the troop bay and walked up to the squad.
"Where's the rest of your platoon?" he asked the marine.
"Wasted Sarge," she answered.
Her partner spoke up, "And we will be too sir, if we don't get the hell out of here!"
Johnson grabbed the man as he tried to move past him to the pelican.
"You hit marine?" Johnson asked.
"N-no, sir."
"Good! Then listen up!"
He shoved the marine back toward his partner and turned toward the tank.
"The Chief is gonna jump in this tank, roll across the bridge, and blow up any inhuman son-of-a-bitch dumb enough to get between him and the Prophet of Regret."
Johnson turned back to the marine as he pulled out a cigar.
"So pull yourself together, because you're goin' with him," he said as he pointed the cigar at the marine.
"What about the Scarab?" The squad leader asked.
"We've all run the simulations. They're tough, but they ain' invincible. Stay with the Master Chief, he'll know what to do," Johnson answered as he put the cigar in his mouth and turned back to board the pelican.
"Thanks for the tank, he never gets me anything," Cortana called from Chief's helmet.
Johnson grinned as he pulled back on the bolt of the minigun mounted in the pelican's troop bay.
"Oh, I know what the ladies likeā¦"
The pelican lifted off and the group watched it depart before moving to board the tank.
"Lightning, take point," Chief called to him as he indicated a gap in the barricades.
Lightning nodded and moved to one of the warthogs. He stopped as he realized something, turning back to Chief.
"You didn't call me Petty Officer," he said.
"He may have warmed up to you, but I still haven't. You've got a lot left to do to prove you're worth helping before we agree to anything Petty Officer," Cortana told him.
Lightning's face lit up in a grin under his helmet.
"Yes ma'am! I won't let you down!"
