Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Hunter and Soldier. Enjoy the 2000-word chapter. I don't own Halo, Microsoft, and 343 do.

(2526, April 14th, Unidentified Planet 1:25 PM)

Neither Spartan had stopped firing. They had simply dropped magazines, loaded new ones into their weapons, and continued firing.

They had also managed to drain 2 plasma weapons which had slid towards them as they had fired into what seemed to amount to dozens of soldiers. Both Spartans found their enemy almost unstoppable.

Yet there were plenty of soldiers that were rather eager to battle if it meant that they died. Something the Spartans were starting to realize as they shared a look.

"At this rate?" Gram asked with a raised eyebrow and frowned to himself under his armor. "We can simply wait them out when it came down to out." Gram stated while he rolled his eyes.

He had seen plenty of soldiers fall to their firepower and it meant they were also drawing more fire from the rest of the Covenant forces on this planet.

"Very funny." Cal snarked to which Gram simply raised his arms. "They're blocking the way out," Cal added before she frowned.

"No. They're in the way of the objective." Gram stated with a frown as he did so. "So, we go through them. The more of them we take down here. The less we deal with down the road." Gram added before he leaned from cover to see what they had been set against.

He knew their mission wasn't this and Cal wanted to get onto the task at hand. The small problem with that? It meant she still had a problem with him caring about the marines on this planet as much as their objective. In his mind? The soldiers here were as precious as anything else. Both data and UNSC personnel were vital in his mind, and he refused to see it another way from that. Cal knew this and yet. She wanted to see this to the end.

Gram snatched another plasma weapon and emptied its battery in their direction. One of the armored Elites collapsed into the water as the plasma ate into their armor. Bolts of plasma bounced off his shield and forced him into cover.

"Well. Their persistent." Gram stated with more amusement than it seemed possible in his tone as he scrapped the weapon.

"More persistent than you?" Cal questioned with a raised eyebrow as she did so. "They're still sending in more reinforcements. We're going to run out of ammo sooner or later." Cal stated to which Gram looked towards the path from this location.

Cal knew that if she tried with Gram. They'd have at least 2 dozen streams of plasma that sliced into their bodies. Both wouldn't make it 20 meters at this rate, and it showed.

"Why is the plan always to throw ammo at the enemy?" Cal asked before Gram started to raise an eyebrow towards her. "There's always a fight when we go on missions. We always end up going loud." Cal said to which Gram rolled his eyes.

"Maybe because we end with someone trying to shoot either of us," Gram responded as he did so. "Simple as that. Secondly? We're shooting through them. It's not exactly that hard." Gram stated while he rolled his eyes.

Still? Something had to break when it came down to it. Their entire existence seemed to be drawing half the enemy army towards their position and it wasn't exactly something he had a problem with. The longer they stayed here. The more the enemy lost in combat. It was still only a matter of time before they were over in combat. The second that they ran out of bullets was the second that they lost this battle and they'd be ripped anew in battle. It was amazing that they hadn't once planned to do next if it came to that.

It helped a lot that they had a lot more on their plates than it seemed. They didn't seem to mince words at the second and it came down a lot more to their ammo than it did to any real tactics.

He pulled a grenade from his belt and tossed it towards their forces. It exploded in a flash of light and fire before they made their retreat. Both Spartans pushed their bodies to the limit as they ran after the enemy behind them. They rolled into the stones and vanished into the shoreline once again.

There was a small lance over their shoulder with interest. They stared into the water where they had come from. It had been rather odd for them to send so many soldiers after them. Yet it wasn't exactly a surprise considering the fact there was more on their plates.

Another shared glance at the other forced them to remember that they still had an operation to carry out. The sooner they carried that out was the sooner they managed to go home.

Both continued their advance towards the objective. They had to place more distance between them and their problem. If they reached it with more time to spare? It was possible the Covenant wouldn't have managed to find anything in time.

It wasn't as if they had expected any real intel aboard the ship. Almost all of humanity was willing to die with those coordinates so others didn't need to. It came a lot down to if they had enough courage. It still bothered him that there were so few of them to battle in this area. So many lost to the void and did not return anytime soon. This bothered the Spartan more than it seemed possible.

'Why do they need to die in droves? What the hell do these monsters want that requires mass genocide? Who is the hell running these operations when it came down to it? We need a lot more on staff when it came down to it if we're going to defeat her before this end. How the hell are they this powerful?' Gram mentally questioned with a raised eyebrow before he seemed to stare around the area.

Cal stared into the sky while she glanced at him a second later. They had a lot more on the end of the line if they didn't move, yet with the Covenant chasing both? They'd have a lot harder of a time trying to win this battle and carry out what they had been dispatched for. It bothered him, yet not to the degree he honestly expected to it.

"We weren't supposed to run into hostile patrol," Cal said while Gram shrugged. "It makes the job harder, Gram. The more soldiers we run into. The harder this mission becomes." Cal stated before she raised her rifle to her face to try and get her bearings around her.

This place honestly seemed a lot more interesting than it appeared. How did they proceed with their course when there was no down-low way to handle it? It seemed as if they were pressed to the wall harder than it had been possible.

Yet he was still one to carry out the orders they had given him. gram checked his six and set a firing position next to him on the wall. It was honestly a lot more interesting when they were on task rather than off it and on their ships.

He pondered if he was honestly right to handle these sorts of battles directly. ONI didn't seem to know what to do with them and it showed in how little their tactics. They were supersoldiers and they were being sent on black ops missions on backwater planets which had yet to stop them. The sooner they were back aboard the Leviathan, the sooner he'd be able to put these thoughts to rest and do something that felt right. If he didn't? It'd honestly bother him more than he found at all right to do. Cal said nothing for a moment or so.

"This mission is going to take a while if we travel by foot." Gram stated to Cal before he shook his head. "Maybe we find a hostile warthog, drive it down the coast or something? It will be better than nothing. We aren't going to make it even if we sprint at this rate." Gram stated before he crossed his arms.

It wasn't exactly a lie, and she knew it. The sooner this was done meant the sooner she could review her tactics and see what the problem was. It had become a far worse problem than it seemed to be.

She stared at him with a sigh as he seemed to consider the fact that they were going to be seen as the enemy either way. It had been a lot harsher to consider for a single second. It was a lot harder than it seemed to fathom that their war was a lot more likely to end with them all dead. They hadn't become the top of the food chain.

"Doing this quietly is out. They're going to be after us every step. We need to get going before they launch another attack." Gram added as he slowly started forward. "Secondly? Those marines are worth it, even if our orders say so? They'd know more about if the ship had been compromised. We should just let them die so the mission gets done." Gram stated as Cal looked at him.

She glanced at him. It was clear the two Spartans were at an impasse. Neither wanted to back down at the moment. She was well aware that he hadn't wished to let people die. She didn't wish to either if they had come here on search and rescue? She'd beeline straight to their army and carry as many soldiers as possible onto the craft.

"And if they don't make it when we get there?" Cal questioned to which Gram sighed and waved off her concern. "We can't save everyone. We both know that. We both hate that, and yet we can't change it. The more times we deny that? The more we're spitting on the people who die. This mission isn't perfect, but we still need to stop them from getting that data and screwing over the UNSC." Cal added to which Gram crossed his arms.

She knew it was going to get to him. It had been getting to him since then. This was a bridge they'd need to cross sooner or later. She didn't enjoy the idea of treating soldiers as cannon fodder, not at all. Cal still knew that if they didn't complete the mission? It wouldn't matter how many people died to the enemy; they'd lose even more to the rest of the world if anyone came to Earth. He was aware of this. She knew he was no matter what.

He slowly walked off towards the objective and left the Spartan sniper alone with her thoughts. She knew more than anything that he had problems with and simply wanted them to be handled today. Today was not going to be an easy day for her nor the soldiers who had to suffer because of it. This was going to hurt a lot of people at the end of the day.

'If there was ever a time to hate being on the frontlines? Now would be the time for that to suffer when it comes down to it. I can't just ignore the mission, but I can't ignore the soldiers either who are at the mercy of the covenant.' Cal added to herself mentally.

Author Notes

Phew. Another chapter is done! I want to point out that the next chapter will be delayed at the time. The next chapter will be in 900-8500 words at the moment. The next chapter will be in 2-10 months and will show both Cal and Gram approaching the mission and another flashback. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!

P.S: Next chapter will be a bit longer than this.