Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Hunter and Soldier. Enjoy the 2000-word chapter. I don't own Halo, Microsoft, and 343 do.
(2525, September 12th, Reach 5:45 PM)
She dragged him along, his limp arm slowly regaining strength at the time. Cal glanced at Gram before he sighed to himself as he shook his head. He was going to honestly be amazed if he didn't break down before he got there.
He was honestly amused when it comes down to it. He glanced at Cal who had calmed down for a second. It had been interesting as of the second. This was a lot more fun than he expected it to be.
"What happens next, ma'am?" Cal heard from Gram before he smiled as he tilted his head and sighed.
Still? He had been curious at the time. Cal looked up into the sky. He had been interested Gram smiled at her as he tilted his head at her. She glanced at him with a lot more interest than she had a few seconds ago.
Cal smiled, it was a small thing, but it was enough at the time. she had been curious as to what the hell would happen when they got back to base. It couldn't be a lot, there was only so much that could be done.
"The chief is going to kill us, ain't he?" Gram asked as he raised an eyebrow at the woman.
"Maybe, we don't know what will happen if we hike back home. How's the arm doing?" Cal asked as Gram shrugged and seemed to look back to the side.
She turned and checked, looking at his limb. There was a nasty welt, but it hadn't been anything permanent, it might scar, but none of it would damage his arm beyond what was normal. There was something about it that made him more than annoyed.
Gram cracked his arm before the pain slowly wrung itself out. He sighed and looked at her with an interest that hadn't been easily filled.
"He winged me; the round should have worn off by now. Last time it took half a day for that to work itself out." Gram said before he sighed to himself.
"You're starting to get cockier than usual," Cal said to which Gram simply shrugged and wondered what to do next.
"No, just more annoyed we're stuck down here so much. We should be getting out there, handling business. Instead? We're just down here waiting for something we don't know if it will come." Gram stated before he sighed.
Cal rolled her eyes, less than amused at his attempt to force himself into combat. There was only so much that could be done to help his arm. She knew he wanted to be in the front as well and this was also bothering her.
She was a soldier, yet she was constantly worried about Gram. The fact of the matter was he was a damn good soldier, but he seemed to keep pressing her to the wall as for the second. He had been interested in what was to come.
Still? There was more coming at the moment. A lot more on the horizon. He was honestly curious as of the second. She knew that there was more coming at the time, it was going to be hard for him to handle it.
Still? They were supersoldiers. Spartans, they'd be handled as assets, not soldiers, not people at the end of the day. This was going to be a lot harder than it was allowed as of the second. It was a lot worse than it had been interesting.
Gram cracked his fingers as a Pelican passed overhead. The engines roared onward before he seemed to tilt his head before the time. They shared a look at one another before they glanced around.
"You think the chief is going to take it less easy on either of us for winning training?" Gram asked before he raised an eyebrow. "We both know he's not someone who expects the rest of the training students to win when it comes down to it," Gram added before he sighed to himself.
He was honestly curious to himself before he was able to do some major damage. They'd handle it to the best of their ability. The more time he devoted to the training, the more he'd need to hone his skills as of the time.
"No, but I don't think he'll be too bad," Cal stated before she sighed.
"We're handling this to the best of our ability when it came down to it. I don't want to handle the mission he'll assign; we don't even know what he's been doing." Gram stated before he tilted his head before he sighed.
"Take it day by day as of the second," Cal stated before he sighed to herself. "We need to get back to camp, one way or another. The second we get back? The more we can relax." Cal added before he tilted his head.
More was to be done at the time. They had more time to handle this mission. The second they handled this properly, the better. Cal felt exhaustion take her as she fell to a knee. Gram sighed and walked up to the girl before she glanced at him.
There was a second of silence before the boy picked her up, wrapping her legs around his back and her arms around his neck. He slowly but surely started to walk forward with the older and taller spartan resting across his spine and neck.
"You help me and I'll help you, Cal." Gram said before he smiled to himself for a few seconds. "Let's just hope the chief doesn't go too hard on us when we get back. If he sends us out into the forest again? That's fine, but taking away the rations is just evil." Gram said as he slowly started to carry the Spartan towards the base.
(Unknown Planet)
The boots splashed into the water as they started to think of what to do next. Gram risked a glance over his shoulder before he tilted his head to himself. Gram was onto the mission and looked at Cal before he brought up his rifle before he frowned to himself.
He had been a lot more on the mind. There was more going on. There was the line before this ended, the more it came down to it. Gram was a soldier; he had been focused as of the second.
Cal took a knee and looked at the soldier before clearing her throat. Gram looked at her before lowering his rifle. This would be fun when it came down to it. Gram was going onto the mission and so was she.
"There's a lot more going on the mission. This is getting interesting." Gram stated before he hummed to himself. "How are we going to handle this, boss?" Gram asked before he tilted his head to the side.
He had been too interesting on the mission. This was going to end when it came.
"We're going to end this sooner or later," Cal added before she sighed. "We still need to reach the wreck, secure the area. It was a lot more interesting than what we expected at the time. I'll be honest, we're going to need to fight harder and better when it comes to getting the job done." Cal stated before as Gram shrugged and nodded.
He looked at the landscape. It was clear that they had started to burn out the planet and everything on it. Even if they fought their hardest, he had a feeling this planet was going to be scared as of the time.
"This entire planet is going to burn before the war is over." Gram stated before he turned to Cal. "The second we get there? The second they're going to send in the air support. One of those cruisers is going to burn everything rather let it go." Gram stated before he sighed.
It wasn't an untrue statement before as of the second at the time. The Covenant wouldn't let it go before this ended. They were going to be interesting to see how they made it out. Cal cursed herself for not asking for heavy weapons or anything similar.
She sighed as she seemed to carry herself forward. This mission was to end sooner or later. It had to be ended one way or another. That would be the only way that they could probably end this without possible bloodshed. This was going to be a long mission than he expected.
"We need to go forwards and end this." Gram said as a pair of Banshees passed overhead. "Let's get going, ma'am. The covenant is going to rip the ship apart if we don't get there in time." Gram said before he sighed to himself.
He had to put an end to this one way or another. Their mission had not changed, nor had they put this to bed one way or another.
"We're going to talk about this when we get back to the Leviathan," Cal said as Gram shrugged towards her.
"That's fine, I like talking. Talking is good, it's part of life. I'll handle that gladly one way or another." Gram stated before he slowly started to move forward and sighed to himself.
"I want to save every single soldier in the wreckage too, Gram. Don't act like I'm just writing them off as dead weight." Cal said as Gram turned towards her before slowly looking towards the wreckage as he started to move that way.
He cleared his throat for a moment before he hummed and started to speak anew. It would need to fall into place sooner or later.
"We can't just let everyone die if we're going to save humanity. We can't just let them fight and suffer." Gram said before he frowned. "I get it, hundreds for billions. I'm not questioning if it's wrong to make the tough choices." Gram said before he sighed to himself.
"Then what is it? You're never this worked up and even when you are? You tell me. You always want to tell me, I know you, Gram. I damn well am well aware of the fact that you are worked up about those Marines whom we are going to save." Cal said before he sighed to himself before he cracked his fingers and he hummed to himself.
The smaller Spartan turned towards her before he turned and fired a shot which took down a Jackal who was trying to sneak up on them. He motioned to himself before she slowly started to follow after him. She did so as he started to explain things to himself. He nodded towards her.
"There's a lot more on the line. A lot more than this, we both know what will happen if we don't save them." Gram said before he looked at the ship. "If we cannot save them? Whom can we save? We need to get going, the Covenant are going to send an army after us either way. The more ammo we burn through now means less to hold off the teams combing the wreckage." Gram added for a moment.
(Reach)
It was night by the time the two managed to find the barracks. Gram slowly pulled the door open. He glanced up into the sky before letting Cal down. His arm felt numb once more. He shook the pain off before he slowly started to slide down the wall and onto the floor. He felt as if he had carried a small weight across a few dozen miles. He looked at the tired and passed-out Spartan.
Her white hair made her look like a ghost.
Author Notes
Phew. Another chapter is done! I want to point out that the next chapter will be delayed and will show both Gram and Cal in training and more of their reactions. The next chapter is in 2-10 months and is 900-6500 words as of the moment. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!