Gunfire echoed throughout the Square that the two squads advanced down. Both advanced in the form of Wedges, tips pointed toward a Rapture unit of taller, quad-legged mechs with rail rifles mounted to their arms and missile launchers on their backs. Spent casings clinked against the overgrown concrete below as the teams utilized destroyed cars, stands and even the remnants of a collapsed building as cover.
Smaller Rapture units attempted to flank, only to be met by accurate fire from Neon and from Niner, the latter of which still had three barrels to expend, plus almost a thousand rounds of ammunition. Meanwhile, Rapi took cover by one of the collapsed walls and poked out, firing a burst and then ducking back into cover as the return fire of the smaller drones, bullets drilling holes into reinforced concrete.
Layla moved in beside her and dropped to her knees, before leaning over and firing from down low. A burst caught one of the drones as it was pushing through a crack in the wall, disabling its gun. Rapi joined in next and called out, "Focus fire on the Oculus with me, Layla!" to which both girls immediately let loose a half-magazine each into the Rapture's glowing red eye.
It detonated, with both reloading. Layla stood up and pushed inside with Rapi and Pinne, the latter of which led the way with her much heavier armor. Bullets pinged off of highly-reinforced kevlar, while the taller trio of what the group called Thermite Beta units advanced, attempting to sidestep the obstacles. One of them aimed its twin rifles at the Chief, stopping and trying to lead as the Spartan charged forward with Mihara and Yuni right beside him.
The Chief jumped over cover, narrowly dodging both rifle shots, then emptied his magazine toward the machine mid-flight. Yuni and Mihara had time to do as they needed to while it was distracted by one of their two commanders, with the pink-haired petite one throwing her whip forward with a manic grin. She caught one of the machine's legs, wrapping the whip around in a second swing, then thumbed the whip's electrical emitter.
A burst of electricity snapped through the taut whip, coursing into the machine and disabling half of its functions. Chief swiveled about, as he had been running perpendicular to the axis of the whip. He now ran parallel, right toward the machine. A flurry of missiles left the launcher at the back, but the Spartan weaved through the hits, letting them harmlessly detonate behind him before clambering onto it and cocking his balled fist back.
With one harsh hammer blow, the Spartan cracked the machine's Oculus, jumping back and taking cover behind the corpse as the others advanced. Delta's sniper rang out from behind him, catching one of the other two Thermite Betas in one of the rifles. The weapon sparked and shorted, causing the arm to detonate as it tried to fire. The Chief turned about and gave a nod to the girl, before jumping over the corpse of the first Thermite.
Bullets sparked off his shield as the smaller Raptures fired their Machine Guns at him. A pair of flying ones also let loose a barrage of particle missiles, but Cortana quickly disabled their lock systems, forcing them to crash harmlessly into the ground. Rapi and Layla pushed through the building, with Anis joining moments later and firing her launcher. Two explosions flashed and the second Thermite took damage, shrapnel embedding itself into whatever biomechanical systems made up its left-side legs.
It growled, terrifyingly enough, swiveling about toward the trio of Nikke. Niner's Machine Gun roared to life as the girl advanced, a stream of high-caliber bullets cutting into the ranks of the smaller Raptures that also tried engaging her comrades. Chief, meanwhile, clambered on top of the Thermite that'd lost a gun, put the barrel of his assault rifle in its Oculus and opened fire.
Mihara and Yuni joined the other girls as another Sniper shot rang out from Delta. Signal also joined them, before the group broke into pairs. Pinne advanced up to the Chief as the Thermite collapsed, then told him, "Down to slugs, sir!" as she loaded the aforementioned ammunition. Armor-piercing high-caliber slugs would do some damage to the enemy, he thought.
He told her, "Keep it steady and aim to disable! Don't go for the Oculus unless you're close enough to see the energy field!" before patting her on the shoulder and calling out, "Sammy, move it up with Layla! Niner, on me! Delta's just reported another advancing unit!" and then switched over to his radio, speaking, "Commander Harris, we're being engaged... Any word on possible reinforcements? This area's crawling."
"Syuen's trying to blackmail us, so... I'm afraid we aren't getting anything unless a miracle happens," Alyosha replied, annoyed. Indeed, he'd told the team of the messages Syuen had sent him about 'a military coup' plan that they just 'happened to have found in his room'. His helmet grew a little warmer once more as Cortana upped her processing power for a nice little stinger of a counter.
"Roger," Chief sighed, then shut off his com and external speakers as he took cover to change mags. He asked Cortana, "Have anything?"
"Oh, plenty," The girl replied, annoyed, "I'm gonna hack Blabla so I can send the runt a little warning. You keep these bastards off of us, John," and, yet again, Chief was glad that he had Cortana tagging along with him. The AI had started learning the extraneous systems of the ArkNet, not to mention several of its communication apps. Blabla being chief among important messaging apps for Nikkes and Commanders alike.
"Make sure to keep it anonymous. And give her a good fright from me," The Spartan murmured, before poking out and drawing his pistol. He synchronized systems with the Nikkes' targetting systems and snapped off the first shot. A fussillade followed suit, missile, bullet and pellet striking the machine's hull and causing it to crack, crumble and then detonate. All other smaller Raptures in the area also detonated.
"Area clear!" Rapi called out a few minutes later. She looked to the Chief and gave a nod, then turned to Layla and offered her a smile, stating, "Nice work out there, Layla."
"Thanks, Rapi," The girl chuckled.
"Who says MP Nikkes can't fight!" Anis snorted, giving Niner a fist bump in the shoulder. The Commander and Delta both rallied with the group, smiles on their faces. Delta herself slung her rifle over her shoulder as Anis stated, "Guess morale really is a factor in combat capability, eh, Commander?" as she turned to Alyosha. Rapi, meanwhile, looked to the Chief as the man went on to reload his magazines with, apparently, the spare bullets from the nearly-empty ones.
The half-Uke replied, "Morale's always important in combat, Anis. Especially for you girls."
Chief hummed as the group got into chatting again, before listening as Cortana seemed to link to the Rapture BattleNet again. He heard a growl that sent a chill up his spine, Cortana calling out, "JOHN, LEFT SIDE! MAJOR ALVA SIGNATURE!" before he snap-turned his head to the left. He turned to aim his weapon, but felt the air knocked out of his lungs as a giant Rapture creature, more resembling a grotesquely-modified Gorilla than a war machine, charged forward.
He felt the thundering crash against a concrete wall and then heard the whistle of air around his ears. He took a half-second to reorient himself mid-flight, slamming his feet into the ground and stopping as he dug his hand into the ground. Concrete ripped, shards of stone, specks of dirt and grass flying around him as the Spartan skidded to a halt. He breathed heavily, looking up at the beast standing in front of him.
Indeed, a mess of mechanical frames and biological form, arms about the size of the Chief in full armor, synthetic and biological muscle tissue throbbing around metallic protrusions that glowed scarlet. Two pairs of narrow, scarlet eyes glared at him from behind a metallic helmet that forced whatever remained of its grotesquely damaged lips apart, revealing teeth that seemed sharp enough to cut through steel. Its legs and lower torso were mechanical, reverse-jointed. A mechanical tail, resembling more a robot snake that wiggled behind it, was attached at the hind area. Finally, on its back were a pair of missile launchers that also pulsed sickeningly like flesh.
"... So... That's Codename:Chatterbox," Cortana murmured, eyes wide.
It glared at him, breathing heavily. Its teeth shift themselves, as if they were attempting to mimic a grotesquely malformed human smile. Chief tensed, aiming his assault rifle at the beast. Cortana was about to say something, but it... it spoke to them, its voice chillingly human, "You can tell your little toy to stop scouring through our Communications Network. It will only drive her insane."
"What...?" Both John and Cortana gasped.
"I must say..." It clicked its teeth together, taking a few steps forward on all four, "I had thought there was only one of you in the world, considering what that one other lousy Nikke brought into the fold..." which instilled even further confusion in the pair. Chief, however, didn't let that take his attention away from the upcoming fight. He aimed the weapon. Chatterbox tsked, stating, "If that is how you want it..."
It barely managed to take a step forth before Chief's mind kicked into overdrive and he entered an almost trance-like state, where time seemed to flow exponentially slower. Or perhaps it flowed normally, but his brain could process it much faster? Nobody truly knew how to properly explain the existence of the common ability known as 'Spartan Time' among his comrades.
He squeezed the trigger as his left foot shifted. The first explosion of the powder, the first speeding projectile, the first spent casing falling from the chamber, all happened within the span of a second. In real-time, the Chief dashed clean out of the way of another of the beast's charges, firing all the while. Bullets pierced the thick hide of the monster, but didn't seem to slow it any.
Chief stopped, turned to aim high and fired, bursts hitting the armor plate on its head. It growled, then charged the Spartan again, forcing him to combat roll. Chief tucked, jumped and sprawled himself out of the way, hearing the monster crash into a concrete wall behind him. He rotated horizontally, landing in a spin and kicking up mud as he swiveled about, firing another burst into its back. He noted the spiderweb cracks left in the concrete as it, too, turned around and let out a roar. Six missiles left the back tubes, forcing Chief to run again.
Cortana scoffed, then said, "Bastard masked himself in the Alva Particles emitted by that battalion of Raptures! Must've commanded them to distract the others now..."
"Indeed," The beast replied as he watched the Spartan dodge the missiles, charging him yet again. Chief's reaction time kicked in again and he jumped out of the way of two fists clenched together that were coming down like a hammer blow on his position. Concrete cracked below the beast as the hit struck, but Chief was still a tad too close. Close enough for Chatterbox to swing at him while speaking, "Your partner seems quite knowledgeable, whelp. Your comrades won't be interrupting this little test."
The beast's balled fist slammed into the Chief hard. Luckily for his own survival, the Spartan stopped the swiping strike with his own hands, sending himself flying back a bit. He spun in the air and landed with his feet pressing against the concrete wall behind him, before pushing himself off of it and spinning through the air as he fired from above at the beast.
Chatterbox swatted at him while Cortana spoke, "So, you're testing us! What do you mean 'you thought there was only one'!?"
"Oh? I thought you figured it out by now... Someone saved that precious little Nikke that wields a machine gun. The same one you rescued from an untimely demise, I believe," It teased, aiming another burst of rockets and firing. One single missile made contact with the Chief, his shield blunting the heat as the concussive blast cancelled his momentum, forcing him out of the air in a rather teeth-rattling maneuver.
Chief landed on his feet, though, armor slightly charred. He emptied his magazine at the beast's head, noting the cracks starting to form in the armor. Cortana shot back, "So, what, there's another one of Chief's people out there..." And she blinked, then said, "... I'll investigate it when we get home, John. Until then? Wipe the floor with this bastard! His voice is grating..."
"Quite crass," Chatterbox replied with snark, charging the Chief again and cocking his fist back. Chief slung his now-empty rifle on his back and crossed both of his arms over his head just as the hit came. The ground below him cracked under the force of the impact, but the Chief was quick on his own feet. Crouching, then pumping his legs, the Spartan managed to throw the beast's own hand upward.
Taking that advantage to heart, Chief surged forward, delivering an uppercut to the monster's jaw that caused its teeth to slam together. It growled, but couldn't get its own hit back in as the Chief took the advantage. Taking a step back, then jumping right, the Spartan pushed himself off the reverse-jointed left leg of Chatterbox and put his hands together, mimicking the same maneuver Chatterbox had tried on him just a few seconds ago.
He brought his clenched hands down against its head like a hammer, denting and breaking the steel plate over its skull. It staggered, dizzied by the attack, but still capable enough to spin about, protecting his head and whipping the Chief away with his tail, causing whatever was left of his shields to shatter. Chief once more landed on his feet, stopping only when his back was pressed against the wall behind him.
Chatterbox snarled, "Insolent pest...!"
"I've been called worse," Chief shot back, drawing his pistol and firing. He charged forward, expending an entire magazine on Chatterbox, but forcing it, or him, or whatever, to hide its face behind its musclebound gorilla arms. With that, Chief jumped, tracing an arc as he spun in the air again, reloading and firing the pistol at the beast's exposed head, though hitting only the arm.
He utilized the thrusters in his armor to push himself out of the way of a swing from the machine, then yet again to augment a punch he had cocked back and charged for a good second. The hit struck Chatterbox's armo yet again, but Chief heard something crack within. He didn't have time to register it before its other fist came barelling at him. Once more, the Spartan crossed his hands in front, taking the hit with his armor and shields...
But Chatterbox grabbed him by one of his arms this time, yanking the Chief toward him and opening its mouth. Before it could do that, however, several rockets and a flurry of bullets struck the monster in the back, taking out one of its two rocket launchers. The monster roared and threw the Spartan toward the aggressors, only to have him stop himself mid-flight with his thrusters again amongst a dozen Nikkes that seemed angry.
"That's Chatterbox, then!" Anis growled.
"Mihara, Yuni! Get to work!" Alyosha called out, his pistol drawn. He looked to the Chief and asked, "You still with us, Spartan!?"
"At 100%, sir," He shot back, then ordered his team to move up and surround the monster. Before they could, though, it fired a flurry of missiles from its remaining launcher at them, snarling and roaring all the same due to anger. He scored a hit on one Nikke, more specifically Yuni, sending the rocket launcher and whip-toting Nikke flying into a wall. Mihara, noting that, growled and aimed her rifle, firing a series of automatic bursts toward its head.
The bullets scratched the exposed cranium, but the beast snarled and replied by extending its wounded arm out toward Mihara and firing a burst of energy from the spikes attached to its gauntlet. The Nikke took the angry scarlet beam to the chest, which caused her to fly against the wall behind her as Chatterbox seemed to fly into a fit of rage. It roared at them, "You interrupted my test! You useless trash-heaps will die!" as he aimed for Signal, of all people.
Chief stepped in-between the girl and the second outstretched arm attack of the beast, but didn't even have to tank any shot...
"-ven Dwarves are fully charged! FIRE!" A female voice echoed, breaking through the interference
"Acquired..." And a second, more familiar...
Two projectiles travelling at God-knew what speed struck the back of Chatterbox, causing the second missile launcher to break and even punctured through its back. It roared in pain, then turned about toward where the shots had come from, with the entire group looking up as well. Two figures clad in what seemed to be highly-advanced armor, draped over by white ponchos, stood there, hands holding the smoking barrels of high-caliber Sniper Rifles.
While the others gasped in surprise, on John's HUD, an IFF tag flashed. The figure to the right of the shooter with the bigger rifle was marked as a friendly, her ID tag flashing over her head, alongside her ID Number. 058. Chief blinked rapidly, then quickly hummed the six-beat tone known to any Spartan among the ranks. The figure paused, then scoped in John with what looked to be an SRS-99, though he couldn't make it out from this distance.
She replied over the radio, "Oly Oly Oxen Free... All in the free... We're all free..." Her voice cool, though hiding an undertone of surprise. Chief squinted, his visor polarizing and providing zoom. He saw the armor-clad Linda-058, though her face and helmet were obstructed by the hood, form a half-circle upward with two of her fingers. The signature Spartan smile.
Chief replied with a similar smile, standing up and looking up at the pair. The two women on the roof stared at each-other, then gave quick nods to the Chief and the rest of the group. The others turned toward the Chief, raising brows, while Cortana spoke, "That was a Pilgrim next to her, I think..." before humming, "Chatterbox got away, by the way..."
He sighed deeply, then looked over to the Commander and the others, stating, "We should move. There's a lot of incoming..." noting the data on his HUD. He saw that Linda had disappeared alongside the Pilgrim, before murmuring, "Should probably contact the Ark. We need an evacuation now," as he checked his remaining weaponry. The Commander gave a quick nod, then ordered the group to form up.
Delta looked to the Chief and asked, "Who was that, sir?"
"... A comrade of mine. And a Pilgrim, I assume," The Spartan hummed, then showed them, "Call the Ark, Commander. We need to get evacuation out of here before the rest of the enemy's units arrive..." as he prepared his gear for departure. The Commander rallied up his team, a smile on his face and nodded, then pulled up his communication device to call evac...