Delta Squad continued their silent run toward the ruined apartment nearby, still feeling rather disturbed by the short tale about the Flood, until they finally arrived before it. However, they saw that the bombed out bottom floor; seemingly a former basement, was divided up to two hallways, separated by a wall.
"Looks like we need to split up," Kim stated while he looked at both ways, trying to figure out how Delta Squad would've to continue from here. Splitting his squad in two and then taking one half with him one way and letting the other half take the other seemed to be the best course of action, but he wasn't sure if there were any grubs inside waiting for them.
"Wait, lieutenant; let me first scan out if any grubs are right inside," Cortana then requested from Kim, not wishing to see Delta Squad risking walking right into another ambush.
"Alright, do it," Kim agreed, and Cortana quickly scanned both hallways for any hostile signals. So far, she didn't find any, but that didn't mean that there couldn't be any grubs hiding further in the building. Or if they'd yet again pop up from the underground when Delta Squad would least expect it.
"Don't find any so far, sir. But I'd advice caution knowing just how unpredictable these grubs are; they might be hiding inside just too far for my radar to catch their signals," Cortana said, to which Kim gave a small nod, acknowledging her advice.
"Right, then we'll have to deal with them if so. Fenix: you, Carmine, Master Chief and Johnson will go right. I, Dom, Arbiter and Guilty Spark will go left," Kim ordered.
"On our way," Marcus confirmed while he took with him his part of the squad through the right hallway while Kim led the rest through the left.
Once inside, the Master Chief led Marcus and the others through their end of the basement toward a doorless opening by the end of its wall further in, with so far only silence greeting them.
"Move up," Marcus whispered as he and the rest continued their walk through the basement and toward the opening, that led to crumbled but flattened debris burying the stairs that led up to the first floor above them.
"Starting to get some signals now Delta; be careful," Cortana stated as her radar was beginning to pick up a few distant signals; most likely hostiles, hiding further in the building.
"Acknowledged," Marcus answered while he led his half of the squad alongside the Master Chief, and as if on note, familiar, guttural growls could be heard echoing through the building. Knowing that that meant, Marcus and his fellow squad members readied themselves for the coming fight.
"Time to kick some ugly asses," Johnson declared as he climbed up the debris toward the first floor alongside with the others. And it was indeed the time, because now, Marcus and his squad members could hear gunshots echoing from the part of the building there Kim led his half of the squad through.
"Hostiles!" they could hear the lieutenant shout before he and his half of the squad began firing back at the grubs.
"We're on it!" Marcus shouted back while he, the Master Chief and the others continued their march through the first floor they'd climbed up at and toward a hallway turned at the left corner, ready to try and find a way to flank the grubs to support Kim and his team. However, as they soon about to turn the corner, Cortana quickly called out:
"Wait! I'm picking up a grub signal around that corner! I'd bet that he wants to give us a big welcome with some good old-fashioned bullet storm," she finished as her human companions quickly hid behind the wall that led to the corner toward the hallway; with the Master Chief being the one closest to the corner. So, he was the one who quickly peeked to see if it really was a grub-operated Troika waiting for them.
And as soon, he did so, a fire barrage from the Troika greeted him, forcing the Spartan to quickly pull back.
"Yeah, quite the polite welcome from them," the Master Chief commented before he peeked yet again around the corner; this time to try to take down the grub operating the Troika. He managed to fire a few rounds while his energy shields protected him from the rounds fired from the Troika before he again had to pull back behind his cover before the Troika would eat up all his energy shields.
Meanwhile, Cortana scanned the first floor for any way that might help Delta Squad to flank the grubs. And she found out that to the left side of the hallway, close to the opening where the Master Chief and his comrades were covering behind, was a smaller corridor with a glassless window that peeked into a room from where the grubs that were keeping Kim and his men busy seemed to operate from.
"Guys, I see a smaller hallway toward the left leading toward a window behind which the grubs keeping the others busy are. I suggest that one of you uses it to take care of them. It might help the lieutenant and his men to outflank that Troika in the process," she advised while the Master Chief was doing his best to try to take out the Troika, with his fellow squad members standing behind him by their cover.
"I'm on it if you can cover me! I need to get pass that Troika if I need to support Dom and the others!" Marcus volunteered, ready to take the grubs head on if only his fellow squad-members could provide him the support he needed if they'd to do this right.
"I will; walk behind me and my shields will keep both of us in one piece," the Master Chief agreed to help. Marcus quickly nodded and closely walked up behind the Spartan's back, allowing himself a quick moment to notice just how huge the alien-human super commando was. For a moment, Marcus felt like he was some scrawny kid seeking protection from his dad against some mean and nasty bullies that had picked on him at the playground and now were about to suffer his dad's wrath.
If only his real dad was here; if he was, then his dad would've already figured out how to end this bullshit war way earlier than this resonator idea would ever come up. If only Marcus hadn't fucked up that day four years ago; then he wouldn't have lost just his dad, but also a large portion of Jacinto Plateau, his carrier as a beloved and respected Gear, Hoffman's trust and, most importantly, the countless lives of many Gears.
And Marcus was certain that his dad wouldn't mind meeting his son's new, if strange, friends who came from the stars. He'd like to believe that his father would be quick to become fond of this Master Chief, the unstoppable warrior who in just one day had proven himself a dedicated and trustworthy comrade of Marcus'.
"Let's go," the Master Chief gave the signal, and Marcus closely walked behind the Spartan as they walked right out the hallway before the Troika's view. And the grub quickly fired upon them, thinking them absolute morons to just willingly exposing themselves like that before its rapid fire. Marcus walked closely behind the Spartan while they walked out of their cover and toward the smaller, left-sided hallway, the Spartan armour's energy shield holding up against the loud, heavy fire.
The second they managed to get to the smaller hallway, Marcus quickly ran of the Master Chief and toward the window of which Cortana had mentioned about while the Spartan himself began to fire back at the Troika. Once he reached it, Marcus peeked in to see two grubs covering behind some furniture and firing at some unseen part of the building; obviously at where the other squad-members were attacking from. Wasting no time, he quickly aimed his assault rifle through the window and opened fire. Unaware that he was firing upon their exposed flank, Marcus managed to already kill one of them, reducing its left temple into a bloody, splattered mess. The other grub, realizing what was happening, tried to turn its fire at Marcus, but that left it exposed to Kim's group, who quickly fired upon it and took it down, leaving that room now clear.
And through the window, Marcus could see that Kim was leading his half of the squad through the room and toward the Troika, who was still being occupied with its fire-duel with the Master Chief. Therefore, it didn't stand much of a chance when Kim, with a loud "Flank it!," fired upon it along with the others.
"The hallway's clear! Let's continue!" Cortana called out as the grub opposition had been cleared before them. The Master Chief quickly led the way while Marcus, Johnson and Carmine ran after him. But as the Master Chief reached to the Troika, more loud growls could be heard echoing the building, signalling that more grubs were on their way to face them.
"Chief; getting some nasty grub signals emerging behind us," Cortana warned as she caught up hostile signals suddenly appearing – probably from a distant E-hole – near the position that the Master Chief and his fellow squad-members just were at.
"Got it," the Master Chief confirmed while he took hold of the Troika and aimed it toward the hallway, leading Johnson and the two Gears to suddenly stop and stare at the Spartan, uncertain if he was aiming at them or not.
"Wait, Chief, what are you…" Johnson began when Cortana quickly interrupted him.
"Get down to the floor, squad!" she shouted out, loud enough for even them to hear amongst the sounds of gunfire and growls. Johnson, realizing now what the Master Chief was planning, quickly acted.
"Hit the deck, boys!" he shouted as he quickly hit the floor, lying there still. And more acting on reflex than anything, Marcus and Carmine quickly did just the same. And as soon they were lying down on the floor, the Master Chief began firing the Troika toward the other side of the hallway. And they could hear the guttural screams of dying grubs echoing behind them as they now realized the Spartan's plan. They didn't dare, though, to try to peek behind them to see how it went for the grubs trying to attack them from behind, as just one single, measly movement might cause one of the bullets flying above their heads to hit theirs. So, they kept their heads low, lying perfectly still while the Master Chief kept firing at the grubs, waiting for the moment when he'd stop firing.
After a moment, the Master Chief ceased fire and Marcus dared give a small peek behind him, seeing that behind him, Carmine and Johnson, a handful of grubs lied dead on the floor, their splattered remains painting the hallway red.
"The coast is clear! Hurry up toward the Chief before more of them may come!" Cortana called out while as the Master Chief let go of the Troika, ready to continue led the way for Delta Squad in their search for Alpha and their resonator. Marcus quickly got up and began catching up with the Spartan, but not before he and Carmine helped Johnson up on his feet.
"Thanks boys; getting a little too hard on my old feet here. Maybe it's time for me to consider retirement," Johnson said right after he was being helped getting up from the floor by the two Gears. Not that he wanted to throw in the towel and call it quits, but even he, in his own stubborn, strong-willed attitude, knew that it was only so far he could push his old body to the limit before it eventually would give up. And he hoped it wouldn't be when his aid to his new friends mattered the most.
"Just this one last job, old-timer, and I believe that we all can retire from this war bullshit," Marcus tried to encourage the sergeant to not let his old age stop neither him or the rest of them now; not when every bit of effort they all still could bring into this – hopefully – final battle of this war counted. "You still got that whole saved-the-galaxy party you mentioned about before, remember. Soon you're going to add saved-this-godforsaken-planet-as-a-bonus to it as well."
"Yeah, I still haven't cancelled that one. Let's go and finish this mission so that we all can drink and smoke ourselves stupid tonight," Johnson agreed, following the Gears with some more newfound encouragement. If he'd finally drop, it sure as hell wouldn't be before he'd dealt with those ugly-ass reptilians for the nasty and meanspirited attitude they'd greeted the heroes of the galaxy with.
Soon they'd joined up with the Master Chief, who then kicked open the door behind the Troika and led them into the room behind it. A room that seemed to be a large lobby supported by multiple columns. And in this lobby, they managed to regroup with Kim and his men as they continued through the lobby toward its right side of its sealed-up, boarded entrance, leading to its bombed-out, opened wall that in its turn led to what seemed to be a rusty, barely kept-up ware- or parking house. And inside it were the Locusts waiting for them behind their heavily fortified positions. Further in the warehouse were one grub-operated Troika at the floor slightly above the ground one. And covering it was one grub positioned up at a storey overviewing the main floor. And they both immediately began firing upon the advancing Delta Squad.
"Split up and take cover!" Kim shouted while his squad did just that, taking cover amongst the debris lying around in the former warehouse while the grubs kept firing upon their positions.
"So, anyone got any plans?!" Dom asked out loudly while he tried to fire at the Troika, only to quickly having to duck back behind his cover when that seemingly unstoppable bullet machine turned its attention at him.
"That door below the upper storey might lead to stairs up toward the grub's position up there for you to try flanking it and take it out first. Then one of you can take out the Troika from up there! That, or you can try to wear them out from here, though I wouldn't favour that option," Cortana advised as her radar noticed the door below the storey that sure should lead up toward the upper Troika's position.
"No thanks! I'll take care of it! You guys keep those freaks' attention away from me!" Marcus shouted while he waited for the grubs' attention to be drawn away from his position so that he could then try running toward the door leading up to the storey above.
"We'll take care it! Just go and take out that grub!" Kim shouted while he and the rest of the squad began firing even more toward the grubs, managing to keep their attention away from Marcus as he ran toward the door that Cortana managed about, quickly kicked it upon when he reached it and found himself facing a pair of stairs. Wasting no time, he quickly ran them up, hearing the grub's fire getting closer by each step up he took. And when he finally reached the storey up, the grub's attention was so fixed on his fellow squad comrades that it didn't notice him until it heard a revered-up chainsaw bayonet behind it. And even then it didn't have the time to even turn around before those revered-up metallic teeth quicky reduced it into a gory mess. Therefore, the first grub had been dealt with, and Marcus quickly began make his move to take out the Troika-operated grub the floor below. So, he quickly took out a Bolo grenade and threw it at the Troika, of which the grub operating it happened to also be too focused at the rest of the squad to notice it before its sudden explosion reduced it to a bloody shower of gory, splattered pieces, finally silencing the Troika.
"Sweet!" Marcus could hear Dom say out. But at least one grub was still alive, covering behind one of the pillars holding up the storey and firing at Delta Squad, trying to stop them from advancing further. But it stood little chance when suddenly, the Arbiter came around the debris nearest to it and tackled it down to the ground, his Sangheilian strength and frame far superior to those of the Locusts'. And the grub could only sneer and growl at him in defiance before the Arbiter quickly revered up the chainsaw bayonet of his new assault rifle and thrust it at the grub, reducing it into splattered remains far too bloody and gory for the Arbiter's taste.
"So inelegant," was the Sangheili's only comment when he saw the result of the bayonet's work, noticing that some of that work had splattered much of itself at his armour. He quickly swiped much of that gore from it before he joined up with the rest of the squad. Next time, he'd only use that chainsaw bayonet if he really had too; otherwise, he'd use his plasma sword for close combat. Sure, he still got his carbine and he'd prefer to use it instead of the Lancer rifle as well, but he only got so much ammo left for it and it'd be hard to replace that spent ammunition for the carbine in this very distant, obscure part of the galaxy, so unless he'd need it to engage in midrange sniping combat rather than up-close firefights, he would've to mainly use the Lancer for now.
But suddenly, the whole squad could feel the ground shake and hear some of it cave itself in behind them. And they immediately knew what was happening.
"More grubs on their way! Go, go, go!" Kim shouted while as familiar guttural growls could be heard behind Delta Squad, emerging from the lobby they'd just left behind at. "Someone get on that Troika!" the lieutenant demanded as he quickly led Delta Squad toward the other side of the warehouse so that they would've a better position in facing the grubs emerging behind them.
"I'm on it! Time for an old man to show you kids how wars is really fought!" Johnson declared while he quickly took hold of the Troika, aimed it toward the charging grubs and quickly began firing at them as they came in great numbers; at least ten or so, charging toward Delta Squad's position. Johnson managed to kill several of the grubs in short numbers, but a few of them still managed to evade his fire and were now firing at Delta Squad behind their covers amongst the debris.
Around two or three of the grubs tried to charge toward Johnson's Troika with the intent to take him out. But his fire managed to quickly reduce all of them to bloody, splattered pieces. But not that would scare the rest of them off from continuing their attack against Delta Squad. One of them threw a Bolo grenade toward the squad at where Carmine and Dom were covering behind. Acting quickly, Dom picked up the grenade and threw it back at the grubs before it exploded, killing its original thrower and its friends instead of its intended targets.
"Nice!" was Johnson's only comment at the bloody result while he continued to fire at the remaining grubs.
Another grub tried to flank at Dom's position, but unfortunately for it, Marcus, who was still up at the storey, to cover his fellow squad members from above, quickly noticed it and fired upon it, killing it before it managed to reach Dom's side. And from up there he continued to give them cover, firing upon at another grub close to Kim's position in the centre of Delta Squad's line. Through he missed the grub who managed to reach the Master Chief's position and was now trying to take down the Spartan with its own chainsaw bayonet. But the Master Chief's HUD-radar had already warned him of its approach and his superior, augmented reflexes allowed him to easily avoid the grub's wild charge. As the grub swung its bayonet toward him, the Master Chief step aside from it and then countered with an elbow strike. His augmented strength and his armour's heavy force caused the grub's head to literally cave itself in to a bloody mess, killing it before it even felt the strike.
Soon, all those grubs were taken care of by Delta Squad, leaving them free to continue their search.
"Good job, men. Now let's go find that resonator. Move out!" Kim ordered as his squad quickly regrouped up toward the Troika's position.
"Now THAT is how you use a heavy machine gun the RIGHT way. Goodness what I've been awaiting to use one again. You kids better take this as a lesson in proper warfare from an old master like me," Johnson boasted as he quickly let go of the Troika to regroup with the lieutenant and the rest of the squad toward the door behind it.
"Yeah, I'm sure that you were a real badass god of war during your prime, old timer. Good thing that there will be plenty of times here for you to teach us how to become just as unstoppable as you are," Marcus commented while he was reaching the others after running down the storey.
"And his next opportunity might be coming right now because I'm getting a hostile signal from behind that door. Better be ready to give us your next lesson, sergeant," Cortana commented and soon after, a familiar growl of predatory bloodthirst and deep hatred could be heard behind the door that Delta Squad needed to get pass in their further advancement. Soon, the door was kicked upon and a grub was revealed before the squad charging in, ready to try and stop them from continuing their search. But unfortunately for it, Johnson, being the one closest to the door, quickly revered up the chainsaw bayonet of his new gun and without hesitation, sawed through the grub, quickly reduced it into a hep of bloody, massacred mess.
For a moment, Johnson only stood and stared silently at his bloody work. Then he looked at the weapon he was holding in his old, war-weary hands and just silently stared at it for a moment or two. And then slowly, a grin began to form by his lips.
"That was GREAT! Do you see that Chief?! I just torn my way through that grub! I mean… WOW! That was unbelievable! It just slaughtered that grub like it was nothing! How come we never invented this kind of gun back at Earth, man?! It might have taught those Covenant bastards to think twice before they'd try to pick a fight with us! I mean God, I need to contact the brass when we get home and tell them to make a gun like this for the troops, ASAP!" Johnson began to ramble, the excitement he was feeling being something he hadn't felt in years. This was indeed a great gun above all. Sure, COG might have a more primitive technology than UNSC, but at least they invented this awesome weapon way before the UNSC did, so a damned good point to them for that.
"Let's try survive this planet and all its surprises before you do that, sergeant," the Master Chief commented as he led the squad through the small hallway that the door led to. After when the squad got halfway through it, Kim suddenly ordered them to stop before he began try to contact Control through their commlink.
"Control, this is Delta Squad. Any word from Alpha?"
"Negative, Delta. We still have radio silence from them, over," answered the young lieutenant, her static voice causing a feeling within Marcus to sprung upon; a feeling that only that woman's voice or, better, presence could bring out within his war-weary heart. He just hoped that if he survived his mission, he'd able to repatch things with her afterwards. In fact, he'd rather do that first than trying to repair his former reputation of which he lost after that botched mistake he did that landed him in that jail he was rescued from just a couple of hours ago.
"Roger that," Kim confirmed before he cut off his contact with Control. He then turned his attention toward his squad, ready to bring them new orders for them to follow.
"Fenix; you, Dom, Master Chief and Arbiter will look for a way in for the rest of us. I, Carmine, Johnson and Guilty Spark will stay back and suppress."
"Confirmed. But what about Alpha?" Marcus asked, concerned that the brass' concern might be a little more about the resonator than about the men of Alpha Squad, as if their lives were worth less than a piece of technology.
"We'll save them if we can. But for now, the resonator is top priority," was Kim's answer. Reluctantly accepting his answer, Marcus nodded and led his part of the squad toward a door of which he quickly kicked upon, leading to the outside of the building. He and the rest of his squad members then quickly ran through what seemed to be a parking spot toward a huge building of familiar, neoclassical architecture like that of the enormous temple Delta Squad had spent a moment admiring back then.
"Let's go," Marcus whispered as he didn't want to risk for any grubs who might be out there hearing them approaching. "Any signals, Cortana?" he then asked, still making sure that his tone remained as quiet as possible.
"No one so far, but I'd still advice caution. These grubs have already been proven to be some sneaky bastards," Cortana answered, keeping her voice as quiet as possible as well.
"Yeah. And it's a little bit too quiet here, isn't it? I've a bad feeling about this, guys," Dom commented as quietly ran through the parking spot, making sure to take cover behind each car or debris he could find.
"You want me to scout ahead? If there're any Locusts waiting for us than they won't see me emerging from the shadows if I do," the Arbiter offered, confident that with his active camouflage will help him getting the advantage over whatever Locusts that might be hiding and waiting for Delta Squad's approach.
"No, it's better that we stay close together. If there's any grubs inside, we'll deal with them the hard way," Marcus answered while he was nearing the street that split the parking spot from the stairs leading up to the building, taking cover behind a wrecked, burnt-out car.
"So that's the House of Sovereigns?" the Master Chief asked, taking a quick look at the huge building before him and his teammates.
"Yeah… it is," Marcus answered, his tone turning rather sour as bad memories began to make themselves known in his mind.
"Neat," was the Spartan's comment as he began moving forward. But just as the squad was advancing, the ground suddenly shook lightly and a small but loud shock wave passed through the spot, causing the surrounding debris to shake lightly. On at his HUD-radar, the Master Chief could see two signals passing quickly through by the far-left end of the street. Quickly turning his aim toward there, he could see two… things flying across the street, passing by all too quickly for him to get a full image of. All he managed to notice was that both of those things had tentacles hanging loosely from what seemed to be their bellies.
And when he noticed them, the memory of him and the Arbiter trapped by enormous tentacles made of rotten, mixed-up flesh and bones, belonging to an out-worldly, cosmic entity much older than mankind, if not the galaxy, itself, suddenly emerged from a dark corner of his mind. A memory of an entity that toyed with the preys it'd caught withing its snake-like limbs, sneering at him and the rest with a triumphant, contemptuous grin upon its abdominal parody of a mouth, speaking at them with a poetic oratory of which, at first, one might believe revealed an ancient wisdom from beyond the stars, but, if one listened carefully, barely hid a deep hatred burning greater than any of the brightest supernovas toward everything that wasn't part of its eldritch omnipotence. A memory that sent a chill through the Spartan's back.
"What was that?" Cortana asked, also noticing those strange things flying pass, her voice breaking the Master Chief free from his flashback, but the strange near familiarity of her question still causing that chill to remain.
"Bad guys," was Dom's answer as he and the other squad members quietly ran up the stairs leading up to the House of Sovereigns. "Be ready for anything."
Soon, the vanguard of Delta Squad reached the courtyard of the House of Sovereigns, with its rearguard soon catching up to them. At the centre of the courtyard was a dried-out fountain, wearing the emblem of COG at its top, surrounded by sandbags. And just when the whole squad was about the run toward one of the several entrances, Cortana suddenly picked up several signals emerging from within the building and realizing what they most likely were, quickly called out.
"Grubs! Take cover Delta!" she shouted out just before the entrance doors opened, revealing a significant force of grubs, of which included a Troika-operator, that had waited for Delta Squad to try and stop their search for Alpha Squad and the resonator. Delta Squad quickly took cover amongst the sandbags and debris just as the grubs began firing upon their position.
"Grenadiers!" Kim shouted while firing from his position behind the fountain, trying to take down one of the new kinds of Locust troops.
"Grenadiers?" the Master Chief asked while he also fired upon the grubs' position, managing to take down one grubs who had been firing upon Delta Squad behind one of the House of Sovereigns' columns before the Spartan reduced its chest into a bloody, messy cavity.
"The grubs' shook troopers. The drones' meaner and angrier cousins from the country. Nasty pieces of work," Marcus answered while he was being busy reloading his assault rifle behind the sandbags he and the Master Chief were firing from. As soon he was done reloading, he quickly stood up and fired upon the grubs. Just then, a Bolo grenade came flying toward their position and landed close to Marcus' position, soon about to explode. Noticing it and reacted quicker than Marcus due to his augmented reflexes, the Master Chief immediately picked the grenade up and tossed it back toward the grubs' position right before it exploded, leading to a couple of death cries echoing across the battlefield from its other side.
"Heh, my own guardian angel they say…" Marcus commented with a humorous grin on his lips, finding it hard to believe his own luck during this one day.
"Here to protect the innocent and punish the wicked," the Master Chief commented of his own. "You alright?" he then asked the Gear.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Never been better," Marcus answered, the grin still on his lips. "Thanks again by the way."
"No need to mention it," the Master Chief stated right before he returned his attention toward the firefight, quickly beginning to fire yet again toward the grubs' position. Suddenly, lieutenant Kim called out to him and Marcu from his end of Delta Squad's position.
"We need to take out those grenadiers and their Troika if we got to advance further! Marcus – you and Master Chief need to get inside that building and flank their nest! The rest of us will cover you from here!"
"Aye, sir!" Marcus confirmed before he turned his head toward the Master Chief and asked: "Let's get in there and put down some rabid freaks, Chief!"
"Don't need to tell him that; this moment is what we were destined to do. The entrance over there is the least defended by the grubs so charging through there will give you two the opportunity to take those grubs' nest out. I'll mark its location for you, Chief," Cortana replied before she marked the position toward one of the House of Sovereigns' many entrances by its left side at the Master Chief's HUD. Knowing what for them to do, the Spartan turned his head toward the Gear and spoke: "Let's go."
"Right behind you," Marcus confirmed while he ran after the Master Chief toward the entrance and went through. Well inside, they quickly took cover behind the inside pillars and walls while they were facing a small force of grubs trying to stop them. But the combined force of both Spartan and Gearian might was quickly reducing their numbers and effort. Marcus picked out a Bolo grenade and began swinging it before tossing it toward a pair of grubs firing from behind a corner of the hallway. Soon, the grenade exploded and reduced those pair of grubs into bloody, gory pieces.
"Nice throw," Cortana commented while the Master Chief quickly ran out from his cover and advanced further through the hallway, firing non-stop at a grub whose head quickly was reduced into a bloody, slaughtered mess. And so, they kept on, advancing further through the hallway, taking down any grubs who dared to stand in their way, all while their fellow squad members outside kept giving them covering fire.
The Master Chief fired at a grub hiding behind a pillar and killed it before his assault rifle was depleted of its ammunition. Realizing that he needed to reload it, the Spartan quickly went his hand toward his ammunition belt only to realize that he was out of all ammunition and therefore could no longer use his MA5C assault rifle, considering that there was little chance that Sera had any of spare ammunition adapted to it.
"Damn," the Master Chief commented.
"What is it, Chief?" Cortana asked, concerned about why the Spartan would swear like he did.
"I'm out of ammo," the Master Chief answered while he threw away his assault rifle and picked out his M6G Pistol, having nothing better to use against the grubs.
Hearing this, Marcus turned his attention toward the Master Chief and saw how he was now firing at the grubs with his handgun. And Marcus got to admit; that was one powerful of a handgun, as just one bullet from it was enough to reduce one grub's entire head into a bloody stump when it'd normally take three or four bullets from a Gear's standard MX8 Snub Pistol to penetrate though a grub's thick skull and hide. But the Gear was curtain that even that wouldn't be enough for the Master Chief, powerful of a warrior that he'd proven to be, to last through their mission that could last days; perhaps even longer. He then turned his eyes down at his own Mark 2 Lancer assault rifle and stared at it for a short moment, trying to figure out what to do next. Then he, determined, realized what he needed to do for his new friend.
"Chief!" Marcus called out, causing the Spartan to turn his attention toward the Gear. "Here!" Marcus then shouted before he threw the Mark 2 Lancer assault rifle toward the Master Chief. Reacted quickly, the Spartan caught it and, more by instinctive habit than anything, checked it to see if it was usable. After that, he then wordlessly stared at Marcus, giving the Gear his silent question.
"Merry Christmas, I believe you said it; it's yours now," Marcus answered right before he picked out his Snub pistol and began firing it at the grubs, hitting one by its right shoulder before it took cover behind a pillar.
"Thanks. But I got nothing to offer in return," the Master Chief commented while he returned his Magnum pistol to its holster and then began firing his new, native assault rifle at the grubs, finding it a little more primal and less elegant than his recent MA5C assault rifle, but still usable enough to bring the pain to the grubs with Spartan might.
"You and your friends are helping us out in this war when you didn't have to, right when our defeat was all but certain; you don't own us anything," Marcus answered, as the Master Chief and his strangely diverse group of alien friends had already given Marcus and his fellow Gears a gift more worthy than all the powerful weapons, equipment, advanced military hardware, alien technology, whatever else combined:
Hope.
Yes, for the first time since this war began for fourteen years ago, if ever, Marcus had begun to feel hope that COG might actually win this war. And that's all because the prowess and dedication that the Master Chief and his fellow aliens had offered them with no demands in return. And Marcus knew that the rest of his fellow Gears – including that hard-assed lieutenant Kim – had begun to offer themselves the luxury of hope thanks to their new extraterrestrial allies and squad members.
"Besides; you already saved my life twice - thrice even – for just today. You've already given me enough to last for a lifetime," Marcus then finished right after he managed to take down a grub with Snub pistol.
And so, the pair kept fighting their way through the hallway, the grubs before them standing little chance of stopping them despite all their efforts. And soon they reached toward the grub operating the Troika that had the rest of Delta Squad pinned down outside at the courtyard. Wasting no time, the Master Chief quickly activated the chainsaw bayonet of his new gun and thrusted it through the grub, ending its life in a bloody, messy way and silencing its fire.
"Oh Chief, if I were your mother, I would've given you a curfew and not let you play outside with the other kids for the mess you just caused," Cortana joked, most likely would've given an amused headshake if she was in her holographic form.
"Good thing that I've already moved out of the house and become my own man than," the Master Chief answered Cortana's playful banter, taking a moment to try to wipe out the gore that was on the chainsaw bayonet. Marcus, meanwhile, had after when the last grub has been dealt with by the Master Chief picked up a new Lancer assault rifle littered on the ground amongst grub corpses. After he quickly checked if it was operational, the Gear decided that it'd do as a replacement for the assault rifle he'd given the Master Chief.
"The yard is clear, lieutenant! No grubs on sight so far," Cortana then confirmed to Kim, who gave a quick nod before calling out to his squad.
"Everyone; fall in by the fountain!" the lieutenant ordered, and soon the entire squad was regrouped around the courtyard's fountain around Kim while keeping their heads low. It was then that Kim noticed Carmine messing around with his own assault rifle with frustrated growls. "You good?" he asked the private.
"Yeah, but this damn rifle won't work. It just keeps jamming," Carmine complained while he hit the rifle open-palmed in hope that it'd cause the jam to go away. When that didn't work, the private then stood up, exposing his head above his cover, and went closer toward Kim to show his gun. "See," the private said as showed his assault rifle to Kim, hoping that the lieutenant might help him out fixing it.
However, him standing up amid the courtyard made Carmine a prefect target for anyone out there, ready to take the kill. And that was an opportunity that a hidden sniper would try to take. From somewhere facing the House of Sovereigns below its stairs, a loud bang could be heard and barely a second after that, a bullet hit Carmine's helmet, causing the private to fall to the ground.
"Sniper! Take position!" Kim shouted while he quickly went toward the downed private to see if he'd survived the sniper hit. "Carmine, you alright?!" he asked Carmine while trying to see if the bullet might have penetrated through the private's helmet. Fortunately, it didn't seem to have done so, as Carmine's helmet had managed to hold up against it.
"Yeah, I'm alright I think," Carmine answered while as he, in his daze, crawled up and hid behind the nearest cover.
"Dammit private never expose yourself like that again; you might not be as lucky next time!" Kim called out the private for this foolish mistake against basic rules of combat. "Can anyone get a sight on that sniper?!" the lieutenant then asked, hoping that maybe one member of his squad might take out the sniper.
"I've him on sight," the Arbiter answered, who now was holding his Covenant Carbine while his Lancer assault rifle was hanging on his back, having swapped his weapons in order to get a better view after the Locust sniper. "Taking the shot," he then stated before he pulled the trigger, shooting out a few plasma bolts that quickly blasted the sniper's head off. "The target has been put down," the Arbiter then confirmed to the rest of the squad.
But immediately after his statement, the ground had another, very much familiar trembling. A trembling that caused a slightly less dazed Carmine to call out: "Oh no, not more of them?!"
"Well, private; don't want to disappoint you, but here comes more of them! And from the parking lot! Hurry up, Delta; they're climbing up the stairs!" Cortana called out right before the entire squad turned their attention toward where she claimed the Locust reinforcement were advancing from. And soon the entire Delta Squad found themselves engaged in the next firefight with the grubs who tried to keep the Gears and their alien allies from advancing further in their search for Alpha Squad.
The Locusts kept climbing up their stairs in great numbers toward Alpha Squad's position, refusing to let their great casualties stop them from charging toward the squad. Marcus was firing upon them with his assault rifle, trading bullets with a pair of grubs who charged from their position toward the fountain. One of the grubs was closing by the Gear's position, but he managed to take the grub out before he quickly ducked behind his cover to reload.
"Incoming frag!" he then suddenly heard Cortana cry out right before a Bolo grenade landed amid Delta Squad's position. Acting quickly, he and the rest of the Gears quickly ran to threw themselves away from the grenade before it exploded; fortunately, without causing them any casualty. Marcus turned back his attention toward the grubs and fired upon their position, managing to kill another one before he yet again had to reload. It took a few minutes, but eventually that grub reinforcement was quickly dealt with, giving Delta Squad the moment they needed to enter the House of Sovereign.
"This way!" Kim shouted before he advanced first toward the entrance of the House of Sovereigns. However, a pair of grubs had managed to find themselves inside and were now stopping them from entering the House of Sovereigns.
"Let me take care of this," the Master Chief said right before he picked up a dead grub from the ground and used it as a shield while he charged right in. When he was close to the nearest grub, he quickly tackled it down to the ground and then immediately used it as his next body shield against the other grub's fire. When that grub's magazine ran out of ammo, the Spartan quickly threw the now dead grub aside and quickly put a few bullets out of his handgun in the other one's skull, immediately killing it.
"Coast is clear, Delta. Let's keep going before more of those grubs crawls up from the underground," Cortana advised.
"Right," Kim answered before he and the rest of the squad quickly joined up with the Master Chief. And right inside, Kim tried to contact Control to notice them of his squad's progress.
"Control, this is Delta. We're now inside the House of Sovereigns. Come in," he tried, but got only jamming static back as answer. "Military equipment – always works," was the lieutenant's final, dry remark, realizing that he probably wouldn't be able to get contact with Control anytime soon.
"You want me to try, lieutenant? I'm already quite enough familiar with your radio frequences so it shouldn't be that difficult for me to try it out," Cortana offered, confident in her skills that she would be able to gain contact with Control if the lieutenant's equipment was jamming.
"No, we can't waste that time; we'll just have to try again later on," Kim answered while he walked toward the entrance doors before Delta Squad. He then tried to open them with the code he'd gotten from Control before he and his squad began their mission. But just like back than at where they'd believed to be Alpha Squad's last position, the code wouldn't work this time as well. "And of course this code they gave me doesn't work here either; perfect," was the lieutenant dryer remark before he turned his attention toward Guilty Spark, who was hovering quietly next to Johnson and Carmine. "You think that you can fix this one as well?"
Guilty Spark looked at him for a silent moment before he answered: "I… I believe that I can be of help to you," the monitor answered before he hovered toward the code lock and shot out a blue beam out of his optic for a moment before the doors opened for Delta Squad. And from behind those now open doors, Delta Squad could now hear a firefight echoing further in, along with some rather boastful cries echoing with them.
"Yeah! Whoo! Bring it on, baby! Can't stop this train, bitches!"
"I think that we just found Alpha," Marcus commented while he and the other squad members were walking up through the stairs toward where the sounds were coming from.
"I got enough for all of y'all! Come and get some more!" the voice kept boasting toward the grubs it was no doubt fighting against, seemingly not all too worried that it so far had to fight them by itself.
"Yeah, and they sound that they're having the time of their lives," Dom answered while he followed close by Marcus.
"Then let's hope that they'll save some of the grubs for us as well," Johnson stated while he and the rest of the squad could hear the firefight getting closer.
"You wish, baby!" the boastful voice kept going as Delta Squad came all the closer. Close enough that Cortana could pick up their signals for the Master Chief's HUD-radar.
"Squad, it's just one guy against the grubs down there!" the A.I. stated just when most of Delta Squad arrived toward a mezzanine above a small courtyard of which they could see that, indeed, it was one Gear fighting off perhaps a squad of grubs attacking from the entrance before him.
"You missed! You need glasses, you dumb sucker!" the lone Gear taunted the grubs he was fighting against. "Oh, you can't see straight?! Well, let me help your poor sucker with that!" he continued right before he seemed to take down that grub he was taunting directly at. "Now hold still, your dumbasses!" he continued taunting the other grubs who tried to break through the lone Gear's position. "That one's for the highlight reel!"
"Then let's help him out, then!" Marcus demanded right before he fired upon the remaining grubs below, with the rest of Delta Squad following suit. And the numbers of grubs were quickly reduced into nothing, with the last ones getting taken down when the lone Alpha Gear threw a Bolo grenade toward their position, ending their existence in a bloody explosion. However, one of them managed to hit the Alpha Gear with one stray bullet right after the tossed the grenade. And right after then that grenade exploded, the Alpha Gear suddenly fell to the ground but not before giving out a low defiant sentence:
"Bye-bye, nut sack."
"Let's get down there to the trooper ASAP," Kim ordered while he led his squad through the mezzanine and toward the few stairs that was leading down to the ground below, where the lone Gear was at. And as they were getting closer, Cortana quickly picked up a hostile signal from a corner behind some debris, probably waiting for them to arrive so that it could then try to ambush them.
"Ugly hiding by that corner with the debris!" she pointed out to Delta Squad as they were soon reaching the lone Gear's position.
"I'll deal with him," the Arbiter commented right before he activated his Plasma Sword and quickly ran toward the hiding grub, who didn't had time to defend itself before the Sangheilian warrior thrusted his sword through its chest, making it much quicker and cleaner kill than when he used the chainsaw bayonet. Meanwhile, the rest of Delta Squad went toward the lone Alpha Gear to see if he was okey.
"You alright, trooper?" Dom asked while he checked out the Gear to see if the bullet had penetrated through his armour. Fortunately, it seemed that, just like recently with Carmine, it only scraped the armour without causing any further damage or wound on the Gear.
"Yeah, I'm good. I'm still in the game," the Gear answered while he rose up from the ground with the help of Dom. "And that was a beautiful play; wasn't it, baby?" the Gear commented, barely keeping the pride and excitement from coming out of his mouth. He then gave Delta Squad a quick look until he suddenly caught eyes with its extraterritorial members. He gave them a quiet stare before he blinked his eyes several times as if it'd confirm if he was seeing things or if they were really standing there before him. And when he saw that they remained, he then spoke out.
"So, are you guys some sort of space aliens or something?" the Gear asked the alien members of Delta Squad, his eyes staring mostly at the Master Chief, but also giving the Arbiter and the rest quick stares, not sure how to react to beings who clearly were neither Gears nor Locusts.
"More or less," the Master Chief answered, his direct, straight forward tone causing the Alpha's Gear to raise his eyebrows as he kept staring at the Spartan with a look that didn't betray his curiosity about the strange beings to came to his rescue alongside with his fellow Gears. However, Kim walked up toward the Alpha's Gear and caught his attention, as the Gear soldier realized that he was about to be addressed by a superior officer.
"State your name, soldier," Kim ordered the Gear, who now was giving the lieutenant his full attention.
"Private Augustus Cole of Alpha Squad, sir," the Gear, who now was known to Delta Squad as Private Cole, answered Kim, any boastful jargon from a moment ago replaced by that disciplined professionalism that all Gears had been trained to address their superior officers with.
"Cole? As in Cole Train?" Dom then asked Cole, who then turned his attention toward to answer him with a more boastful and relaxed "Yeah, that's right. The one and the only, here before y'all in the flesh" while giving Dom a small grin.
"Wow! That's awesome! Cole Train himself, here! To join us! I really can't believe it!" Carmine suddenly shouted out, the excitement in his voice making itself blatantly clear. Something that caused Cole to turn toward the young private with a wider grin.
"Well, you better believe it, baby. The train is here to bring y'all to your destination of total victory against those ugly nut-sacks. Choo-choo, better get onboard, because this ride is about to get wild!"
"I believe this must mean that you're someone of great importance in this world," the Arbiter then said, his deep voice causing everyone to give him their full attention, particularly Carmine.
"Oh, if you only knew! Cole Train here is the best Thrashball player out there! He's the one who made the Hanover Cougars the world champions before the E-day broke out, bringing them victory in almost every game match!" Carmine answered the Arbiter, who just looked at the young private with slight uncertainty, now that he realized that this Private Cole seemed to be more of a famous athlete rather than a famous warrior. Though the Arbiter then figured that even with that, this Cole must be of great worth if he was not only willing to fight against the grubs at the frontlines when the war against them well broke out, but also able to fight several of them off simultaneously until Delta Squad arrived.
"Yeah, and he's also the one who won me a bet and twenty bucks. Money that I still haven't seen even as much of a cent of," Marcus then commented, while giving Dom a slight glare, who in return could only give Marcus an embarrassed shrug and an apologetic smile.
"Thrashball? What's that?" Cortana asked, her curiosity of this world peeked now that a bit more of its native culture seemed to reveal itself.
Cole, staring yet again at the Master Chief as if he'd suddenly grown a second head or familiar, answered after a moment of brief, hesitant silence.
"Why, it's the best and most honourable game out here. The rules are simple: one of the two teams must get the thrashball toward their enemy team's end of the playing field to collect points, while they've to avoid their defences by either running pass them or running through them. Something that I, being a humble man as I am, would like to boast I totally killed at. And the team who manages to score more points wins the match."
"Hm, it sounds a lot like American football back home," Johnson commented, quickly to find the familiarities between this local, native sport and that of his own favourite sport back home at Earth.
"Indeed. And it further makes me wonder if this world maybe isn't so much of a different planet as it's an alternative Earth," Cortana commented. However, she didn't mention that if her beliefs were true, then it might mean it'd be more difficult for her and her comrades to find a way home back to their end of the galaxy. The last thing her team needed was their morale to go down, especially when they just allied themselves with the Gears and needed to give them their full support.
"Back to the topic; where is the rest of your squad, Private Cole?" Kim then asked Cole, wanting to get his squad's attention back to the mission they had.
"They're sitting tight over in the Tomb," Cole answered, pointing toward where the way led to the Tomb with both his head and his Mark 2 Lancer.
"Ha! See! I told you guys that the Alpha boys were still out there, hogging our kills further down our path," Johnson suddenly stated, glad to see that the Alpha boys his gang had been looking for hadn't all been reduced to chopped-up pieces of meat for the grubs to feast upon like they were some damned packs of scaly and furless Brutes.
"Ha, you know it, old timer. We got our squad's name to live up to, after all. And we aren't gonna let those ugly, grub-ass bitches stop this train from keep rolling," Cole commented, taking pride in that he and his fellow Alpha squad members were still in the game, ready to keep pushing through the grubs' defences like a well-organized Thrashball team.
"Well, we're Delta Squad, and we're here to retrieve the sonic device," Kim stated, deciding that it'd be better if they caught straight to the point.
"And to get you guys out of here," Marcus cut in, still not amused about of how the device seemed to be of more importance for the lieutenant than the lives of his own fellow Gears.
"Well, hell yeah," Cole began. "We've been waitin' for the chopper, but the radio don't work for shit… sir," he finished, realizing that he almost forgot military protocol when addressing a superior officer and quickly made sure to follow it.
"We noticed," the Master Chief dryly commented, causing Cole to give the Spartan a new look, as if the seemingly locally famous Gear still couldn't believe that a being such as the Master Chief was right here before him in all its alien awe and wonder.
"It's the Seeders. They're jammin' our transmissions. We tried to call for back-up for some time now, but they just blockin' every signal we've sent out," Cole continued, his eyes still glued to the Master Chief, forgetting for a moment that he was supposed to address Kim when he was updating Delta Squad about the situation at hand.
"Seeders?" the Arbiter then asked, wondering what more kinds of different Locust forces he and his human comrades would've to face while they'd continue their advancement through the battlefield that was this strange, unknown planet in the middle of nowhere of the universe.
"Ugly pieces of Locust freaks that shits out Nemacysts suicide bombers to blow up our choppers out of the sky. Also good for radio jamming, as you just heard now," Marcus answered, updating Delta Squad's newest members of more of the foes that the grubs had in their employ.
"Then I'd advice that we've to make those Seeders our top priority for now, sir, if we've to have a bigger chance to find that resonator and the rest of Alpha Squad. As I mentioned before, I might be able to pick up Control's radio frequences, but if they're being actively jammed by the grubs, than it might be better if we take them out first just in case, sir," Cortana advised, quickly realizing that if Delta Squad would be able to finish their mission successfully, than they'd to immediately take out any Locust forces that were jamming their ability to communicate with the Control or perhaps any other allied forces nearby.
"Agreed. We need to reestablish radio contact with Control ASAP. Now let's move on, squad," Kim gave his next order. However, before Delta Squad could continue with their mission, Cole suddenly called for him.
"Wait, lieutenant! If you don't mind, I'd like to have your permission to ask who these new guys are, sir."
Kim looked at Cole for a short moment before he then nodded, giving the private his permission to ask his newest, and strangest, members of their out-worldly origins. Cole then turned his attention toward the alien members of Delta Squad and asked: "Now, who're you guys? Never seen your kind around here before. Are you some of kind of new players in this game?"
"Eager to know, huh" Cortana stated, no one missing that amused tone in her voice. "Well, as you probably had guessed, we're lost, stranded space aliens who've crash-landed here on your planet right after when we were done finish our own war. I'm Cortana, the A.I. unit designated to Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, the Spartan super soldier standing right here before you in all his alien glory."
"Nice to meet you," the Master Chief greeted Cole in his short, direct tone.
"Not a guy with many words, as you can see, but he gets the job taking down the enemies of humanity done. And for the others, I'm sure they can present themselves by their own rights," Cortana finished, giving the rest of her fellow aliens the chance to enlighten Cole.
The Arbiter, just like back then with Colonel Hoffman, was the first one to present himself after when Cortana and the Master Chief were done.
"I'm Thel 'Vadam, the Arbiter of the Sangheili. I'd give you more detailed information of my own people's history and culture, as we tend to take great pride in them, but since we've an important mission to finish for now, I'll save that for later if you wish to hear them out," the Arbiter finished, his presentation, and more exotically alien appearance, causing Cole to become more interested in his story.
"Oh, I'm going to hear the rest of your story after when all this bullshit is over," Cole stated, causing the Arbiter to nod with probably a Sangheilian equivalent of a small smile on his mandibles, before he then turned his attention toward Johnson and Guilty Spark. "And you guys?"
"Well, I'm Sergeant Major Avery J. Johnson, the answer of all your prayers for the badass soldier you all have been asking for to help your poor souls out in you war against those ugly grubs. Just point where they are at, and I'm going bring them a rain of fire of their sorry, scaly asses," Johnson answered, giving Cole a confident smile and a thump-up along with his answer.
Cole nodded, clearly impressed with Johnson's boastful answer. Old as Johnson was, Cole was certain that the sergeant indeed was one of those hard-assed veterans who were still kicking ass and taking names from whatever dead end of space he and his fellow aliens came from.
"And I'm 343 Guilty Spark… just a monitor, if that's enough for you," Guilty Spark gave the final answer for Cole, who looked at him for a moment before he then kept asking.
"So, you're some sort of Jack 2.0, huh? Well, we might need an upgraded Jack who can at least talk a little bit with the rest of the team. It gets a little bit weird when you have a hovering machine that can't talk at all to you," Cole commented, causing Guilty Spark to stare at the Gear with an unreadable look on his monitor form.
"I… I don't really get that," Guilty Spark stated, not at all sure what this latest Reclaimer meant with that term, or that he meant with about him being able to talk with the team. Or if that even had much of an actual importance currently.
"So, you guys really are space aliens, huh? Well, that's quite neat if you ask me," Cole commented, causing Johnson to give him a raised eyebrow.
"You're taking the whole 'meeting stranded and lost space aliens face-to-face' thing pretty well. To say that the Colonel was somewhat sceptical about our motives and appearances here on this planet would be an understatement," the sergeant commented, surprised that Cole was taking his and his fellow aliens' presence quite well; at least compared to the other Gears before, who'd greeted them with either awe or suspicion.
"Hey, old timer; as so long you guys didn't join up with the grubs, I don't care if you come two bazillion light years away from here. And we need every player we can get in our team if we've to win this match. I hope that you don't miss your spaceship all too much, 'cause this train is all you're gonna need to get you through this game. Choo-choo, all aboard!" Cole answered while pulling an invisible string above his right shoulder, pretending it to give out a locomotive sound, causing almost everyone of Delta Squad to give him looks of amusements, their moods already being improved by Cole's humorous boasts.
"Alright, now that the presentations have been made; let's continue with our search, Delta. The rest of Alpha are still waiting for backup," Kim then commented, catching Delta Squad's attention and causing them to quickly put their focus back to their mission, with Cole even giving the lieutenant a quick "Aye, sir." But now that they'd finally found and was joined up with at least one alive Alpha Squad member; with the possibility of more of them waiting for them further down their path, the squad's morale had risen significantly, and so they felt even more ready to continue their mission and face the grubs head-on if they so needed to complete it.