This is my first fan-fic so please please let me know what you think! The prologue is inspired by the new banner, just so you know.
CONFIRMATION
PROLOGUE
I awoke from what had been a long-awaited sleep. I raised my head to survey my surroundings. I was in the troop bay of a pelican, bumping up and down as the engines roared.
To my right was one of my good friends, Matt. He was fairly tall, and very slim. He was a funny person, but not in the traditional sense, just about everything he said had nothing to do with… well with anything.
There were two other soldiers in the bay that I didn’t recognise. I did however recognise that they were corporals by the two bars on their arms. I then came to look in front of me. I saw something that most people wouldn’t see in a lifetime, a Spartan!
I stared at it, not knowing exactly what to think. I tried to look through it’s faceplate but saw naught but my own reflection.
“Pretty cool, huh?” Matt whispered, nodding towards the Spartan. A much larger bump in the flight broke my gaze. The flight slowed to a stop, and then turned 180 degrees.
We all stood up and hung on to the rail connected to the roof. The bay door opened and revealed a large base filled with many military vehicles and armour. The buildings looked a lot more stable than that of an average base built near a battlefield. I couldn’t help but notice a very large building, just off the shore. It wasn’t made by the UNSC that was for sure, it did however have something strange about it.
It was clear that we were about to land. I reached under my seat, revealing my helmet. It was black, with a blue visor, the helmet of an ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper). On the side of it was engraved L.T. R MCDONELL.
I reached behind me to grab my weapon, my beloved battle rifle. I made sure it was in working order, checking its scope, making sure the barrel was clear. I slammed a clip into it and slid on my helmet. The HUD (heads up display) lit up instantly. A COM link opened up with Matt, whilst it searched for a connection with the rest of my good friends that were already at the base.
“Hey!!” Lachlan’s voice roared into the COM. Lachlan was a short, skinny bloke that had a strange personality, but was always good for a laugh.
“How’s it going buddy?” Steven’s voice broke in.
“Good to hear from you losers!” I yelled back.
The pelican landed. The Spartan waited for us to get off first. I looked over at Matt as he slapped a clip into the Sniper Rifle in his hands. I looked back outside and took the first step off the Pelican.
Chapter 1
The sun was bright but my visor soon adjusted accordingly. I couldn’t hear much over the screaming engines of the pelican but I could still see people directing scorpions and warthogs all over the base. A marine ran over to the Spartan. He pointed to what looked like a meeting room.
The pelican rose, and flew away. Matt slapped the back of my helmet and we started walking towards the barracks. Two other ODSTs started jogging towards us. Lachlan and Steven ushered us toward them.
“You guys get the info yet?” Steven asked.
“Nah, what’s up?” Matt replied.
“See that structure over there?” Steven continued as he pointed towards the strange building, “its Forerunner!” My eyes widened as I realised why it looked so strange compared to anything else I’ve ever seen.
“That place is our mission.” Lachlan interrupted. It was clear that we had to check it out. We entered the barracks. There were weapons, armour and equipment everywhere. I slung my battle rifle and started browsing. I grabbed a few extra clips for the battle rifle, as well as two fragmentation grenades. I looked across the racks, assault rifles, battle rifles, snipers, SMGs, pistols, shotguns and even a few rocket launchers.
I chose a shotgun with plenty of extra shells; we were all accompanied by a pistol. Matt opted for an assault rifle to accompany his sniper whilst Lachlan and Steven double-checked their supplies. They too had an assault rifle each as well as an SMG.
We decided to catch up before leaving, exchanging stories of previous missions. We re-checked everything to make sure all was fully operational. I stepped back outside only to see the Spartan from earlier… saluting.
“Major Jackson has given you Tactical Command, SIR!” He exclaimed. The other two ODSTs from the pelican approached.
“I’m Phillip Suki!” One of them raised their hand head high. He was Samoan so as you would probably expect, he was tall and muscular, not to mention overly confident, like any ODST should be.
“And I’m Justin!” said the other. He was much like Phillip, tall, muscular, confident with only one difference, not Samoan, Australian, like Matt, Lachlan and I. Steven was however of Asian descent, although he was still an Aussie in all but appearance.
I looked at the team we had been given. Everyone stood to attention, waiting for the order that I didn’t feel was mine to make. I leaned towards the Spartan.
“Lieutenant or not, you obviously know better,” I decided “you take TC; I’ll just help when I need to.”
“Yes, SIR!” he replied “Move out!” We ran towards an idling pelican. It was armed with only its chin-gun and a warthog mounted on the back. Two hornets hovered next to it. Phil, Justin and the Spartan boarded the pelican whilst Matt and I moved to one hornet and Lachlan and Steven to the other.
It wasn’t long before we landed. Steven volunteered to stay airborne in a hornet and Matt to stay with the pelican whilst the rest of us moved in. Justin drove the ’hog with Phil riding shotgun with rocket launcher and Lachlan on the turret. The Spartan and I walked beside the warthog as it slowly crept forward.
We entered the first dark corridor.
Chapter 2
It was dark, very dark; the only light was coming from blur glyphs on the walls. It was eerie, yet fascinating all the same. The door came suddenly as the corridor wasn’t as long as it looked from the outside. We approached but soon realised that it wasn’t quite big enough for the warthog to fit through.
“Lachlan, you stay back with the ‘hog.” I ordered. I nodded to the Spartan as the four remaining stepped forward. The door slid open. This next room was the same as the last, a corridor, except it had two doors at the end. The Spartan pointed us towards the right door. We kept moving for a few minutes, going through corridors, opening doors and marvelling at the structure.
The next room brought a foul odour.
“Guys,” Matt’s voice broke in “watch out down there, I saw some movement.”
“Lachlan?” I asked “you got anything?”
“All clear back here.” Lachlan replied
“Hey guys,” Justin started “check this thing out!” We turned to see a small, round animal on little, red, furry looking legs.
“That’s flood!” I yelled.
“It’s what?” Justin questioned “Argh!!” It launched itself at his face and latched onto his helmet, jabbing at him with its legs.
The Spartan levelled his assault rifle and fired a single round, popping the small flood.
“Infection form.” The Spartan said calmly, lowering his weapon.
“Hey guys, my HUD is screwin’ up!” Justin removed his helmet and started to look for the problem. I returned my gaze to the walls and noticed something that wasn’t in any of the other rooms. Scratches and cuts covered a portion of the wall. It occurred to me, there’s a reason this place isn’t known or mapped.
Justin fiddled around inside his helmet. The light made it very difficult for him to see. He mumbled and cursed under his breath whilst he looked for a fix.
A shadow moved over him.
He looked up to see what had blocked his light, not realising it wasn’t one of us.
“What the f…” Justin began to yell. A stalker form pounced off the roof at him. It landed on him and started stabbing furiously at Justin’s lifeless body. We turned and unloaded about a clip and a half worth of ammunition into it.
Meanwhile, Lachlan was getting bored back at the first door.
“Guys,” Matt’s voice crackled into Lachlan’s ears “watch out down there, I saw some movement.” Lachlan jumped up back onto the turret and scanned the area.
”Lachlan?” my own voice broke in “you got anything?” Lachlan eased up a bit but kept his gaze on the entrance.
“All clear back here” he replied. Something moved in his peripheral vision. He angled the turret so it aimed at the right wall. Suddenly, a massive combat form lunged at him, knocking him of the warthog and causing him to lose his helmet. He fell to the floor on his stomach and turned immediately. The massive thing bounded towards him.
“Brute.” Lachlan muttered to himself as he noted its appearance. He drew his pistol and lined up the beast whilst still on his back. He fired two rounds into its body before it slapped the gun away with its massive hand and slammed its fist down at Lachlan. He rolled just in the knick of time, scrambled towards the warthog, and grabbed his SMG. The deformed brute ran towards him but this time was met by a hail of lead. Lachlan exhaled.
I chinned the COM.
“Justin’s down and we need to get outta’ here, get ‘hog started Lach!” There was no reply.
“Let’s go!” the Spartan ordered. Phil and I stared at him and then started towards Justin. Once we grabbed his arms all hell broke loose. The door ahead of us broke in, hundreds of infection forms flooded in.
“MOVE!!” the Spartan yelled into the COM. Phillip fired a rocket into the ground in front of the swarm and ran. I threw a grenade and armed my shotgun whilst running. The room was filling, now with thousands.
The Spartan ran through the door, followed closely by Phil. I got on our side of the door and unloaded everything in the chamber of my shotgun. Phil fired a rocket just barely before the door closed. We reloaded as we ran. The flood burst through again. We kept sprinting; we were three corridors away from the exit. The flood were very fast however.
The Spartan was ahead of me with Phil trailing about two metres behind myself. We got to the second last room when the Spartan turned and gestured for Phil to throw the rocket launcher. Phil struggled to do so at such a distance. The Spartan fired both rockets and threw the rocket launcher in the air. The well placed rockets killed hundreds, but not enough. Phil caught the launcher on his way past and reloaded it with his last rockets.
The Spartan drew his assault rifle and sprayed at the army. The door closed behind us just as the Spartan was enveloped by the swarm.
We expected to mount a warthog and be gone; instead we got an overturned warthog with lots of dead combat forms and a mangled, throbbing corpse of Lachlan.
“Little help guys?!?” I yelled into the COM as I ran. I turned to see Phillip pushing the warthog in front of door. He resumed running as the door vibrated with popping flood. The hornet piloted by Steven lowered in front of the entrance, Matt sitting on the side.
The door burst open yet again and Phil was getting tired from carrying the rocket launcher for so long.
“GO!!” he yelled. I didn’t understand until I turned to see him and many flood become engulfed in flames. So many deaths and sacrifices. The hornet fired, unloading bullets and missiles alike. Complemented by the echo of Matt’s sniper rifle ripping through combat forms. I boarded the side of the hornet and we took off.
Chapter 3
We rose into the air, firing as we went. The flood built up at the edge of the island, emitting loud guttural howls and screams. They weren’t going anywhere, yet. We got back to base within the minute, passing sparrowhawks on their way to the disaster.
The hornet landed and Steven, Matt and I stormed towards the meeting room. I angrily broke the door in. Major Jackson (the HRO) and two captains were inside.
“Ah… you’re back.” said Jackson, sounding surprised. I threw my shotgun, battle rifle and helmet aside, whilst still storming towards him.
“You sound surprised!” I replied, still furious. I slammed my fist into his face. He dropped to the floor on his back. The two marines drew their side-arms. Steven and Matt quickly managed to grab, twist and disarm the marines, immediately holding the weapons to their heads.
“WHAT, was that about marine?!?” the Major yelled as he stood again.
“That’s Helljumper! Dickcheese!” I yelled back, once again slamming my fist into his face. He dropped again, furious.
“You knew what was out there; you didn’t expect us to make it back! Now you’ve lost a Spartan, my friends…” I yelled.
“What?!?” Jackson replied.
“… and a goddamned tooth!” I finished, hooking him with my right hand. This time he fell on his stomach.
“Leave this room, and don’t come back, ever…” Major Jackson said calmly as he reached for his pistol.
“Screw you!” I replied, both frustrated and annoyed.
“… and we’ll forget about this incident.” Jackson finished as he stood, concealing the pistol behind his back.
“Eat ***!” I yelled back.
“Hmph, wrong answer.” He wiped the blood from his lip, drew his weapon and aimed it at my left shoulder. He squeezed the trigger three times, each bullet hurting more than the last. Matt and Steven adjusted their aim towards the Major. Before they could fire, about six marines stormed inside, rifles levelled at the ODSTs.
The three of us were hurled outside. I screamed in agony as Steven tried to stop the bleeding and Matt looked for a medic. I blacked out.
The Spartan awoke in a Covenant jail cell, walled in by 3 walls and a protective force field of plasma. He struggled to recall what happened. When the door behind him closed, with Phil and me behind it, he got toppled over by the flood. They popped over his rapidly draining shields. Just as the shields ran out, spikes ripped through the air until the flood had passed. The last thing he remembered was a brutes head hanging over him.
“We have you now, Demon.” A brute garbled from outside the plasma field. Two brutes, with brute shots stood outside his cell, looking in at him, laughing.
The Spartan rose and walked towards the brutes. He looked past them however and saw another Spartan, in an identical cell, and another, and another, and another. Five captive Spartans, all in the one room. The one across from him was kneeling at the plasma generator for his cell. It suddenly flickered, then failed. The others did the same. The brutes were so busy laughing that they didn’t have the slightest clue until their necks snapped and they lay motionless on the ground.
“Welcome to Omega!” one of the Spartans said as the field lowered. The Spartans grabbed the brute shots and spikers from the corpses and began their escape. Together, the Spartans moved towards the docking bay. One Spartan tilted his head around the corner. There was naught but a few engineer drones and some phantoms. The Spartans moved forward, as quick and as silent as a shadow. They stabbed any drones in their way with the bayonets and blades on their weapons. They boarded a phantom and as quickly as possible, before a single alarm was raised, they were gone.
They flew upwards and upwards until they were in the planets orbit. They waited for about an hour until a Prowler, ‘Silent Shadow’ dragged them in, without a single appearance on covenant sensors.
Chapter 4
I woke up in a daze. I was in a troop bay yet again.
“Where am I?” I asked, unaware of whom I was talking to.
“Hey buddy,” Matt replied, yelling over the engines “we’re in an albatross.” I sat up and rubbed my eyes. There were a good 20 marines in the bay, as well as Steven, Matt and I. There were two warthogs at the rear of the bay.
“Major has it in for us now!” Steven said “we’re goin’ back to that place.” My left arm was throbbing with pain. The engines came to a stop as we landed outside the entrance. Matt handed me my battle rifle. I looked at it, then my arm. I frowned and took the weapon. I holstered a side-arm and stood up. My arm was bandaged and was barely strong enough to support the rifle. I slung the gun and armed my pistol. The hatch opened and we walked out.
There was an incredibly foul stench hanging in the air. I looked inside the corridor. I began to have flashbacks of the last trip. The Spartan being overrun, Phil disappearing in front of my very eyes, Lachlan’s mangled body, it was truly terrible.
The two warthogs drove around the outside of the building and disappeared from sight. We advanced through the building until we got to the room with the scratches on the wall. I thought about the stalker attack. I looked back at the 14 marines and thought. I raised my head towards the roof. My eyes widened. Many stalker forms rushed across the roof towards the squad. I raised my pistol and fired. The marines turned just in time to open fire. The stalkers dropped from the roof immediately, lifeless.
I turned back around. Three mutating blobs stood in front of the door. The marines turned and slowly approached, unaware of the danger. A marine closely examined the middle one. It quickly took the shape of a massive tank form.
“Oh sh…” the marine began. It lifted him above it head and ripped him in two. The other two formed as well. The marines yelled and screamed at the flood monsters. The killed three more marines before being converted into a clump of disgusting brown sludge.
“MOVE! NOW!” Steven screamed. Everyone sprinted through the next few doors until we entered a large round room. “What is this place?” Matt asked. I looked up and saw a large box, suspended in the centre of the room. There were two doors at the other side of the room. The room itself was strange. The bottom of the walls was blurry, making the whole place confusing.
“Let’s move.” I said softly. The large box above suddenly fell to the floor. We levelled our rifles. The box unfolded.
Chapter 5
Yoro ‘Taumee and his squad of 12 elites had been standing against the curved wall of the chamber for many hours. Yoro had always been a proud, honourable and patient warrior, but this was testing him. He and his brethren were struggling to stay motionless under the effect of their camouflage. The box containing the sacred beast swayed a little. It emitted a low roar. Yoro glanced at his soldiers, making sure they were ready. He slowly took his sword from his waist. The door to his left suddenly slid open and a group of humans ran inside. Yoro turned his head towards them. As he did so, the box fell. His eyes widened and he watched intently. The box unfolded.
Yoro’s patience had paid off. An incredibly large beast appeared, at least three times as large as a tank form. Its head was roughly egg shaped with large tentacles as arms and long, bony legs. It let out an incredible howl. The humans started shooting. The elites rushed towards the juggernaut. It swung a tentacle at the humans, ripping three in half, the other tentacle warding off the elites. ‘Taumee ignited his sword as he rushed towards the giant. Five other elites did the same whilst the rest fired their plasma rifles.
I watched in horror as three marines were ripped in two. I holstered my pistol and struggled to raise my battle rifle. Matt, Steven and I ran left towards one of the doors whilst the marines ran right. I saw elites appear on the walls… that explained the blur. The juggernaut turned its attention towards us. It slammed its arms at us, narrowly missing each time. We tried many times to rush past in between strikes, but it was all in vain.
Steven turned towards the beast and ran. He drew both his SMG and his pistol on his way. He dodged, ducked and jumped on his way to avoid the tentacles. Steven was, and always had been fast and manoeuvrable. He screamed and raised his arms as he unloaded into it. The barrels of his weapons pressed against the rotted flesh of the juggernaut. Its arms flailed wildly in the air. We ran towards the door and turned. Steven stopped screaming, his clips had run out, he looked over to us and nodded. He was impaled from both sides by the massive tentacles. His blood splattered across the floor.
The team of Spartans descended from the ‘Creeping Shadow’ via albatross. They were accompanied by a large group of marines as well as two pelicans flying by their side, each complemented by a warthog.
Major Jackson advanced his army over the snowy hills of the land. His army was comprised of many warthogs, scorpions, rhinos, wolverines, hornets and sparrowhawks. That is not to mention the hundreds of marines inbound with pelicans and the longswords on their way from the ‘Dormant Flame’.
R’tau Yamamay and his army of grunts, drones, jackals, elites and the almighty hunters were dropped from the sky via phantoms from the ‘Plight of Virtue’. Banshees were headed towards the soon-to-be battlefield from a nearby base established earlier. They were soon to be accompanied by a force of wraiths, ghosts, spectres and a handful of scarabs. R’tau looked out the side of his phantom to see an incredible force of humans approaching. A large battle was going to take place, soon.
Yoro sent three elites after the two escaping black-clad humans. He charged towards the injured juggernaut, sword in hand. It was wheeling from all the damage it had taken which gave ‘Taumee his chance to strike. He leapt at one of its arms and performed a massive slice at its arm, mid-air. He watched it fall to the floor before initiating another strike. He jammed his sword through its back. It screeched in pain. He cut a small hole in it, about the size of a human skull. He removed his blade and drew his plasma rifle. He emptied plasma into the hole until his weapon overheated and the beast collapsed. Yoro grunted in pride before looking at the other three escaping humans. Two elites were gunned down by the marines, this angered Yoro. The elites collectively silenced one human before the other two ran outside. The squad went camouflage once again.
Yoro chased the humans outside into the snowy night.
Chapter 6
Matt and I ran down the last narrow hallway. Three elites followed us in. Matt turned. The distinctive crack of his sniper rifle represented a perfect shot. A 50 calibre bullet punctured an elite’s skull. It fell on its back, dead. I fired a few uncontrolled bursts at the other elites, simply clashing against their now shimmering shields. Matt fired again, this time piercing ones shoulder. It fell on its stomach, severely injured. He hit the next one in the chest. I quickly followed up with a burst that ripped through its unshielded head. We resumed running.
The injured elite raised his arm, plasma rifle in hand. It fired a burst into the air, uncontrolled but lucky all the same. The energized projectiles hit Matt in the leg, back and then delivered a finishing blow to the back of the head. I turned, horrified. I unloaded the remaining 18 bullets into the unshielded body of the elite. Although my aim significantly increased for that short period, my arm ached terribly.
The albatross and pelicans hovered above the ground, approximately one kilometre from the battlefield. Omega squad and the marines stepped off. Six marines mounted up on the warthogs whilst a few stayed on the aircraft. The Spartans, along with each marine rechecked their battle rifles. The group looked up to see a few longswords fly overhead. More were on their way. Only now did it sink into the Spartan’s mind that this war was going to be on a much larger scale than he expected, and anyone else for that matter.
The freezing cold air streamlined in through the vents of the Spartan’s helmet, he soon adjusted however. They began their march.
The Major saw phantoms begin landing. Jackson ordered a halt. He jumped out of his warthog and walked in front of his attack force.
“Let’s kick some alien ASS!” Major Jackson screamed, raising his arm and forming a fist high in the air.
“HOORAH!!!” The army yelled in reply. The sound was deafening. Jackson smiled. His army now looked and sounded truly fearsome, he however was scared out of his mind.
R‘tau Yamamay jumped out of his phantom. He was accompanied by his most trusted and worthy warriors, along with two black armoured, spec-ops grunts. Although they were the most respected rank of grunts, their purpose wasn’t a great one. R’tau was the most well equipped soldier in the army, supplied with what he wanted, this came with being a general. He alone carried two swords, a plasma rifle and a carbine. His grunts shared the weight of a large weapons rack. It contained one fuel rod cannon, beam rifle, spare plasma grenades and ammo as well as some deployable plasma shields. His personal shielding was three times that of normal elites. He alone was a true force to be reckoned with.
Yamamay was unlike most elites, he was greedy, sly, but incredibly skilled, much more so than anyone he knew. He was incredibly ignorant as well, almost corrupt. There was more than one occasion where he had threatened or struck other elites for speaking their mind. The other elites were right however, he was truly a Brute.
Yoro ran out of the room, into a narrow hall. He fired at the closest human, killing it instantly. The other turned its head but kept running. Yoro shot another bolt of plasma at the next one. It hit but didn’t kill; it almost pleased Yoro when he thought of his dead friends. He was however honourable, even somewhat sympathetic, but not this day. Yoro’s senses were finely tuned and could hear a muffled voice coming from the human’s headpiece. Yoro stomped a foot next to it and slowly revealed himself. The human groaned and rolled over. ‘Taumee stabbed his sword through the human as it screamed. He lifted his kill head height. Yoro emitted a low growl at the primitive species. He dropped the corpse. His squad all followed his actions, deactivating their cover. He turned towards the waiting battle.
Banshees flew overhead into the war.
Chapter 7
I reloaded my battle rifle and slung it. My arm was in pain, more than ever before. I slumped down against the wall. That last attack had exhausted me. I looked over at the four dead bodies; they all bled from at least somewhere. I was going to be bleeding just the same soon. The bio-foam that filled my left shoulder was wearing off.
I took one last look and stepped towards the door. It slid open. I was surprised to see what it revealed, a dark, snowy night. I was at the top of a small hill. About a half a kilometre away were Major Jackson and his force of marines, warthogs and rhinos. They were about to engage a Covenant force of elites, grunts and wraiths. The armies were scattered and already firing. I looked to my left to see a warthog speeding towards me. I flagged it down. Its turret started firing above. I turned right to see two banshees heading towards its position. They started firing just ahead of me. I dived back through the door just in time to see the snow melt from where I just stood. The plasma bolts ripped through the three marines in the ‘hog.
Omega squad’s walk felt a lot longer than it actually was. A Spartan turned his head as he walked. Some marines were shivering from the cold. Although all were experienced warriors, some looked slightly intimidated. Their breath was easily visible due to the extreme cold. The sound of battle rang in the distance. Omega and the marines quickened their pace. They arrived at a cliff. The Spartans watched as the battle raged on. Fires and explosions sounded off in the distance. The lead Spartan spoke into his COM>
”This is Spartan Group Omega. If they want war, we’ll give ‘em war!”
Jackson stood by seven marines. They fired at oncoming grunts, killing them before they could get a shot off. Elites moved up next and immediately slaughtered two marines. A rhino advanced towards the elites, firing as it went. The Major and his troops ran towards it for cover. Before they could arrive though, it burst into flames after coming in contact with a wraith mortar. The elites gunned down Major Jackson marines and approached him, swords drawn. A warthog sped down the hill from his right.
R’tau Yamamay watched as ghosts and spectres sped past him into the battle ahead. Two spectres pulled up next to him. He and three elites boarded one whilst his grunts and the last elite boarded the other. They sped into the raging war ahead. R’tau rode shotgun. Although he wasn’t liked by others, his skill wasn’t to go unacknowledged. Warthogs neared as R’tau ignited both of his swords. He leapt from the side of the spectre and onto the hood of a warthog. Bullets from the turret began depleting his shield. He forced his blades into the two seated humans. He flipped forward onto the back of the vehicle, blades in hand. Yamamay jammed his swords into the neck of the gunner. He bounded off of the warthog. R’tau walked towards the next oncoming warthog.
He sailed through the air, moving to strike.
Yoro looked towards a parked warthog. Three dead humans lay inside. Yoro looked towards one of his elites. The elite smiled and let out a low laugh. They walked in the direction of the banshees. A small group of marines held their ground behind two overturned warthogs. He watched a group of elites fall to the humans, whilst only one of their own was lost. Yoro and his soldiers went camouflage once again and ran towards the humans. They approached, blades drawn. The elites simultaneously jammed their blades into the human flesh. The fight was well in the favour of the Covenant. Yoro was pleased by this but soon saw human reinforcements appear at the edge of a nearby cliff.
The five in front were heavily armoured, Yoro braced himself.
Chapter 8
I ducked my head around the corner to make sure the banshees were gone. By now they were probably in the midst of separate encounter. I sprinted towards the warthog. The marines inside were clearly dead. I hauled their bodies out of the ‘hog. I would have simply removed the driver if it weren’t for the look on what was left of their faces, it made me feel sick. I looked down the hill to see Jackson being approached by two, sword bearing elites.
I pressed my foot to the accelerator pedal as far as possible. The rear kicked out in a notable warthog fashion. I veered the machine down the hill. I slammed on the handbrake when I reached the base of the hill. The warthog slid into the two unsuspecting elites. The Major exhaled in relief.
“Thanks mari…” Jackson started, before he saw my dark ODST armour. I leapt out of the warthog and stormed towards him, fuelled with rage. I drew my side-arm and tore my helmet off, making sure he saw my face. I raised the weapon to his forehead and watched the expression on his face turn from relieved, to frightened. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped.
I squeezed the trigger.
The Spartans and marines attached themselves to cords and quickly parasailed down the cliff. Four marines stayed up top with the warthogs. The Spartans completed the drop in about 15 seconds, whilst the marines took about one minute which is a long time in the middle of a war. Omega squad quickly did away with five elites.
About 20 well armed elites turned and fired. The Spartans took cover behind rocks and wreckage just in time to see a rain of blue, green and purple fly past. The marines finished their descent and opened fire. Grunts charged towards the human positions. Two Spartans were being overwhelmed; having small amounts of time to reload in between the grunt attacks. An overturned spectre was their only cover for about 50 metres.
The two Spartans started pushing the spectre forward.
R’tau Yamamay repeated his former actions once again, demonstrating his skills by clearing out another warthog in just a few seconds. He looked to his left to see a small force of humans descend from a nearby cliff, five in particular acting faster. R’tau had heard rumours of the ‘Demons’, but he had never believed in their effectiveness until now. He watched them move a spectre into a group of elites and fire a rocket into it, killing off many elites in the process. The rumours were right for once. His elites came and picked him up. R’tau reached across towards the grunts.
He armed his fuel rod cannon and fired three, well placed plasma projectiles into the marines whilst the Spartans ploughed into the elite blockade.
Yoro ‘Taumee and his elites watched on as R’tau Yamamay and his few soldiers tore through the human ranks. The two weapon carrying grunts approached R’tau with his beam rifle. Yoro knew a lot about R’tau from war stories. He knew what he could do with a beam rifle in his hands.
Yoro sprinted towards the battle, hoping to get a few kills before it was over. He kept his eyes on R’tau. Yoro and his elites went camouflage once again and started slicing and chopping at the humans.
‘Taumee watched as Yamamay lined up one of the heavily armoured humans.
Chapter 9
I looked down at Jackson’s lifeless body. His face no longer carried its surprised expression, what was left of it anyway. My shoulder ached once again. I could see blood emerging from the wound now. There were no Covenant forces nearby, finally a break. I looked to my left and saw two marines with SMGs. One marine pointed towards me and they both raised their weapons. I turned and ran back towards the already damaged warthog.
Uncontrolled bullets flew past my head. Anything other than SMG’s and I probably would have been dead by now. I felt one graze my leg, it was painful, but still bearable. I slid my helmet back on and jumped into the warthog. I kept my head down low and sped of.
I suddenly felt regret. I had exacted my revenge, but for all he had put me through, killing Jackson just didn’t seem right. His army was now without a leader because of my uncontrolled anger and hatred. Without my fellow ODSTs by my side, I was now alone in the middle of a war.
I unwittingly drove into another battle.
The Spartans fought a losing battle. They were trained to be the elite, the best, but not for this, not for an open war conflict like this. Grunts, elites and now a hunter pair moved in against them. A Spartan with a rocket launcher fired at an overturned spectre, narrowly missing two other Spartans.
The explosion killed a small group of elites as well as one of the two hunters. The surviving hunter was sprayed with the orange blood of his brother. The Spartan fired his second rocket at the charging giant. It made contact with its armour, but didn’t stop the enraged hunter. The Spartan ducked as the hunter swung its arm at him.
A thin, blue beam cut straight through the hunter’s orange neck mid-strike. It came through the other side, piercing the Spartans shoulder. The hunter fell to the ground, dead.
Before the Spartan could hit the ground, a second beam broke through his faceplate.
R’tau had the Spartan’s chest in his sites. As he squeezed the trigger, a hunter blocked his shot. He had accidentally killed a powerful ally but quickly regained his senses. He immediately fired another shot through the humans head.
The other four armoured humans concentrated their fire towards him. R’tau had his four elites by his side. His shields drained rapidly. He had underestimated their accuracy. His shields continued draining until he had only half of one left. He spun behind one of his elites and called the grunts over. They ran over with his fuel rod cannon. He spun again as the elite was gunned down. This time the elite turned and growled but R’tau, being the stronger of the two held him there against his will.
The grunts held the cannon up to R’tau. He had wanted his carbine back however, which made him extremely angry now. R’tau always demanded perfection.
He raised his plasma rifle.
Yoro was being careful not to be seen, but this was a difficult task to complete with bullets flying everywhere. The number of human forces was decreasing significantly but he had only two elites left since they arrived at the battle.
Yoro and his two remaining elites rolled behind an overturned warthog for cover. He watched R’tau hide behind two elites, his disregard for their lives sickened Yoro. That was bad but when he saw him kill the innocent grunts for making a simple mistake, he couldn’t hold it in. He and his elites ran towards him. A wraith blew up near R’tau, allowing him to use it as cover. Yoro and his elites stopped just outside the small battle zone.
“Brute!” Yoro yelled to R’tau. As he spoke, a warthog slid past him, colliding with and killing one of his elites. The warthog quickly came to a halt. An injured human tumbled out but quickly got to his feet. There was something strange about the human. It wore the same black armour as inside the round-shaped room. Yoro recognised it. R’tau walked around the wraith, swords drawn. Yoro’s last surviving elite ran towards him.
The area around the four lit up.
Chapter 10
I slammed into an elite. I wouldn’t have even driven in its direction if I had of been concentration. I slammed on the brakes and came to a sudden halt, jolting me forward. I hopped out, but tumbled to the ground. I was in an incredibly bad state. My shoulder was bleeding fully now and my leg burnt from the graze.
I shook my head to clear my vision and stood back up. I looked around but to my surprise, all I saw was two elites fighting and another one looking towards me. I quickly unslung my battle rifle and lined up the elite. It didn’t make a move; it just stood there, staring. I didn’t know what to think. My arm shook under the pain and a bead of sweat fell from my forehead.
I had no choice to lower my rifle. Although my arm ached too much to support it, I didn’t think it was going to hurt me. The elite and I turned our heads to the nearby duel. As we did so, two bright lights appeared in the sky between us. Dirt and dust sprayed everywhere. When it all cleared and settled, I realised what had happened.
The ODSTs had shown up.
A wraith moved in on the Spartan position. It fired its mortars, narrowly missing the four Spartans each time. Another hunter pair moved in to join the assault. Omega squad was constantly on the move, dodging plasma from all sides, barely able to get a shot off. A Spartan turned to see the hunter pair looming over him.
He ran between the towering beasts in an attempt to escape. A green stream of plasma flew past him. He quickly armed two captured plasma grenades and turned. He dove between the hunters once again. He jammed one grenade inside each of their orange backs, pushing it between the worm-like creatures that formed a hunter. The hunters rumbled and turned, just in time to unleash a devastating force of plasma into the Spartan.
A flash of green, blue and orange filled the air.
R’tau fought with the elite, it wasn’t the first he had had with his own species. With his two swords in his hands it was like he toyed with his enemy. As he kicked it to the ground, two human drop pods landed near him. A black armoured human emerged from each one. The humans quickly attacked the elite, filling it with holes.
R’tau recognised that one of them had a rocket launcher, a powerful human weapon that was mainly used against vehicles. He rolled back behind the wraith, just before a rocket hit the floor where he had been standing.
R’tau heard gunfire from around the wraith. He knew that these different humans were better. He ran back outside when his shields had recharged. Before he could look around properly, a rocket hit him square in the chest, throwing him backwards.
He wasn’t dead, but his shields were depleted and he was cut all over. He struggled to sit up, but managed to fire a burst out of his plasma rifle, right into the cheering human. R’tau watched as its smouldering corpse fell to the ground.
He waited for his shields to recharge. Nothing happened.
Yoro stared the human down until it lowered its weapon. They both turned their heads towards the nearby battle. As they did, two humans in drop pods arrived. He watched R’tau cower behind the wraith. He saw his last remaining elite die by one of the human’s hands. He ran towards the nearest one. He drew both his plasma rifle and sword.
‘Taumee fired a burst into it and pierced it with his sword as it fell. Yoro was angry, but his main concern was still R’tau. To his dismay, he watched as Yamamay come in direct contact with a rocket, launching him back over at least 10 metres. He was even more surprised when hew saw the human that dealt the damage, fall in a heap.
‘Taumee sprinted towards the injured R’tau. He stopped to watch him raise, both swords at the ready. Yoro looked down at his single sword. He knew it wouldn’t be enough to kill him, injured or not. He glanced down at his fallen friends, riddled with bullets and blood. Yoro bent down by his side.
He rose, bearing both his, and his friend’s swords.
Chapter 11
I jumped onto the turret of the warthog and lined up the hiding elite. I held down the turret trigger, but nothing happened. I looked at the barrels of the turret. There was a large hole burnt into them. When I looked back up I was horrified to see the ODSTs had fallen.
At least now the battlefield had been evened up. ODSTs, scorpions and longswords had arrived.
I looked back towards the elites as they ran towards each other, both wielding two swords. They lunged and swung at each other, but one of them was clearly injured. They blocked, dodged and rolled, struggling to get the upper hand. I watched intently, thinking about what to do.
I looked to my right and saw a pair of grunts running towards me. I took my hands off the turret and unslung my battle rifle. My first two bursts went wide whilst I adjusted to the large recoil. My arm continued to bleed. They were nearing the warthog. My third and fourth bursts connected perfectly with one of them as it tumbled to the ground.
The second grunt leapt at me, knocking me off the warthog. I hit the floor, back first. I swung my fist at it, knocking off its breathing apparatus. It continued to fight however, as it suddenly started biting at me. Although I was keeping it far enough away, each bite seemed my painful to my arm. I had dropped my battle rifle when I fell, so I felt around for my side-arm. The bites got closer as I took away the pressure from one arm to reach for the pistol.
I felt the familiar grip of my weapon and brought it up to the little monster. I waited for the next bite and jammed the barrel of my pistol in between its sharp teeth. I unloaded the clip into the grunts head. It slowly slid off from on top of me as I reloaded.
I slowly stood up, using the rifle as a support. My vision was blurring but I could make out the shape of an elite walking towards me.
I wasn’t sure whether it was my eyes or not, but a genuine blur moved behind it.
The three remaining Spartans ran as fast as they could, away from the battle. They reluctantly jumped over what remained of the Spartan and hunters, all in unison. Two pelicans unloaded ODSTs ahead of them, about 500 metres away. If they had one chance to escape, this was it. A longsword bombing run had cleared the pursuing grunts, but elites and the wraith still continued their fire.
A wraith mortar landed behind them. The Spartans lurched forward from the impact; one Spartan however was knocked over by it. The other two stopped and turned in order to help him up, even though they were already about 10-20 metres away. They looked towards him, but were distracted by the large blue light behind him. The Spartan on the floor motioned for them to run, extending his arm and flicking his wrist towards them.
They ran as the blue light turned into an explosion, enveloping the Spartan.
R’tau braced for the strike. Yoro lunged at him with only one sword. R’tau was immediately on the defensive, blocking Yoro’s strikes as he stumbled back. Had he not been injured so much, this would have been an easy fight. He would’ve been reacting faster and hitting harder.
Yoro launched a massive strike at R’tau, knocking him on his back. To his own surprise, this was R’tau’s chance.
He brought his legs up to his chest and waited for Yoro to advance. When Yoro stood over him, he kicked him flat on his own back. They simultaneously rolled backwards and got back to their feet. R’tau swung his swords in unison, swinging them inwards, outwards and stabbing at Yoro’s evasive figure. Every attack was either blocked or dodged.
R’tau pushed his hands together, still holding the swords. He made a large attack by swinging both blades down at Yoro. They were met by ‘Taumee’s crossed swords.
Yoro struggled under the pressure of R’tau’s strength. He had to think quickly. He used Yamamay’s unrelenting strength to his own advantage. Yoro slid under his legs and watched R’tau stumble forward.
They stared each other down once again.
Yoro looked at R’tau closely. He noticed that he wasn’t in any condition to fight. It made him think of the injured human. Taking his mind off the fight was a terrible mistake. His attention turned back to the duel just in time to see a blade, spinning towards him. He jumped to his right. Although he had avoided losing his head, he had paid for it with his left arm.
He fell to the floor in pain. He watched R’tau turn and walk towards the black armoured human.
Yoro activated his camouflage and chased R’tau.
Chapter 12
I blinked my eyes a few times, trying to clear my vision. It worked, but it was only temporary. I struggled to see what was ahead of me. I dropped to one knee, the pain was simply too much. I took off my helmet and looked at the approaching elite. It stood over me. My vision cleared just in time to see it slowly opening its mouth. As it did so, it turned its head back around cautiously. I looked past it, into the falling snow. I noticed something quite disturbing. One of the snowflakes didn’t make it to the ground.
The invisible one jumped into the other, throwing them both just over my head. I gathered my strength and slowly stood up. After all, I couldn’t just sit there and die, I was a Helljumper.
I looked around. The two elites continued their fight, one of them had only one arm, but still fought bravely. I would’ve taken them both out right now, if I could even raise my battle rifle for long enough. The condition of my arm continued to worsen; at least I still had it. I stood up and limped as fast as I could towards the two recently fallen grunts.
I had turned my back to the threat; this would usually end in death. I could now tell who the elites was that had spared my life just a minute or two ago. I had never seen two elites go at it like this before, let alone them ignoring my presence. I put all my energy into jumping towards the grunts, rolling as I landed. I could never be sure of their intentions and if they were behind me.
I got back to my knees and started searching the grunts. I knew what I anted and was determined to find it. I turned my head in time to see the arm armed elite get knocked over. I grabbed my last remaining fragmentation grenade. I kept my hand on the pin, making sure it was firmly in place. I closed my eyes. I remembered when I first selected it, with my friends.
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend”
The words went through my head and out my mouth a few times before looking back to the fight. I watched the two armed elite stare at the other from about 5 metres away, it was perfect. I pulled the pin on the grenade and lobbed it over at the standing elite. Although it didn’t land within killing distance, it did pressure the elite into diving away from the explosion. Dust spat up into the air, creating a moving wall between the battle and I. I felt like I had repaid the favour now.
I resumed my search, rolling the grunts over until I finally uncovered what I had been looking for. I brought it up to my eyes.
The two remaining Spartans of Omega Squad sprinted towards the nearing pelican. A squad of ODSTs guarded it, ushering the Spartans towards them. Plasma flew past the Spartan’s heads as they picked up speed. They raised their battle rifles up over their heads and unloaded the clip in an attempt to ward the Covenant forces off. The constant stream of plasma slowed slightly, but the familiar vibration of wraith mortars still shook the ground and ran through the Spartan bodies.
The Spartans closed in on the pelican, within 50 metres of it. As they did, a bolt from a Covenant carbine hit a Spartan in the back, causing him to fall over. He got to his feet and struggled to move. A few ODSTs as well as the other Spartan came to his aid and helped him stumble over to the pelican. The engines roared to life before the injured soldier could even sit up. The hatch closed with the remaining Spartans and ODSTs inside.
The healthy Spartan sat down next to his squad mate and removed his helmet. Their battle was over for now.
R’tau turned his head away from the human. He was badly injured and his armour sparked from the rocket impact. He bled a lot, but his strength and determination to kill Yoro kept him going. He examined the space ahead of him, looking for Yoro who no longer lay in the distance.
Yoro ‘Taumee stared into the unknowing eyes of R’tau Yamamay. The end of his shoulder where his arm used to be was incredibly painful. He was surprised to see that R’tau hadn’t seen him. He looked at the human that knelt behind him, the one he had decided not to kill. Its eyes widened and Yoro knew he had to make his move.
Yoro jumped into the unsuspecting elite, throwing them both about 5 metres ahead. They hit the ground and moved into a roll. Yoro didn’t have his sword drawn, but he managed to make R’tau drop his. They rolled backwards a few times before getting back to their feet.
R’tau stood up and raised his hands, forming a fist. He attempted to hook Yoro, swinging his right hand at his head. Yoro ducked the strike and countered it with a blow of his own. R’tau stumbled backwards a bit; he hadn’t expected Yoro’s punch to have as much force behind it as it did.
Yoro took this chance to draw his sword. R’tau looked at the blade in Yoro’s hand, and then at his own, it was just past Yoro. R’tau was trained to do whatever had to be done. He waited for Yoro’s lunge before drawing his plasma rifle. He fired a quick burst into Yoro as he rolled past his distracted foe.
Yoro’s shields flickered but still remained strong, not they would help if hit by a sword. As soon as he regained his senses, he turned around to where R’tau had rolled. R’tay was already mid-air, initiating a strike. Their blades clashed and their duel restarted. Yoro ducked and spun, is sword just above the ground. R’tau jumped and brought his own blade down to the floor, narrowly missing Yoro’s right arm.
Yoro spun himself around the blade that was impaled in the ground next to his arm. He rose as he did so and came next to R’tau. Yamamay brought his free hand around and slammed his fist into where Yoro’s arm no longer hung. ‘Taumee fell down to the floor after a small stumble. He rolled onto his back. The exposed flesh that had been hit was throbbing with pain. It had caused him to drop his sword.
R’tau stared at Yoro. A triumphant feeling washed over him as he allowed himself a slight smile. He heard a soft ‘ting’ sound come from his right. He looked and saw a small human explosive lying on the ground beside him. He jumped left as a fountain of snow and dirt appeared where he once stood.
Yoro quickly got to his feet and bounded towards his dropped energy sword. He swiped it up and picked up his speed. He leapt into the air at R’tau whilst he lay on the ground.
Yoro jammed his sword into R’tau’s chest before he could realise what had gone wrong.
Chapter 13
I marvelled at the small blue sphere in my hands. I absolutely loved those plasma grenades. There were powerful enough, let alone the fact that they stick to whatever they come in contact with.
I turned my head back to the wall of snow and dirt in time to see it clear. I squinted my eyes to see that little bit clearer. It revealed one elite kneeling over the other, its sword imbedded in the other. I quickly stood. The one armed elite stood as well, blade firmly in hand.
Yoro rose from R’tau’s dead body and looked over at the black armoured human from before. Their eyes met and stayed locked in that position for a few seconds. A large explosion nearby broke their gaze, reminding them that they were still in the middle of a war.
Yoro looked back down at his glowing energy sword. It was flickering which meant that it was either damaged, or it had been working too long. He looked around for R’tau’s sword. He found it was directly in between him and the human. Yoro ran towards it.
I knew what it was thinking; I knew what he was going to do. I put all my energy into my first few steps towards the blade. The elite was already most of the way there when I realised that I had no hope of beating it there, let alone running the distance. I unslung my battle rifle and threw it to the ground. I un-holstered my pistol and lined up the rushing elite.
I fired into its head and chest as it neared its sword. I popped the spent clip out and hurried to slip in my last one. I waited for the ‘click sound and proceeded to pull the top of the barrel, loading the first bullet into the chamber.
Yoro bent down and quickly grasped onto the sword, running with it by his side. Small projectiles slammed into his face and chest, connecting with his shields. The shields flickered and vanished, but he continued his charge. Yoro spun and deactivated his sword.
I knew its shields were down so I stood my ground and took my chances. The elite spun around and knocked my side-arm out of my hands. I felt for the plasma grenade’s orange activation button. I felt a massive burning sensation rip through my stomach.
Yoro plunged his sword deep into the human’s stomach. He forced the human onto its back. Yoro saw a blue glow appear from down towards their feet. He blurted out a strange bark of surprise when he saw the plasma grenade stuck to his own body. He glared back up at the human’s head.
I coughed blood out of my mouth in an attempt to laugh. The elite had a surprised look on its face, but soon accepted it. It shoved its blade further into my stomach until I could feel its fist pressing firmly against my skin.
My vision faded to black.