I'll admit right now, I totally stole the general idea for this from Slushie, so he will be in my story as well.
Chapter Schwuam
Master Chef barged in suddenly and blurted out with a winded breath, throwing his sniper rifle over his back, “Incoming Covenant Forces!”
Estelore was just a step behind him. “The main system’s motion trackers are picking up more activity than they can handle. Ambush is an understatement.”
“What?! How’d they……it doesn’t matter. Looks like we’ll be transporting Cortana sooner than expected.” I replied swiftly. “Esplin, load up the package and get Bravo Team to rally point Zulu. We can’t risk leading the Covenant back to base. Alpha Squad will hang back with me. We’ll hold them off as long as we can.” I instinctively pulled out my Battle Rifle. The tried and true standard 3-burst weapon of choice for the UNSC.
“What exactly are we dealing with?” Claire asked, apparently interested now knowing she’d be staying behind.
“Sensors are showing red at least 500 feet in diameter. You’re looking at a upwards of two thousand troops.” Estelore replied calmly, as if fighting massive armies was all in a day’s work.
Tyler’s eyes went wide before Master Chef enlightened the situation even more. “I also saw at least two Scarabs.”
“This is INSANE!” Tyler seemed like he was ready to burst.
“You think EVERY mission is insane,” Shanker retorted.
“Alright, calm down guys. Bravo Team, we’ve got orders. Let’s go.” Esplin interviened.
Phoenix threw in his last two cents before leaving with his squad, “Just take it easy guys. It’s in a tight, but as long as you’re careful you’ll come out on top.”
“That’s what she said,” Tyler yelled back as they left.
“ETA 2 minutes and twen…..” Estelore began to cut off our laughter, but she was cut short herself by a loud explosion.
“I hope you were wrong about how many of them are out there too.” Anna added enthusiastically.
“Truth, what’ve we got to work with?” I asked.
“The Hornet still needs repairs, so we won’t be hitting the skies. The Flak Cannon Warthog is operable though.”
“That’s not good enough, we won’t stand a chance with Banshees raining down on us. Tyler, Estelore, get Truth some wings so we can board the Scarabs.” I barked out, heading for the Warthog.
“How the hell are we supposed to do that?” Tyler questioned with a bit of annoyance, but mostly genuine curiosity.
“Get creative.” I said simply, and turned back toward the hog.
“Shotgun!” Claire called out. Anna muttered something I won’t repeat and made her way to the gunner’s turret.
I tried testing Anna’s patience a little, “Look on the bright side, at least you’ll beat Claire’s kill count this time.”
Claire held back a laugh, but still slipped a giggle as Anna glared at me. “That was pure hacks last time! You’d swear those dumb Brutes WANTED to drive into her plasma grenades.”
The second we pulled out from under the gate of the base about 4 explosions went off all around us. I tried dodging the Ghosts and Prowlers fire, wishing we had Truth behind the wheel instead. He was our best driver and pilot, but we needed him in the air A.S.A.P. Anna quickly turned to the nearest Prowler to unleash the turret on their gunner only to see a bright blue ball stick to his face.
Enraged she turned to Claire, “Are you serious?!” Claire just continued firing her Assault Rifle and throwing more grenades.
Estelore, Tyler, and Truth reached the rooftop only to be greated by a truck sized blob of plasma hailing down on them. A cannon shot from a Wraith.
“Uhm, Este…..” Truth began.
Without a word Estelore dropped the bubble shield just in time to save the three of them. Before they had any time to celebrate two Banshees banked around and were headed straight down on to them from opposing sides.
“I’ll take out the one on the south side, we only need one.” Estelore remarked.
Tyler instantly pulled out his Spartan Laser, “How far can you jump Truth?”
He couldn’t see it, but he know Truth and Estelore were both smiling wide. “On my mark.” Estelore continued.
Tyler’s laser was already charging.
“One.”
The Banshees each kept their sights on the trio waiting for the Bubble Shield to drain as they continued at rapid pace to slam through it. Bubble Shields only deflect bullets.
“Two.”
The polish on the purple death machines was now visible. Pretty, but not the kind of pretty you can appreciate under this circumstance.
“Mark!”
Estelore threw her Flare, blinding both pilots just before Tyler peeked out from the Bubble Shield and let off the perfect shot. It nailed the north side Banshee’s right wing, killing the pilot and leaving the Banshee hurdling towards the ground off the opposite end of the roof. With speed only a Spartan could manage Truth makes the leap of faith off the edge just barely catching the remnants of the Banshee’s destroyed wing and climbs in pulling up less than a meter before crashing into oblivion.
“How’s that for creative?” Tyler boasted.
