- soulguard
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- Exalted Mythic Member
The bombardment was their signal. Will exploded through the grate, and rammed his combat knife into the back of a Brutes head. Two Jackals spotted the Spartan and shrieked in terror. Two more Brutes quickly spotted the squad as they all sprang from the tunnel. One by one the alien invaders turned their weapons on the group of humans that sprinted toward the purple haze of the gravity lift.
The Spartan was spotted by several Brutes and most of them were cautious on how to handle the human warrior.
“The Demon is here?” A Brute roared, but he was quickly silenced by a full round from Eric’s battle rifle. There was no need to be silent anymore; their presence had been detected by a few dozen troops.
“Move people!” Eric shouted as he took down two Brutes and a Jackal in succession. “Wesley, get the squad to the gravity lift! GO!” Battle riffle and submachine gun’s chimed in the air as marines from Red Squad shot down any covenant foe that came too close to their path toward the gravity lift. They were outnumbered and out gunned but so far the bombers were doing a good job distracting the majority of the covenant forces. They gunfire from the marines was drowned out by the explosion from above.
Eric slowly pulled up the rear, assisted by the Spartan. Will’s aim was as precise as Eric’s and one by one they took down anything that came into range. The staggered backward, coving the rear of the squad. The marines were at full stride toward the gravity lift, and the covenant forces weren’t advancing for fear of being taken down by Eric and Will’s deadly aim.
Will spotted a Brute near a communications array and lobbed a grenade. The array exploded and fried the Brute that was trying to radio for assistance. The overhead bombardment suddenly ended and the only noise left in the area was the three burst shots of human battle rifles. The racket gained the attention of the remaining covenant forces in the area and they all focused in on the small squad that was sprinting up the street toward the gravity lift. The situation suddenly changed. With the added support of more Brutes the covenant forces were now eager to kill the Spartan that they mistook to be the Demon that destroyed their holy ring. But the Demon’s reputation made them hesitate; none of them wanted to attack Spartan head on.
Will and Eric were laying down standard suppression fire as they quickly followed their squad. Wesley was now in a full sprint up the street. He quickly unbuckled his magnum from his hip holster and took aim at a few jackals standing next to the lift. His rounds bounced harmlessly off their shields as plasma began streaking towards him. A grenade soared over his head and the explosion sent the jackals screaming into separate directions. Wesley didn’t care who threw the grenade, he only knew that he had to run faster. A plasma burst hit him in the leg and he cringed in pain. He doubled over but rolled to his feet and kept moving.
Rose was sprinting hard toward the gravity lift when she saw Wesley fall. She gasped but relaxed when Wesley jumped up and kept running. She pulled up her battle riffle, and took aim at the brute that was taking shots at the squad as they ran by. She began to side step but maintained her gaze at the head of the beast. She was still moving at a full sprint when she squeezed the trigger. Three bursts exploded from the barrel and slammed through the side of the Brutes face. The beast exhaled as it slammed into the ground. She turned and raced toward the gravity lift. Wesley and several other marines were waiting just beyond the purple glow. They had turned and were firing back at the jackals that were swarming down the street. Rose reached the lift and turned to assist in the firefight when she felt a surge of pain shoot up her side.
She thought she was hit, but the pain was internal. She knew the feeling well and quickly struggled against it. Her body was reacting from the physical strain. Her lungs were tight, and her heart was racing madly. She was winded and her muscles were cramping, her body was beginning to asphyxiate. She was pushing too hard, and not getting enough oxygen. She had just sprinted one hundred yards and hadn’t fully recovered from the one mile run. She hadn’t pushed herself this hard since her collage days, and her body was shutting down. She had to fight it, she had to breathe and shoot. But she knew the first sign; she was going to black out. She took aim and fired wildly. She saw the Spartan and Eric running down the street toward her and they were being chased by a dozen Brutes. She had to fight it, she had to focus, and she didn’t want to fail her squad. Her head became light, her gun was becoming nearly impossible to hold, her vision began to blur, and her body slowly shut down.
“First team, move in!” Wesley shouted. He reached out and grabbed Rose’s backpack as she slumped forward, and passed out. He pulled her into the gravity lift as plasma bursts exploded around them from all directions. “Second team; maintain covering fire for the serge.” Wesley shouted as his first team was raised into the heart of the covenant cruiser.
The Spartan turned and dropped two grenades at the charging line of Brutes, while Eric turned and took head shots at them. They reached the gravity lift and jumped inside, along with the rest of Red Squad, and were lifted into the ship. Had it not been for Will’s mistaken identity as the Master Chief, and the nervousness it created amongst the Brutes, the mission would have failed. The only thing that kept the Brutes from fully charging at the humans was the Spartan that ran along side them.
But the mission wasn’t over.
To be continued…
[Edited on 5/12/2005]