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Breaking Point
Chapter 5/End
Blood, skull, and brain-matter splattered against Tyler's BDU as a fellow Marine collapsed to the ground, the Needler round hit him directly in the head. Tyler didn't flinch. He squeezed off a single round in his AR and killed the Needler's wielder, a Grunt. The small creature fell from the headshot, but three more took it's place. This conflict was becoming hopeless.
Here he was, 20 years after the call for war against the Covenant was issued and humanity was losing. Planet after planet fell to the unbeatable Covenant war machine and it had no signs of stopping. Not even Tyler's Spartan-II brethren, despite being able to pull of overwhelming victories, seemed to halt the Covenant. It was now September 1st, 2552 and the unthinkable had occurred.
Reach was under attack by the Covenant. How they found it was still a mystery. The planet's location had been a closely guarded secret, almost more-so than Earth's. Somehow, the Covenant defied the odds and found it. At first it looked like the UNSC had a chance. The Super MAC platforms in Reach's orbit looked like they could halt the Covenant in their track's. It didn't. Once they got passed Reach's defenses, the world was practically gone.
In two short days the Covenant blazed across Reach and slaughtered every human they could find. While the Marines and Army managed to put up a good fight, that is all they could do. They could fight as hard as they wanted, and they did, but it would prove futile. The Covenant didn't hold back in this conflict, Banshee bombing runs, Elite hit-squads, and even Scarabs were thrown at Reach defenders. Humanity was simply outmatched.
One beacon of hope remained, the massive presence of the Spartan-II commando left on the planet. Tyler didn't know how many were on the world, but he heard of their influence. Over FLEETCOM he heard of their exploits be it the massacre of large amounts of alien infantry or even the destruction of a Covenant warship. How Tyler wished he could join his brothers and sisters in battle as a Spartan.
He quickly abandoned that though, he was a Marine and Crimson Squad was his family now. There they were, Sergeant Emerald, Lance Corporal Mitchell, Privates Allen and Buck, and himself. They boldly fought the invaders with everything they had and showed no mercy. Their current location was a city called New Johannesburg, a coastal city that once served as a tourist hub. It was not a battlefield.
Crimson Squad had acquired two Warthogs and maneuvered through the city streets. Any poor Covenant troopers they saw immediately ate 50-caliber rounds from the Hogs turret. Their current objective was to locate and infiltrate the abandoned ONI headquarters deep in the city and destroy some sort weapon system. Sounded like the mission at Algolis so many years ago, how the UNSC still had that Prototype weapon's system to use now.
When they arrived, the perimeter had a ghostly silence. Nobody could hear any exchange of fire or the now familiar groans of death. They entered the compound with rifles raised and flashlights illuminated. The ONI HQ was pitch black and cold, it felt like a cave. Without any power, the service elevator had ceased to function, down the stairs it was. Deeper and deeper and deeper they went into the heart of the ONI base not knowing what to expect.
Once the reached their destination, they finally saw what they were sent to destroy. Standing before them was a brand, new set of MJOLNIR Mk.V Powered Assault Armor, ready for action. This armor was special though, the shielding had been upgraded from what the Mk.V typically allows, had a much more durable armor plating, and featured a custom helmet with a somewhat triangular visor shape. Aparently, ONI had manged to incorporate stelth features in this armor as well and called it the MJOLNIR Mk. V "Recon" variant.
"Mitchell set the charge." Emerald ordered, "When that suit detonates I hear it will unleash a small scale nuke, so make sure you give us plenty of time to evacuate the building."
Tyler stepped in front of Mitchell before he could plant the charge.
"Private Keats!" shouted the sarge, "What do you think you're doing?"
"Sir," Tyler said, "You can't destroy this armor, I can use it."
"Negative on that Keats," Emerald replied, "Only Spartans can wield this type of armor, although I wouldn't mind using it myself. So stand back."
Tyler knew what he had to do.
"I'm not really Scott Keats sarge," Tyler revealed, "I am Spartan Tyler-001 and I am reporting for duty."
"This isn't the time for jokes soldier," Emerald barked, "Especially jokes that inspire false hope."
"I wouldn't joke about this sir," Tyler said, "Let me get into the armor and use it for the good of us all."
"This is just...unreal," Emerald sighed, "Why would you lie about being just a normal human and keep this Spartan business secret from us?"
"I'm not supposed to be in the armed forces, I have Spontaneous Cellular Necrosis and I could die from my cells shutting down at any moment." Tyler said.
"So a Spartan with an weakness, this is just making my day." Emerald said.
"But I hadn't died yet and I don't intend to," Tyler replied, "Let me get suited up and use the armor, for the better of the squad."
Silence griped the squad, nobody was ready to adjust to Tyler's revelation. All the sarge could do was nod a "yes". Tyler nodded back and ,with the help of his squad, put on the MJOLNIR(R) armor. He was met with awe from his squad as he stood as a green statue of human technological marvel. Through the mic in his helmet, Tyler said,
"Let's go."
As they all sprinted from the building, they encountered a squad of Elites heading towards them. Two opened fire with their Plasma Rifles while the red armored leader charged with his Energy Sword. Crimson Squad took cover behind some planters while Tyler-001 sprinted towards the leader Elite.
Tyler delivered a gut wreathing kick to the alien's chest and caused it's rib cage to collapse. As the creature fell, Tyler pumped AR rounds into it's cranium. Without their leader, the two remaining Elites started to fall back. As they exited the ONI HQ, they were hit by rifle fire, but not from Crimson Squad.
As the squad went out of the building, they were met by four Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. One of them stepped forward and said,
"This is Gunnery Sergeant Scott McHale, are you Crimson Squad?"
Sgt. Emerald stepped forward and said, "This is Crimson Squad trooper, why do you ask?"
"We were sent to back your unit up after you completed your objective," McHale said, "I was told that this squad had five men, not four Marines and a Spartan."
"Our other Marine, Private Keats, was killed in action," Emerald lied, "This Spartan came to our aid."
McHale eyed the towering green figure and let out a chuckle.
"Good, we'll need him and everybody like him. We can't let Reach fall."
END OF STORY 1