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P. 5
Dante turned to the Chief. "Sir, if we don't destroy that we're going to lose Reach."
117 was scrutinizing the image with narrowed eyes. "Send the coordinates to the helm," John turned to Brian with a look of solid determination, "Take us in."
The stealth ship's cloaking system deactivated as it breached the atmosphere, the friction encasing the spacecraft in flames. The vessel shuddered harshly. Dante would have falled over if he hadn't crushed a handhold into one of the bulkheads.
Once the ship made it through the atmosphere they reactivated the cloaking system. "Odds are the base detected us re-entering so close." Dante said.
"We're sort of on a clock here Dante," Brian replied as he steered towards their destination, "Unless you want to take a ten minute tea party, then that's okay."
"Cool it," John ordered, "It's time to assemble a team." Everyone who wasn't already there was called to the bridge. The Spartans fell in line, and saluted the master chief. "At ease," John looked across the two rows of men and women, "A full assault of the base guaranties casualties, casualties we can't afford.
Out of the original 60 Spartan IVs, only 20 were left. The previous war had been devastating enough. John took a moment to think, then made his pick. "E18," Dante stepped forward, "A15," Cody advanced from the line, "and A16." Sarah nodded, and joined the infiltration team.
It had been a difficult choice for John to make. Having Sarah and Dante on the mission together was dangerous. He would have chosen Brian or Jana to replace one of the two, but Brian was injured and Jana was preoccupied with the engine. Cody was a risk as well. He was the strongest, the fastest, but also the most reckless. This flaw was essential to suppress for this mission. There was only one reason he chose him, Cody was a man who knew how to shoot his way out of a pinch.
"Suit up you three." The Chief commanded as he felt the ship touchdown. John had been on many missions in his life, but something about this one made him uneasy. The base was in the middle of a barren wasteland. There was absolutely no cover up to the walls, which were taller than the normal fortress.
Even with the cover of the night, the Spartan had a bad feeling. Why were the anti-aircraft guns so big? From the HAC camera aboard their stealth ship the inside of the base had hardly anything on it save a few barracks and some bunkers. Something told him that someone wasn't going to make it back in one piece.
Dante donned his helmet, causing the armor to seal with a "Hiss!" He turned to Sarah, who had already suited up and was sitting on the bed of their private quarters. She stood up, and took Dante's hands in hers. They tilted their heads downwards, and their helmets touched.
Sarah took a deep breath. "Justdon't die. Okay?"
"Sure thing," Dante smiled behind his golden visor, "So it's okay if I lose a limb?"
Sarah laughed. "You're an ass."
"I'll be fine," The Spartan said, embracing A16, "Let's go."
When the airlock slid open it seemed to be a tear in reality, the Spartans stepping out of the enterior of a virtually undetectable ship. The only sign of which was the view that the open door supplied. In the cloak of the night, they cautiously crossed the plain towards the base. "Careful." John warned on a direct com beam to the other Spartans, "This area could be mined."
"Or something worse." Said Dante, and something worse it was.
_____________________________________________________________ __
The ONI operative removed a chip from the hard case on his leg. It was rectangular, and glowed a bright purple. He inserted it into the MAC cannon control stations mainframe, and the transfer began. More expensive than a slipspace drive, the transfer chip was one of three, and it could only be used once. The device could move the control of almost anything, even the most advanced of spacecrafts to another location manually. With almost everything jammed, it was the only option.
The MAC cannon control extraction was an easy task for the device, and was done loading in only twelve seconds. The Operative turned to leave through the western gate of the complex, but paused. His orders were to stop for nothing. Besides, that ODST was probably dead by now. When the Operative accepted ONI's request, he had agreed to leave everything behind, even Jane.
However, Shadow he had shed blood by Shadow's side, fought on Irindar with him. The ODST had taken him under his wing the day the Operative first met him on Earth. Undoubtedly everyone would have been doomed if Shadow hadn't come with the Spartan. He owed that hell jumper his life. "Dammit." The stealth unit ran back towards his old friend.
Shadow was firing his fifty caliber machinegun at a wave of charging Alliance soldiers. Red puffs of blood sprayed into the air as armor was cracked and bones were shattered. "Come on! Is that all you've got?!" He shouted, his voice not even audible over the gunfire.
A bullet struck the unarmored spot between Shadow's shoulder and chest. He grunted and fell backwards into the dirt. His leaned his head to the side as blood trickled from his mouth. That Operative wasn't coming back for him, he knew it. The ODST reached over to a dead soldier, and took the pistol from his thigh. He pushed himself back, and propped his back up against the back side of the trench.
The first Alliance trooper to jump into the trench took a bullet to the head. The second to the heart, and the third received one to the throat. The next was a lucky one. Shadow's pistol jammed. He cursed as his enemy raised his assault rifle. The soldier's view shifted upwards as he tried to redirect his aim.
The ONI Operative drop kicked the Alliance soldier from the top of the trench, and unleashed a burst from his silenced SMG into the man's chest. "Still alive, impressive." Shadow's savior pulled a spike form his belt and stuck it into the ground. Throwing the ODST over his shoulder, he ran for the eastern part of the complex. "I have a small stealth ship landed in here. Just hold on."
Bullets whizzed past them as they retreated. "Take this!" The stealth agent handed the hell jumper his SMG. Taking it, the ODST fired at their pursuers. A bullet struck the back of the Operatives calf, but the flexible material of his suit instantly hardened and flattened the projectile. He stumbled, but didn't trip.
Shadow gritted his teeth as he fired his weapon. Every step his savior took put pressure on his wounds, possibly cutting him deeper. He wasn't complaining though, not when someone was risking their life to save his ass.
The SMG clicked. Shadow ejected the clip and pulled one from the Operatives belt. Reloading, he brought his gun back up and sent a burst right into the chest of an Alliance soldier. Everyone was in the open now. Lead was flying past them as they moved across a small metal bridge on the trench. How far away was this ship?
The Operative stopped at a certain point, and set the ODST down. He hit a button his wrist pad, and a small ship seemed to materialize before them. It was no bigger than a drop pod, but it looked much sleeker with wings and an angled surface. The owner took his friend inside, and set him down in the co-pilots seat. He settled himself in and reactivated the stealth system. Tapping in commands on the control panel, the ship rose off of the ground and took towards the sky.
The spacecraft shook as it exited the atmosphere and flew into space. "I'd say that makes us even." The operative said as he activated the emergency medical procedure. Shadow's seat reclined and metal bindings clasped his wrists and ankles. "Your heartbeat is too low for morphine, so you'll have to be restrained so you can't thrash."
Mechanical arms with surgical instruments came down from the ceiling. One began a blood transfusion, and the others started removing bullets and shrapnel from his body. He hadn't even noticed he had been shot more than once. Shadow only gritted his teeth.
"Two years out of combat and you're still one tough son of a b1tch." The operative removed his glowing blue goggles and pulled his facemask off.
Terry let out a laugh that was quickly ended by a spike of pain. "Nick Silvers. Long time no see."
[Edited on 11.25.2010 4:38 PM PST]