Wow, been really busy with tests, papers, speeches, and projects recently. I've got a free weekend though, and hopefully will finally get chapter seven finished. I will hopefully have time for chapter eight over thanksgiving break too... Seven should be up by monday. Also a big thanks to anyone who has read/has been reading. Please comment to let me know I'm not just typing to myself...

Oh, man. I had four papers assigned out of the blue, and final exams as well, but finally have chapter seven done. [i][b]Chapter Seven[/b][/i] I opened my eyes as the shockwave rushed by. I watched the fire engulf the Covenant forces that had taken so many lives today, the ground around the station shoot upwards in a massive cloud of dust, then implode as the rooms underground filled in with those that had previously been above them. But none of us cheered. We were all too tired, too mournful of those lost, to applaud even more destruction. I continued to stare out of the open back of the Pelican. The plasma fire had melted one of the hydraulic arms that controlled the hatch, and Luck was unable to close it. The eight of us in the back of the pelican remained silent until Luck spoke up. "So... You gonna introduce me to your new friends, Roland?" It was Duncan who replied first. "I'm Lieutenant James Duncan, Ma'am, and this is Corporal Benjamin Bishop. And you are?" "Tracey Lukenowski, Luck for short. What about you two? And is that a Spartan?!" She spoke to the rest of the men. "Frank Young, civilian." He spoke without lifting his eyes from the metal grating of the pelican's floor. "Wesley, engineer" "I am Keiichi-047, Ma'am." "Oooh, and polite too! Roland, you need to bring friends along more often." Luck joked. "Hey, Spartan, hand me the bomb," Wesley requested "I still need to configure it to detonate remotely, instead of with a timer." "Careful" The Spartan warned, "one slip that thing could fly out of the back." He reluctantly handed the weapon to the engineer. Wesley began working on the surprisingly small device with a pocket screwdriver and some parts he had grabbed from the station. "Hey," Bishop said. We all turned to him. That was the first word he'd spoken today. "I thought you said you were setting the reactors to a laser trigger. Why'd you use a timer?" Wesley seemed a little surprised at the question, but continued to work on the bomb as he answered. "I told you how long that would take, and we didn't have that much, time, so I did the quicker thing, and just rigged them to blow right then. The meltdown process takes about five minutes, so that's how much time we had to get outta there. "[i]About[/i] five minutes?" I put forth. "Yeah, it could've been a little more, could've been less, it was a gamble, and it paid off." "You mean you bet our lives on a --" I began. "--Duncan, Roland" Luck cut in, "incoming transmission from Vice Admiral Whitcomb." "Put him through." Duncan replied. Luck flipped a switch, and the Vice Admiral's voice sounded over the speakers. "I trust you have the nuke secure and are en route?" "Affirmative, sir." Duncan quickly responded. "Once there, we should be able to just drop it and go." "It's not going to be that simple, Lieutenant. The encampment is surrounded by some sort of shield. The bomb will not be able to pass through unaided." "Shields?" Wesley questioned. "Yes, similar to the ones on their ships. However, once the bomb is inside, the shields should trap the explosion within, and completely eradicate those inside." "How are we going to get through those shields?" Duncan demanded. "You have the engineer, you tell me." The Vice Admiral answered "I'll work on it." Wesley assured when I looked in his direction. "Are there other strike teams assaulting the other installations?" I asked Whitcomb. "No. To my knowledge, nobody even knows of the camps except for those under my command. Too many comms arrays have been disabled, and I have been unable to contact others in command. I only hope they can figure it out before it's too late... Contact me after you're finished, I have a bit of a mess here to attend to." And with that, the Vice Admiral left us with the crippling realization of how much control the Covenant really had. He couldn't even contact the rest of the ground forces. I watched as the sun set behind us, the sky around us red with dust and fire. Wesley had finished with the bomb, and he had been thinking to himself for a while now. He still hadn't found a way inside the shields. "They must have a system that allows themselves in, but nothings else. How would we bypass that?" I heard him mumble. "The Spartan sat up quickly, looking at Wesley. "Radar signals!" He proclaimed. "Yes!" Wesley answered excitedly. "That would enable them to discern themselves from us. They use the same signals we use for our Friend or Foe tags! We could.... How would we bypass that?" he asked the Spartan. "I don't have their signal to replicate. We would need..." My interest faded, and I returned my attention to the sky. The sun was now out of sight, and I was watching the stars. There were so many of them. I stared in wonder at them as we moved along. I was in the back of the pelican, across from the Spartan, and I could feel the wind in my face. My mind ignored the silver fringe of the pelican in my vision, and focused on the sky. I felt like I was flying, and then my mind began to shift direction. [i]I wonder if there are more stars than people dead after today.[/i] My vision blurred as tears came to my eyes. I remembered my sister all those years ago. [I]Her death times a billion[/i] I thought. [i]That was the battle for reach[/i]. As the realization hit me of how important this was, it only hardened my resolve to get revenge. "...If we had one of the radar jammer prototypes from the generator station, we could use that, but those were all destroyed..." Wesley sighed. "What about a body? Like a dead elite or something?" Bishop suggested. "That might work, but it's possible that the Covenant have that covered, dead bodies don't show on our radars, I'm sure it's the same for them." Keiichi answered. "We also don't have any bodies, or living Covenant." Wesley added. Bishop looked down at the floor, going back into silence. "Uhh... Roland, you might want to come look at this." Luck yelled back from the front of the pelican. I turned from the view of the sky, and joined her in the cockpit. "I can see the Covenant compound, we're getting close." She pointed forward towards a glowing settlement. It was massive, the shields apparently transparent, like the shields of the Spartans or Elites, but there was a huge, umbrella-shaped cover being projected upwards, which I knew were projecting images of the ground, to hide the installation from orbital view. There was also a small Covenant ship under the cover, dropping what appeared to be vehicles. "What is it?" Duncan mumbled as he joined us. "...Holy -blam!-!" He exclaimed when he saw it. "The Covenant have more of those?" We were silent as those words sunk in. "Once we're above it, stop and hover, so we can finish preparing." I spoke up "Wesley and the Spartan are still working on a way to get through the shields." "They better hurry their asses up!" Luck remarked. "Those Covies are gonna notice us sittin' pretty over their heads. We won't have long once we're there." We rode onward, watching the glowing compound disappear beneath the false canopy that shielded it from overhead view. It was another ten minutes before Luck gave the confirmation that we were directly above it. I turned to the engineer. "Anything yet?" "Nothing." Wesley solemnly whispered. "Without some form of Covenant radar, there's no way we're getting in those shields." We crowded around the bomb, focused on nothing more than finding a solution. Suddenly, the Pelican shook violently, and the sound of an explosion took our attention. I turned to see three Banshees closing in on us, a green cloud slightly obscuring my vision, from where the mortar shot had hit.

"Banshees!" Luck yelled back to us "I can't just sit here, Roland, we need to get outta here!" Bishop grabbed the gun turret and opened fire as a second shot hit us, this time just above the opening in the back. My ear rang as Wesley and the Spartan ran towards him. As I clutched my burning ears, I noticed why. The bomb was rolling towards the open hatch. The Spartan dove, almost falling out of the Pelican himself, and reached outward as the bomb disappeared over the edge. His hand came back up empty. He stood up quickly, and we both observed one of the Banshees nosing towards the falling bomb. They knew what it was. Keiichi ran to the opening and threw himself out of it. "Spartan! Are you insane?!" I yelled into the comm. No reply sounded. "Get us out of here, Luck!" I yelled over the sound of chain-gun fire. The compartment of the Pelican was peppered with plasma bolts as we clutched the harnesses, struggling to hold on as Luck veered back and forth in an attempt to dodge the mortar fire. Another direct hit slammed me into the wall, my head started spinning. I noticed the turret fire had stopped. I looked over to see that it was gone, Bishop had just managed to dive to the side and grab a harness as the shot hit us. "Hang on!" Luck screamed, barely audible over the rattling of the damaged ship. "My engine's hit, we're going down!" I watched as the sky spun violently, flames skirting the edges of the hatch. My head was still spinning from the impact, and I could barely move from the spinning of the Pelican, but I just managed to secure the strap around my torso. We spun faster and faster, and the others managed to strap in. I looked around the Pelican, and time seemed to almost stop. Wesley was clutching the harness with both hands, he appeared to be crying. Duncan looked reasonably collected. [I] Not too different from an HEV, [/i] I mused. Stone was closing his eyes tightly and mumbling, and Reynolds looked like he was trying desperately not to vomit. Bishop was praying. [i]Not too many believers left[/i], I observed. [i]Guess it couldn't hurt.[/i]. I looked back out of the opening, then down to my feet. I felt a powerful jolt, and heard a loud shearing, accompanied by an explosion, and then I blacked out. [quote][/quote] "Spartan! Are you insane?!" a voice screamed into Keiichi's ear. He quickly turned the comm off, knowing that he would need complete focus. He angled his body to direct himself to the diving Banshee. He worked himself into a controlled dive and overtook the Banshee. He grabbed the wings, landing right on the Banshee's blind spot. He grabbed the top half of the Banshee as it spun to try and shake him off. The Spartan pulled, slowly opening the top. He put all his strength into it, and the top half of the Banshee ripped clean off, exposing the elite driver. Knowing the Banshee was now useless, the elite turned toward the intruder, igniting his energy sword. Keiichi did the same, with the modified sword he had used earlier. The two quickly became locked into a flurry of fists and blades. The Spartan could barely keep the alien from piercing his armor. The Spartan struggled to outmaneuver the warrior, as they fought to overpower each other. Keiichi managed to grab the elite's hand, and sliced it off with a quick swing of the sword. Its four mandibles opened wide in a cry of pain as its hand and weapon tumbled in free fall alongside them. While the elite was distracted by pain, the Spartan swung again, detaching the creature's other arm. He swung around the creature's neck, onto its back. He strangled the elite until it was unconscious, and then worked his way to the falling Banshee, clutching the defeated warrior. He planted his feet on the bottom of the craft, and kicked off, propelling himself downward to the barely visible bomb. His extreme weight granted him with a much higher terminal velocity, and he began catching up to the bomb. He watched as the ground rushed to meet him, instinctively curling up as he passed through the holographic canopy, exposing the purple, glowing compound. Keiichi knew the shield couldn't be far off. He eyed the bomb as he slowly caught up to it. Finally, it was within reach. He grabbed the bomb and shoved it into the elite's mouth. The alien began to wake up as the Spartan placed his feet of its chest and kicked off. He watched the elite, confused, try in vain to pull the bomb from its mouth, unable to do so without hands. He saw the shield shimmer around the elite as it passed through, taking the bomb with it. Keiichi braced for impact, luckily lessened by kicking off of the elite. He slammed into the seemingly solid shield, barely able to stay conscious. He stood back up onto his mangled ankle, and pulled out the detonator, which he had grabbed from Wesley just before he dove out of the Pelican. He lifted the ODST's helmet off of his head, and tossed it to the side. He waited, making sure the bomb had time to reach the ground, and flipped the switch. He watched as a giant fireball appear beneath his feet, boosted by the grunts' methane camps. He felt the shield beneath him weaken as the generators powering it were obliterated. The shields shimmered, then failed, and the EMP from the bomb knocked out the Spartans shields. He closed his eyes as he fell into the flames. [quote][/quote] "...Roland..." I heard from a distance. I felt hands grabbing my shoulders, and a blurry image of a moving sky hit my eyes. My vision focused, and I looked up to see Luck dragging me around the crashed Pelican, toward the front. I saw Duncan and Reynolds struggling to hold the turret head while following us around the Pelican. Stone was firing at the two Banshees, who were still pelting us with plasma fire. As I looked past the screeching craft, I saw the glowing Covenant compound. [i]We failed[/i], I thought to myself. As we rounded the Pelican, my head throbbing, Wesley rushed out to help pull me under the nose. Bishop did the same for the turret. The Banshees flew by just above our heads, and dropped a pair of mortar shots. I saw Bishop, Duncan, Stone, and Reynolds thrown into the air by the force of a nearby shot. The Banshees turned around and aimed at us for another run. Suddenly, both Banshees stopped firing, and nosed into the ground. "Look!" Wesley exclaimed, pointing behind us. We turned to see a fireball where the Covenant compound had previously been. "The EMP from the blast must've taken out the Banshees! The Spartan got it in!" "But.... How?" Duncan groaned as he stumbled to us "He jumped." "He must have grabbed the detonator before he did. He must have found a way through the shield." Wesley reasoned. "So... The EMP took out our comms too." Bishop informed us as he walked up behind Duncan. Reynolds and Stone were right behind him. "Mine should be fine," Wesley put forth. "I work with technology on a regular basis that is designed to take out comm relays, so I lined my bag with a metal mesh." "So?" Duncan questioned as Wesley rummaged through his rucksack. "So it's a Faraday cage, which stops radio waves and EMP's. I'll explain it to you later." He tossed a radio to Duncan, who began to turn knobs in an attempt to get a signal. "...They took down my bird..." Luck mumbled. "Vice Admiral Whitcomb, this is Lieutenant Duncan. Do you copy?" Duncan spoke into the radio. "Vice Admiral Whitcomb, we have taken care of the situation, can you hear me?" "Lieutenant Duncan, this is Major Salvich of FLEETCOM HQ" A voice sounded. "Whitcomb is MIA. What is your situation?" "We have identified and destroyed a large, Covenant compound, but our Pelican is down, and most of our electronics disabled from the EMP. There are we are in need of evac." "Hang tight, Lieutenant. We're sending a Pelican to pick you up. What is your location?" Luck stepped up, citing the last coordinates that showed up on the Pelican's navigation system. I walked over to see how Stone, Reynolds, and Young were. Surprisingly, even from the crash and the Banshee raid, the only injuries were bruises and a few cuts. As Duncan, Luck, and Wesley spoke with the Major, I sat down with my back against the Pelican. I lifted my arm to mess with my wrist computer, but it was fried. I leaned my head back and waited. [i]Tomorrow had better not be as crazy as today.[/i] I thought as I drifted to sleep. [Edited on 12.12.2010 6:43 PM PST]

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That was amazing.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] TheGreenAlloy That was amazing.[/quote]Thanks. I'm a bit stuck for the next chapter, and I'll probably hold it until I release chapter nine as well. Since eight will be pretty slow, and nine will be more action, I figure I will release them together. Also, I am writing a lot for my new English class this semester. I'm writing another short story, apart from this, as well. It isn't over yet, though.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Gr33n Knight [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] TheGreenAlloy That was amazing.[/quote]Thanks. I'm a bit stuck for the next chapter, and I'll probably hold it until I release chapter nine as well. Since eight will be pretty slow, and nine will be more action, I figure I will release them together. Also, I am writing a lot for my new English class this semester. I'm writing another short story, apart from this, as well. It isn't over yet, though.[/quote] That's comforting to hear.

Brilliant work, mate. Carry on, please.

Wow. This is really awesome, man. I can't wait for the next one.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] OfTheBloodguard Wow. This is really awesome, man. I can't wait for the next one.[/quote]Thanks, once I get out of this block, I should get chapters eight and nine out fairly quickly. I know what I want to happen, I just have to figure out how to write it. And thanks for the comment, Wolverfrog. I guess you picked up on my subtle hint...

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Gr33n Knight I know what I want to happen, I just have to figure out how to write it.[/quote] It's frustrating, I agree. I'm somewhere through my 4th chapter, but for the life of me, I just don't seem to have the skill to get it sounding right. But you're a really great writer from what I can see, and once you get past your block, I'm sure you'll whip up some magic.

Reading... :)

Love it

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] TPS Bluekilla Love it[/quote]Thanks, good to hear. I'm working on chapter eight now that I finished another project. I will also periodically be writing another story that is under a temporary title: Jiralhanae. Chapters eight and nine will be up soon, I hope, as will chapter one of Jiralhanae.

OK, I just did a big edit of Chapter 4, and now it doesn't break canon, as Keiichi was now a part of a Headhunter team, in which he was the only Spartan II, much like Jorge. So... now it works. I know I've been really quiet on this story for a while, as I've been having MAJOR writer's block for this particular story. However, I have started a new story, [url=http://www.bungie.net/forums/posts.aspx?postID=57035763&f]Jiralhanae[/url], which I will be writing alongside this one. I think I may be coming out of this block, and have a few ideas to get back into the story of Jonathan Roland. I'm working on Chapter 8 right now, and Chapter 9 should be following it shortly. If all goes as planned, both 8 and 9 should be done and up by next monday. I've been working every weekend, and had school every day during the week, so I haven't had time to really sit down and work on this. I say next monday because I'm going on vacation this weekend, and will have free time for writing. Don't worry, I should be getting back into this soon.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Gr33n Knight Don't worry, I should be getting back into this soon.[/quote]Woooo! I've been watching this for so long now, and now it's picking up steam once more!

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] OfTheBloodguard [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Gr33n Knight Don't worry, I should be getting back into this soon.[/quote]Woooo! I've been watching this for so long now, and now it's picking up steam once more![/quote]Thanks, good to know I have a fan! Did you read the update of Chapter 4? Just wanna know how well it fits into the story.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Gr33n Knight [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] OfTheBloodguard [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Gr33n Knight Don't worry, I should be getting back into this soon.[/quote]Woooo! I've been watching this for so long now, and now it's picking up steam once more![/quote]Thanks, good to know I have a fan! Did you read the update of Chapter 4? Just wanna know how well it fits into the story.[/quote]Yeah, it fits in there quite nicely.

Sorry for the delay, there was a death in the family, and I was out of town for the last few days. But after a very long wait, here is Chapter's Eight and Nine: [i][b][u]Chapter Eight[/u][/b][/i] A shake to my shoulder woke me. I looked to see that it was Luck, pointing to the incoming pelican. "Better get up, Roland. Don't want HIGHCOM thinkin' you've been slackin' off do you?" She joked. I chuckled a bit as I stood, the weariness of a long day was playing havoc with my muscles, but I ignored it. [i]Best to work through it[/i], I thought. The Pelican touched down a few meters away, and we boarded, carrying anything we could from our own, crashed ship. Luck walked into the front, hoping there was room for her, but two pilots were already driving. She sat uncomfortably in the back with us. It was strange. In the 17 years I had been in the military, I had never seen Luck sit in the back of a Pelican, she was always doing the flying. Before I could say anything to her, a screen lit up in on the wall of the ship. A surprisingly youthful face introduced himself as Major Salvich, the same man we had spoken with earlier. "Now that I have a secure connection," He began, "I can brief you on tomorrow's plans. The Spartan's of Noble Team have recently discovered a huge Covenant invading army, hidden from us by cloaking technology. It appears that what you found was similar, if not the exact same thing." "It was Vice Admiral Whitcomb that discovered it sir," Duncan put in, "He's the one that sent us in to destroy it. He says there are more of 'em too." "He was right. We are still unable to establish contact with the Vice Admiral, but we have also recently discovered numerous compounds." "How recent? Have you been able to do anything so far?" I asked. "Within the past few hours. Noble Team alerted us first. After you destroyed that compound, communications opened up, and news of other installations flooded in. Tomorrow we go on the offensive. We are staging a massive ground assault on the compound discovered by Noble Team, and you came on board just in time to partake in it. We will be assaulting the Viery Territory, and will do as much damage as we can there." "What are we going to be doing, sir?" Duncan questioned. The image of Salvich's head was replaced by a satellite image of the tower, which then zoomed out to show the entire area around the compound. "You and your fellow ODST will be assigned to a Pelican, and you will be dropped where needed. Roland and his marines will be in Warthogs on the ground assault. Lukenowski will be flying a pelican in the aerial battle." "What about me?" Wesley put forth. I'm no soldier. "You are an ONI engineer, am I right?" Wesley nodded. "You will be escorted to the Office of Naval Intelligence Headquarters in New Alexandria with the others affiliated with ONI... Any questions?" "When do we start?" Duncan said with a grin. ------- By the time we arrived, it was nearly morning. Duncan and Bishop quickly departed, heading straight to the group of ODSTs standing by the landing pad. Wesley was met by a waiting ONI representative, and was led away. Luck, Stone, Reynolds, Young and I walked forward, not quite sure where to go. Luckily, we were soon approached by Major Salvich, all of us giving a quick salute. I offered my hand to the Officer, and he took it with a firm grip. "Damn good work, Sergeant." He began. "Once the sun is up, we hope to do with an army, what you did with a single dropship." "It wouldn't have happened without the Spartan." I insisted. "A Spartan?" "Yes, he got us into the generator station, secured our exit from the station, dove out of the Pelican to save the bomb, and saved my life more than once. Without him, we would not be here." "He lived up to his name." The Major commended "That's all he could have asked for." I nodded. "This is your team?" "All that's left of it." I answered somberly. "Young here is a civilian, one of ten that aided us in the ground assault on the generator station." "Well, he isn't a civilian any more." He turned to Young, "Your are now Private Young." "Thank you, sir." Young muttered gratefully, giving an unrehearsed salute as he said so. The Major nodded to the newly appointed private, returning the salute. "You'll also have one other addition to your team, Sergeant." "An addition? Who?" "Me." "Major?" I asked, confused. Officers didn't often enter in the battlefield. "You heard me right, Roland. Reach is my home, I've lived here my whole life. I'll be damned if I let the Covenant take it without going through me first." He answered, determined in his decision to fight. "I understand. I look forward to serving under someone with your experience." "It is I who look forward to serving under you, Sergeant." I gave a look of confusion to the Major. "You've proven yourself to be a better field commander than I ever was, Roland. I'll be honored to follow your command on the field." "Sir, I don't quite know how to respond." "You don't have to. I'll see you on the field." With that, Major Salvich left us there, in the hangar. "Sergeant Roland?" A timid marine asked from behind. "Yes?" I turned to answer. "Come with me, we've got your warthogs ready." "I'm gonna need new guns and equipment too." "We've got that taken care of for you, sir." We followed the marine to a cluster of vehicles, and he showed us to a stockpile of weapons and ammo. I spied a new wrist computer resting on the ammo case, and quickly replaced the broken one on my wrist. "Good luck, Sergeant." shouted the marine as he jogged off to help the next team prepare. I looked around at my squad. Luck had been pulled aside to the pilot's area of the hangar, so it was only Young, Stone, Reynolds, and I. We silently prepared for what was soon to be the biggest fight of our lives, knowing as well that we should pull weapons aside for the Major. We had been assigned two warthogs, both with mounted LAAG turrets. I decided that I would take one of them with Stone, while Young, Reynolds, and the Major would take the other. Once everything was ready, we sat and rested, waiting for word from Salvich. I hadn't been sitting long when I felt my eyes begin to droop, and fell deep into sleep. ------- Chapter Eight is short, but Chapter Nine's awesomeness should make up for it...

[b][i][u]Chapter 9[/u][/i][/b] We drove onward, the warthogs bouncing wildly on the dry and cracked surface of the Viery Territory. I looked over to see Major Salvich manning the other 'hog's gun, while Young drove. I myself was in the turret of my warthog, taking the opportunity to use the gun, instead of my usual position as the driver. As I took in the panoramic view of the virtual armada of vehicles, something caught my eye. As I focused on it, I realized that it was a group of Banshees headed directly for us. "Incoming!" I called out. Salvich turned to see it as well, and the two of us prepared to begin firing. A third warthog came up close to us, and the gunner followed our lead. The Banshees sent out their first volley of mortar shots, taking out a handful of our vehicles. The warthogs ignored this offensive and continued onward as the falcons and pelicans above took care of the Banshees. [i]Godspeed , Luck[/i] I thought, as I watched the aerial battle unfold above me. A ravine lay ahead, with a single bridge crossing over it. As a warthog was crossing, a mortar shot from a wraith landed in the center of the bridge, destroying it. The warthog continued, and just made it over the gap. "Stop!" I called out to Stone and Young. I knew we couldn't make that gap. The other warthog didn't listen, and the driver attempted the gap. They didn't make it. "Go around. Try and find another way across." The five of us followed the main body of the battlegroup. As we blindly drove onward, a line of Covenant ground vehicles came at us from the side. I opened fire at the nearest revenant, but its red mortar crashed into the ground next to the warthog, flipping it. I was thrown from the turret, landing on the cracked earth below. I looked up to see Stone crawling out of the overturned vehicle, coughing up dry dust as he did so. Young pulled up nearby, Salvich firing wildly at the swarming Covenant. Warthogs all around us fell to the same fate, some suffering from direct hits, and many other being overturned. "Help me turn this thing over." I ordered. The other warthog cleared out as the five of us strained to flip the massive vehicle. "This isn't going to work." I admitted after we were unable to budge it. As I stared in vain at the warthog, a Covenant dropship drifted into view. "Get down! Dropship inbound!" The five of us crouched behind the vehicle, staying out of view of the Phantom. The dropship came in close, over the warthog. The turret mounted on the bottom swiveled in our direction. "Dammit!" Salvich cursed. The entire ship turned towards us, but before it could fire, one of our own dropped, flaming out of the sky, slamming into the purple abomination and sending it reeling into the ground. We dove away from our warthogs as the smoldering mass crashed into them. "Quick," I ordered, "check for survivors. Save ours. Kill theirs." The five of us swiftly scoured the wreckage, putting a handful of mangled elites out of their misery, and paying our respects to the pilots of the pelican that saved our lives. We took cover in what was left of the pelican's bay. "Luck, this is Roland. Do you copy?" "Aye, Sarge, I copy. I'm just a little busy at the moment." Her voice was barely audible over the stammering gun of her ship. "We're stranded. Our warthogs are busted up and we'd love a pickup." "I'll see what I can do, Roland, but I've got some asses to kick up here. Hold tight." "Will do, Luck. Sending our coordinates now. Give 'em Hell." "I intend to. Just don't get shot before I get there." With that, she cut the comm, leaving me alone with my team once more. We called out to the surrounding units that had been stuck in similar situations, offering them cover in the pelican. A few accepted the offer, but others tried in vain to flip their overturned vehicles. Most were picked off by the Covenant forces, and the rest eventually retreated to the safety of the dropship. 13 of us had scrambled together, crowding the usually spacious interior of the ship. I was the first to speak up. "We can't sit here and wait for the Covenant to come and get us. What do we have for a counter-offensive?" "Are you insane?" one of the younger soldiers contested, "We'll all be killed." "And who are you?" "Private Joseph Strauss." "I think what you do is up to your CO, Private." "My CO's dead, and I say it's crazy to try and fight them." "Well, I'm Sergeant Jonathan Roland, and [i]I'm[/i] your CO now. Understand?" The Private clenched his jaw, but gave a nod nonetheless. "Good. Now, what have we got? Any turrets still functional? Any heavy weapons?" Another young marine spoke up. "We had a couple rockets back in the warthog, along with a launcher. Not sure if they're still there, though." "Alright, that's a start anything else?" "I think our turret still works." suggested another marine. I nodded, "OK, is that everything?" Silence confirmed that it was. "Alright. You five, go with him to check for the rockets." I pointed out five soldiers to go with the marine that had spoken up. "You," I turned to the marine who had mentioned his turret, "take my team to your 'hog, see if that turret works. If it does, tear it off, bring it here. Got that?" He nodded, and Reynolds, Stone, and Young followed him out of the pelican. I motioned for the Major to stay with me, then turned to Private Strauss. "I need you to scout out the Covenant immediately around us. Stay hidden." He gave me a glare, then stalked out of the pelican. "What do you think, Major?" I asked after the others had left. "Any ideas?" "I might, we'll have to see what's around us." Strauss trudged back into the dropship. "There are four revenants and a wraith nearby. There are a handful of warthogs still trying to take them out." Major Salvich turned to me "I think I've got a plan. I'll explain once everyone is back." I nodded in confirmation just as the six marines came back carrying a rocket launcher and a few extra rockets. After only a few more minutes, the other four returned with a turret barely supported between them. "Good," Salvich began "I think I've got a plan." He grabbed random guns from the group, and began arranging them along the floor. "This pistol is the pelican, and these assault rifle clips are the warthogs." He arranged the weapons suitably, then tossed four more pistols to Strauss, who could barely hold them all. "Now, Private, put the pistols in the general area of the revenants you saw. After he was done with the pistols, he tossed him an AR. "That's the wraith." A few marines started shifting uncomfortably at the mention of a wraith. "Are the warthogs still mobile in this direction?" He asked Strauss, motioning to the area on the other side of the revenants. Strauss nodded. "Alright, now we got lucky with the arrangements of the 'hogs. They are a near-perfect semicircle protecting us from view. One of the warthogs was tossed into the center by a rogue revenant shot, so we may be able to flip it over if we all pitch in. My plan is to outfit this vehicle with all of our weaponry, and attack the Covenant vehicles between us and our fellows. If we can't take them all out, we can at least provide a distraction for the other warthogs." The Major picked up the rocket launcher, and hefted it onto his shoulder. "We've got 12 rockets, including the two in here." He tapped the side of the launcher as he said so. "If we don't miss, we can at least take out the revenants with them. We can mount the turret in-between the front seats of the 'hog, and have a gunner lay across the T-bar to fire it. The rocket launcher can be manned by a man in the passenger's seat. Four men in a warthog." "There are twelve of us, sir." Strauss argued. "Do the rest of us just wait here to watch you four kill yourselves?" "The rest of you will use the distraction we will provide to work together and flip more of the warthogs over, and join the fight." Many of the other soldiers nodded at this, finally seeing the big picture of the plan. "Anyone disagree?" Not even Strauss spoke up. "Good, now let's flip this 'hog." The twelve of us surrounded the machine, daunted by the sheer size of it. Eight men grabbed hold of it and struggled, barely managing to overturn it. Salvich and I carried out the turret from the pelican and lifted it onto the warthog. The T-bar snapped into place between the mangled pieces of metal jutting out from under the gun, where the rolling of the warthog had nearly torn it off. Pleased by the positioning of the turret, we tossed all the rockets into the passenger's seat. I climbed into the driver's seat, and Salvich took the launcher's seat. "Who's coming with us?" The Major asked. Stone climbed aboard, manning the mounted turret above us. "Reynolds and I will take one of the other 'hogs, sir." Young called up to me. "Understood." I replied, "Who's gonna take the other turret?"

"I will, sir." A particularly large marine spoke up, climbing onto the gun. "What's your name, marine?" The Major asked. "Corporal Manning, sir." The Major nodded, and I hit the gas. We sped around the semicircle of overturned warthogs, and saw what was left of the ground assault. A small group of warthogs were surrounded by the small number or revenants that Strauss had mentioned. As we neared the first revenant, its driver still unaware of our presence, Major Salvich fired the first rocket. The trail of smoke found its way quickly to the target, tossing the once powerful machine into the air in a cloud of smoke and red fire. The explosion alerted its allies, and we became the new target. I dodged and weaved between the red bursts of plasma, expertly avoiding the shots as I made my way around the circle. The revenants thinned their ranks around the other warthogs as they converged on my location. I veered, changing direction to confuse the revenants. Almost immediately, the battlefield became a maze of mangled machines, enemies, and our warthog, all concealed by a thick cloud of dust kicked up by our vehicle's tires. Stone and Manning fired away, all of us blind, save for the streaks of red and blue that arced through the dust, the intense heat melting the dirt and sand. Every breath was filled with shards of glass, stinging my lungs like needles as I tried to concentrate on the concealed enemies all around us. The warthog spun wildly as my mind raced to find a target. Out of nowhere, we stopped abruptly, slamming into one of the revenants at full force. After my head stopped spinning from the impact with the steering wheel, I heard the angry cry of an elite, no doubt the driver of the vehicle. I heard movement behind me, and I turned to see Corporal Manning leaving the gun, and running across the top of the warthog. He jumped off of the hood, diving at the elite with his combat knife drawn. Unable to see what was happening, I waited and listened for the struggling to stop. I saw streaks of blue light the dust as the elite fired his weapon wildly, no doubt as blind as us in the dust. A few more seconds passed, and the firing stopped. "Got him!" I heard the Corporal exclaim. His face materialize in the settling dust, a grin spread widely across his face. "Do you think we can use this revenant?" Before I could answer, a blue mortar arced just overhead, searing the tip of the warthog gun. It slammed into the revenant, sending the warthog flying high into the air, throwing Stone off of our improvised gun as it did so. We hit the ground, hard, with rockets spewed along the path we had just taken. The warthog was upside-down, and I was a few feet away, the Major not far from me. I stood, wiping what was either sweat or blood off of my face, and looked at the warthog, noticing the still glowing-hot front bumper, then turned to where the revenant lay, the majority of the vehicle evaporated by the heat, while the ends had melted, now infused with the dry dirt. Manning was nowhere to be seen, no doubt a part of the red cloud of plasma and metal that was rising from the destroyed vehicle. The dust was beginning to clear, and I could see the two remaining revenants let loose a volley of mortars, the wraith turning its attention to the other warthogs once again. Both mortar shots missed us, luckily, but the Covenant wouldn't stop there, I knew. They were barely visible through what was left of the dust, but I watched as they raised their guns once more. Before they could fire, two warthogs materialized out of the dust, and slammed into the revenants simultaneously. Both were thrown abruptly, their mortars firing in completely different directions, one of them hitting the other with the shot, taking out the revenant, but also one of the warthogs. As I pulled the Major up by the arm, and hobbled over to Stone, I watched two marines take out the revenant's driver, two more warthogs appearing behind them as the rest of our small force made it to the battlefield. The Major slowly regained consciousness, as I neared Stone, who was already rising onto his feet. The three surviving warthogs drove over to us, and I was relieved to see Young and Reynolds among the survivors. I climbed into their warthog, and Stone and Salvich each took the passenger's seat of another. The nine of us headed straight at the wraith, who now had us in its full attention. Before it could fire at us, the other warthogs all charged it, knowing that it was defenseless against two fronts. It went down quickly. The two groups of warthogs rendezvoused, and we finally met the men we had worked so hard to save. One of the marines approached me. I noticed the emblem of a Staff Sergeant on his uniform, and gave a firm salute. "Save it, Sergeant." He spoke, "I'm Lieutenant Ryan Williams, this is Sergeant Marvin Mobuto." He pointed to a very large man behind him. "We were in charge of this unit, and you saved our asses." He gave me a stiff salute. "It is me that should be saluting you." I gave a firm nod, then stepped down from the Warthog, the other marines following suit. "I'm Sergeant Jonathan Roland, this is Major Salvich. It was his plan that saved you." I motioned to the Major, who was still a little groggy from the impact. "Roland, come in!" Luck's voice sounded in my ear. I motioned to the Staff Sergeant to hint at the message, then walked off to the side as the Major began talking to him. "I hear, you Luck. You still okay up there?" "Those banshees tore us up bad, Roland, but I'm alright. How'd you make out down below?" "Almost got massacred down here. Got ambushed by revenants and a wraith, but we got 'em." "So I take it you don't need the pickup?" "I-" A shockwave ripped past us, nearly knocking me off my feet, taking my attention before I could finish. I looked up and saw a ship, the UNSC Grafton, low in orbit. It had just fired its MAC cannon. "Damn, that was loud!" I heard from somewhere amidst our group. Cheers erupted from all around. However, the cheers were soon drowned out by another explosion, as a stream of blue fire tore its way through the Grafton, demolishing it in an instant. Suddenly, the sky was filled with terror, a massive ship, hundreds of times bigger than anything I had ever seen materialized in the amber sky. The cheers had been replaced by silence. "Roland!" Luck spoke fearfully, "Please tell me you ain't seein' what I am." "... We need that evac... We need it ASAP, Luck!" I turned to the Major, who met my fearful gaze. "Retreat!" He called out, "Fall back! Now!" The marines scrambled into their warthogs, a clamoring mess of men all running for their lives. Before we could find our way into our own 'hogs, another wave of revenants, no doubt from the newly appeared ship, came from the side. A volley of red plasma seared across the sky, striking many of the warthogs as they fled. The sounds of explosions, screams, and engines clashed horridly in my ear as I ran for the warthog. A second volley landed all around us, the warthogs destroyed. All of us that were left ran blind, like ants avoiding the magnifying glass. We knew not when nor where the next shot would land, all we could do was hope that it wasn't where we were standing. I barely heard the whirring of engines over the thunderous noise of plasma striking dirt. I looked up to see Luck's pelican swirling through the dust and smoke. "To the pelican!" I yelled into the comm. I ran as quickly as I could to the dropship. Luck was keeping it moving, about five feet off the ground. I jumped for it, and two hands grabbed mine, pulling me in. Looking up, I saw the faces of Stone and Reynolds, but the rest of the marines were nowhere to be seen. I scanned the dust for others, Young and Strauss both making their way to the ship soon after me. While Stone and Reynolds helped them in, I searched for the Major. Finally, I spotted him, silhouetted in the dust by a flash of red. "I'll be back!" I yelled over the noise, leaping from the pelican, despite the protests of my squad. My knees buckled at the impact, and I stumbled, but kept on running in the direction of the Major. Then I saw him, confused and lost in the dust. "Major!" I called to him, and he turned. A look of relief on his face. A flash of plasma appeared behind him, and he was thrown into the air. I myself was knocked to the ground. I ran to him, determined to get him to safety. I looked down to him, his side badly burned by the plasma. "Get out of here!" He said, struggling over a bloody cough. "I won't make it. Look at me." "I'm not leaving you here, Major." "Look at me, Roland! I'm going to die here!" "Like hell you are." I grabbed his arm and leg, slinging him across my shoulders, and ran. The hot shards of glass in the air bit at my lungs, and my legs strained in protest, but I kept going. Plasma scorched the dirt around me as I neared the pelican. Luck lowered it almost to the ground, and I stepped in, lowering the Major into a seat as gently as I could. "You're a damned lunatic, Sergeant." He coughed, closing his eyes and wincing. "Get us out of here, Luck!" I called forward. The hatch closed, and we sped away from the battlefield, weary, but alive. ------- [Edited on 08.06.2011 3:24 PM PDT]

This was WELL worth the wait. Great job on these two chapters.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] OfTheBloodguard This was WELL worth the wait. Great job on these two chapters.[/quote]Thanks, already have some plans for 10. Don't worry, it won't be another five month wait.... Also trying to think about where I want to take Jiralhanae in the next few chapters...

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Gr33n Knight [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] OfTheBloodguard This was WELL worth the wait. Great job on these two chapters.[/quote]Thanks, already have some plans for 10. Don't worry, it won't be another five month wait.... Also trying to think about where I want to take Jiralhanae in the next few chapters...[/quote]Lol. And, to me, your newest story seems really hard to pull off. Not to sound weird, but I've been thinking about it, along with other's stories on here. Unless you've got some giant ace up your sleeve, that is.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] OfTheBloodguard ...Unless you've got some giant ace up your sleeve, that is...[/quote] ... I just might... I'll have to see how it comes along......

This chapter is a little shorter than normal, but I've been busy with exams. Now that they are over, things should return to a somewhat regular schedule... ------- [i][b][u]Chapter 10[/u][/b][/i] Stone, Reynolds, Young, Strauss, the Major and I sat, exhausted, in the back as Luck made her way to the nearest UNSC stronghold. "CLINIC Base, this is dropship Gamma two four. We have injured aboard, requesting drop-off." Luck spoke over the comm system. "Gamma two four, this is CLINIC Base, we are full to capacity. I'm sorry, but you're gonna need to try somewhere else." Luck looked back at Major Salvich's unconscious body, and turned back to the comm with resolve. "Are you telling me that you have no place for a single man? No empty beds?" "We don't even have space left on the floor, ma'am. I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do." "Where do you suggest I take this wounded officer, CLINIC Base? What other medical facilities are -" "An officer, ma'am?" The man on the other end cut in. "...Yes, Major Salvich here is need of immediate care." Luck answered, confused by his change of heart. "Bring him in ma'am, we can't refuse care for an officer. We'll have to find space in the officer wing. Sending coordinates now." We were shocked. How could they refuse to help an injured private, yet allow any officer in? All we could do was continue on towards the facility. When we arrived, the Major was coming to. As he mumbled, his mind probably in turmoil from the injuries, two nurses ran out with a gurney, and we carried him carefully onto the bed, which was immediately discolored by his burns. "What are the extents of his injuries?" One of the nurses asked me, her heavy accent showing her Hungarian origins. "A plasma mortar landed close to him, he was thrown into the air and his entire left side has been burned badly, along with most of his back." The Nurse nodded and the two departed, the Major between them on the gurney. We stood, confused, in the small hangar. After a minute of standing, we boarded the pelican, and searched for signals nearby. Locking on to a nearby distress signal, we took off, and left the Major in the hands of CLINIC Base. ------- Major Connor Salvich woke up slowly, staring at the olive drab ceiling. He felt as though he were floating on the soft bed. He moved slightly, and the pain hit him. An involuntary moan escaped him, and he sat up. "Oh, look who's awake!" An unfamiliar voice said beside him. He turned to see another man seated in the hospital bed beside him. "Who are you?" The Major asked, confused, "Where am I?" "You're in the UNSC CLINIC Base, Major. I'm Collins." "CLINIC Base?" Salvich asked. "Looks empty." He looked around, noticing only a handful of other in the room. "That's because we're in the officer's wing, Major. It's small, but there aren't many of us. The rest of the facility is overflowing." "What?!, why don't they put some of them here?" "I don't know, Major. That's just the way it works. I guess they think that soldiers aren't useful without officers to lead them. There's no big shortage of privates, but officers are harder to come by." The Major lay onto his back, the pain immediately telling him that he shouldn't have. "How long have I been out?" He asked Collins. "Not long, maybe a few hours. It's hard to tell without windows." Before Salvich could think of something else to say, a nurse came along. "OK, Commander," She addressed Collins, "time for the implant." She pulled back the sheets, revealing Commander Collins' severed legs. She rolled a gurney next to the bed, and the Commander grabbed a bar above the bed, moving himself onto it. "Talk to you later, Major." He called to Salvich as the nurse rolled him away, "Gettin' me some new legs." Major Salvich stared for a while, then looked over the bandages all over his body. He lay his head back, and waited. ------- We landed in a mountainous region of the Viery Territory, about a kilometer away from the signal source. I grabbed the comm from Private Strauss. "UNSC personnel, this is Sergeant Roland, responding to a distress signal. Does anyone copy?" Static drowned out the silence around us. "Roland?" a familiar voice questioned over the comm, "Roland this is Duncan. You came just in time. We're surrounded by covies. We've barricaded ourselves in a house, got eight civilians in here too. Can you give us a distraction?" "I'd love to, Leiutenant." I answered "Me and my men are making our way to your location now" The coordinates, sent by Duncan, blinked into view in my eyepiece. I pointed, nodded, and we started off towards the new waypoint. ------- Collins was wheeled back to his bed thirty minutes later, shiny metal caps now covering the ends of his severed legs. A look of frustration sat, unmoving, on his face. "What happened?" Salvich asked, if only to break the silence. "Some -blam!- about the legs still being tested. They aren't ready for me yet. These are just the caps that they snap into." "So they don't even have the legs? What's the use of putting those caps on now?" "Oh, they have 'em, they just have to go through a little more testing before they'll give 'em to me. Apparently, this new type of artificial limb is just a prototype, and I get to be the guinnea pig." The Major nodded in understanding, then lay back onto the bed. The silence, only interrupted by the coughing on the other side of the room, tore its way into his head. "...It was an elite." Collins blurted abruptly. "What?" Salvich asked as he sat up. "My legs, Major, an elite cut them off." "An elite? And he didn't kill you?" "No, slaughtered all the others, didn't even break a sweat. He got to me and stopped, just stared at me for a bit. When I didn't back down or run away, he tossed me a sword." "He gave you his weapon?" "No, he had another, it seemed to me that he wanted to duel. Don't ask me why, I only played along because I knew my bullets wouldn't do -blam!- against his shields. We circled for a while, surrounded by dead marines. He lunged at me, and I tried my best to block his attack. He was simply too strong, knocked me on my back, gave a short laugh, and swung once, right through both of my legs. Then he spoke to me, in a deep, gravely voice. 'You don't deserve an honorable death, human.' he said, 'You will decide your fate.' " "What the hell was that supposed to mean?" "I haven't a damn clue, Major. He picked up a pistol from Private Dameron's dead body, emptied the clip, and put a single bullet back in. He tossed it to me, no doubt expecting me to use it on myself. I aimed the gun, and fired once at his head. He laughed and said 'So be it.' Then he turned and walked away, leaving me there, bleeding. Next thing I know, I wake up here. Apparently, backup got there soon after I passed out, got me here in a hurry. I just hope I can find him again, leave him to die like he did to me." "You probably wouldn't recognize him if you saw him, Commander." "Oh, I'll recognize that one. His helmet had a long etch in it, all the way across his face, like a blade had almost gotten to him. I'll know that mark when I see it. I'll kill him if it takes another pair of legs to do it." Commader Collins and the Major lay quietly, in their beds both running through the story in their minds. -------