Halo: Aeolus

Firefight

   Nigel fired a single shot into the skull of an Elite that was moving towards the team on the ground. The dead alien earned a quick glance from Sylvia, who quickly snapped back to the battle. The battle had been raging for about ten minutes, and Aeolus was holding out pretty well. The AA turrets were bringing down any Banshees and Phantoms in the area, and the Spartans were ripping up anything stupid enough to leave cover. Several Spectres had also shown up, but were taken out by the combined force of the Spartans and standard base defenses.

   "Liches!" Sylvia shouted.

   Nigel's head shot up towards the sky, and sure enough, three Liches had appeared over head. One was immediately shot down, but whirred before smashing itself into an AA turret within the base. Nigel sighed and peered back towards the remaining two ships. Another was shot down as it was dropping troops off behind Aeolus, and the third had fired on another AA gun, creating a firey explosion where the gun stood. More Covenant dropped off of that Lich, too, before the second Lich crashed into the third, sening both down the nearby cliff in a series of purple flames. The Spartans were now battling Covenant on two sides, and several Wraiths had shown up in the distance, firing their blue balls of plasma as they advanced. Alyx and Virgil were separated from Sylvia and Elizibeth, and were trying to work their way back together. Alyx and Virgil quickly cut down any enemies in their path, while Sylvia and Elizabeth stopped anything that tried to get close to the base. Nigel brought down threats in the distance as the team fought to regroup. Eventually, Virgil and Alyx found an opening in the waves of aliens, and managed to regroup with the women, who were still busy. Virgil came up on Elizabeth's left, givng her a slight, friendly brush as he went. She smiled and nudged him back, before continuing her intense defense of the base. Alyx disappeared into the base, before reappearing infront with a Spartan Laser in possesion.

   "Virgil?" Nigel asked, annoyance in his voice.

   "What do you need?"

   "Things are about to get a lot more dangerous," the sniper informed as a plasma mortar exploded near the team.

   "Yeah, I see it. Thanks for the heads up, Nigel."

   Nigel nodded in the general direction of the team, though he knew they wouldn't notice the gesture. The sniper focused back downrange, getting ready to continue the firefight. The sight of red lasers making wreckage of the rapidly approaching Wratihs put a soft smirk on Nigel's face, before an idea crossed his mind.

   "Virgil, are you thinking what I just thought?"

   "Give me a hint."

   "It involves theft."

   "Cover me," Virgil said simply as he bounded over the short wall he and Elizabeth were behind. Elizabeth and Nigel cleared a path for him as he sprinted for the enemy armor. The Wraith noticed the single Spartan, and adjusted its aim to abolish the threat. Nigel heard Virgil sigh through his helmet mic, before the leader dove forward as far as he could, with the explosion engulfing him in a blue-purple flame. Elizabeth gasped loudly, before noticing the hatch get thrown away from the Wraith, followed quickly by the dead pilot. As the Wraith journeyed to the Spartans, Elizabeth released a very audible sigh of relief. An artificial, high-pitched screaming filled the area, followed closely by the Banshees making the sound. One swooped down and fired its bomb at the stolen Wraith, blowing up some dirt nearby in a mist of green. Virgil boosted, narrowly avoiding another shot from the flying menace. Alyx fired his laser at one of the Banshees, melting its wing and sending it to the ground. Virgil fired the Wratih's motar towards a third Banshee, catching it right in the center. The first Banshee came screeching back, rolling out of the way of a laser shot, but was shot down by the bases AA guns. It sprialed downwards out of control, before ccrashing into the bases wall. A pair of Hunters lumbered over the hil into the Spartan's line of sight. Virgil turned and fired, the plasma landing right between the two Hunters, throwing them off balance. Virgil began to move in on the downed pair, when a large whir reverbedated through the air. On instinct, Virgil hopped out of the Wraith and put distance between it and himself. A huge beam of green plasma streamed through the Wraith, destroying it nearly instantly.

   "Virgil! Virgil, what was that?!" Elizabeth asked, worry in her voice.

   "Fucking Scarab..."