Spartan IV

Ghost Busters

Gaby ghosted through a tangle of vines and branches. Russ brushed past them, snapping a few with his huge frame. Jenny went around them and Kenzie tripped and crushed the rest of the branches.
"Oof. Stupid fucking branches in the stupid fucking forest on the stupid fucking mountain on the stupid fucking continent on this stupid fucking planet."
Russ stared at her silently.
"So uh, you gonna keep complainin' or ya gonna take out that Jackal right there?" Kenzie looked over and scrambled back when she saw it. It would have killed her if it hadn't been eating some type of local bird.
"I don't know, maybe. I'll consider it. Well... yeah, I guess I will." Kenzie winged her knife at the alien, nodding as the blade sunk under the alien's left eye and protruded out the back side above its jaw. Kenzie gave a little fist pump and stood up. Jenny shook her head slightly at her little sister's unnecessary enthusiasm. Gaby wasn't even watching. Russ looked at Kenzie. Then tossed his knife underhand at the other, previously hidden Jackal. Russ' blade caught the bird-like creature under the jaw, snapping its head back and pinning it to the tree it was under. Russ shrugged and used the magnet in his glove to retrieve his knife. The satisfying schlick that happened as the blade was dislodged was covered up by the sudden burst of assault rifle fire. The crackle of an energy shield shattering over her made Kenzie roll over and pull her Sword. The Camouflaged Elite fell backwards, dropping its Sword and crushing a small bush. Kenzie leapt up and drew Russ' pistol with her free hand. Jenny picked up a pair of Plasma Pistols and held them in front of her, checking their charge. Russ dropped to a knee and looked hard at his surroundings. Gaby held her Socom pistol at the ready, the laser sight cutting through the space.
"Jenny. You ready?"
"Affirmative. On your cue."
"NOW!" Russ, Gaby, and Kenzie dropped to their stomachs as Jenny fired the Pistols in every direction. The other team members fired at anything that disturbed the Plasma bolt's paths. A pair of Camouflaged Elites fell, their armor riddled with bullets, smoke rising like little campfires from each hole. Kenzie and Jenny tossed Russ his empty pistols. Jenny kept the new Plasma Pistols. Gaby slid a new clip in her pistol and cocked it. Kenzie slashed her Sword through a distorted image of leaves, causing the invisible alien to scream and crumple, never to move again. Gaby struck out with the butt of her pistol with enough force that it caved in the Elite's shields and cracked the armor on the Elite's head. It dropped like a rock. Russ nodded at her and Gaby vanished into the dark underbrush and shadows. Russ stepped close to his wife. Kenzie held her Sword in a slightly defensive position. The group of Elites that materialized in front of them grinned and chuckled before speaking to them.
"Pitiful humans. The Prophets may have been false, but the gods still exist. They smile on your deaths at our hands. Sur-" Gaby's impeccable aim blew the head off of the lead Elite. Kenzie threw her Sword, embedding it in one's chest. Jenny overcharged her Pistols and fired them in quick succession, one downing the shield and the other carving a hole in the Elite. Russ charged the final Elite, catching it by surprise. He drove his shoulder into its stomach, doubling it over. He felt the air whoosh out of its body. It roared at him as he slammed their heads together. The large alien reeled and was momentarily stunned. Russ pulled his knife from the magnetic sheathe where it lodged itself and drove it into the Elite's throat. Purple blood squirted out, smearing across Russ' visor. The alien gurgled and tried to get at the blade. Russ drove it deeper and twisted it, severing the screaming enemy's vocal chords. He ripped it out, blood welling out like a volcano. The Elite struggled, then went limp. A total of nine Elites lay around them, not entirely in nine pieces. Russ shook the blood off of his knife on an Elite's armor. He dropped it, the magnets catching and holding. He wiped the blood from his visor with a leaf. He nodded to his family and they moved out, this time with more caution.