Halo:Way down

Onslaught

0900 hours,Ursa system,2552.

I report to the captain on the bridge.
"So what happened barker,how did it go down".
"It was a blur sir,we landed Katy was saved by ash,we got in a fire fight,planted the bomb,ash duelled an elite,you came to extract us,really sir I think I should submit a full report to you",
"Get it done by 0900 tomorrow,is there anything else you want to tell me"?
"One of the ODST,her name was Carmen huntman,she saved the mission,she stayed with the bomb".
"Her sacrifice will not go unnoticed".
"Thank you".
"I have a question,why do you think the covenant forces ran, even that small amount of ships they had left would have destroyed ours".
"I don't know sir,perhaps they where not here to attack Ursa like we thought,perhaps they where doing something different".
"Sir we are picking something up over the coms". Says one of the techs.
"Patch it through".
"This is UNSC high command broadcasting on all channels,we are under attack,repeat earth is under attack by covenant forces,all available ships,we need support ".
"No...that's not possible... how did they know..."
"That is not our problem soldier,our problem is that we need to get back to earth".
"Sir I am picking up another signal".
"This is UNSC high command to the UNSC Headhunter,Do you copy ".
"This is the Headhunter,What are our orders"?
"You are to stay where you are,you are to far to aid us in time,and we still need Ursa,if it falls we will lose a lot of minerals,which are needed for our fleet".
"Yes sir,what about the tempest and the steadfast victory".
"They will stay with you and defend Ursa".
"Yes sir".
"Multiple slipspace ruptures detected"!
"Sorry But has we have to go".
"Godspeed captain,lord hood out".
"All hands to battle stations,how many are there"!
"Eighteen ships in total,one supercarrier,five heavy destroyers,four battle cruisers,five assault cruisers,and one heavy corvette". Says soft female voice,with a slight French accent.
"We have a shipboard A.I"? I ask.
"I guess you're I haven't been introduced,Michel this is Emily,Emily this is sergeant major Michel Lamosa".
"It's a pleasure to meet you sir". She says as her avatar appears,a tall motherly woman with long hair and bright purple skin.
"The pleasure is mine,but let's get down to business,we are facing a large covenant fleet with three ships,how can we make it out of here alive"?
"Ursa two has a lot of MAC guns on the surface,if we can make it there our ships will be safe,the covenant ships can't get close enough to glass the power stations so they will have to launch a ground assault,three of the four stations are under ground and safe from harm,the fourth one on the other hand is built in the side of a mountain,safe from bombardment but not from a ground attack,we will support the local garrison and drive back the covies".
"But first we need to get half way across the system".
"I have a plan,if we get the tempest and the steadfast victory to go above and below us,our shields (I know they don't don't have shields but it's a plot device,I am lazy)will overlap,if one of our shields goes down then the other two ship's will cover us".
"That is brilliant sir,but there is a 78% chance of failure". Says Emily.
"Is there any better option Emily".
"No sir".
"Then let's get moving".
The ships come together and execute the maneuver perfectly,we make it about a third of the way there when the tempest's shields go down,our shields cover half of her and the steadfast victory's cover the other side. After a bit of tweaking when both ours and the steadfast victory's go out but we make it there.
"This is ground control,I am guessing you are here to help our garrison".
"Yes we are,how many men do you have here".
"About twenty eight".
"Pardon,twenty eight"?
"Yes sir".
"Why do you have so few"?
"We lost most of them a couple weeks ago,a giant insurrection attack,almost a hundred men lost there lives defending their home".
"How many civilians live on the planet".
"Only two thousand,and they are all populated on the northern hemisphere,they should be safe from harm".
"When the moment arises try and evacuate them".
"I will".
Our ships enter a low orbit,safe inside the defensive bubble the MACs provided.
I walk with my squad to the hangar,where they are loading troops on to pelicans to be flown to the surface.
"Hold It Barker,you and the rest of Tango four are to report to the captain on the bridge". Says one of the techs.
We meet with the captain and Ash.
"Are we not to report to the ground with the rest of our troopers". Asks Ash.
"No you are not,you and a couple of ODST squads have been chosen to stay on the ship,either to drop behind enemy lines or to support a specific section of our defence,and I have heard that you,Michel and Katy are Excellent longsword pilots,oh and before I forget,take Emily with you,she is a little newer and more stable then Abraham,he will be safe with me".
"Thank you sir,and has my package arrived yet"?
"Yes it has,the drone dropped it off while you where asleep".
"Package"? Asks Katy.
"I got a new set of armour,you wanna come see it".
We open the large crate and Ash takes out a full suit of MJOLNIR,smaller and more blocky then the one she usually wears,and then she pulls out a smaller box. Inside is what looks like a modified ODST helmet.
"Is that an ODST helmet"?
"Yes,specially made for this set of armour,we match now". She points out to Katy and we share a quick laugh.
She also takes out a crate filled with cans of spray paint.
"You guys want to customize your armour with me"?
"Hell yeah". laughs hunter.
"I'm in". I say with a smile.
We spend most of the night painting and marking our armour and helmets. Katy paints most of her armour panels orange, I paint mine navy blue with a shark jaw decal on my helmet,and ash paints hers a dark crimson. She scratches a skull on to the forehead of her helmet with her combat knife.
"One of the other Spartans,his name was Emile,he wore an EVA helmet,he scratched a skull like this on to its face plate,I don't think he made it of reach,it my way of honouring my comrades". She explains to Katy.
"I'm so sorry,you must have lost a lot of friends".
"Not really,they never liked me,I was the smallest and the weakest,Emile was one of the ones that put up with me,I miss him,but I don't have time to reminisce about the past, I need to go get suited up,I'll see you later".
We sit in the barracks,talking and joking for a couple hours.
"This is the captain,covenant drop ships inbound,get ready to drop behind them".
We rush to the pods,meeting Ash,Keith and Brody on the way. We grab our gear,same stuff we had last drop,Brody grabs a grenade launcher with two bandoliers and an assault rifle,Keith gets a shotgun and twin SMGs,and Ash grabs a magnum,an assault rifle,and one of her energy swords.
We get in our pods and are joined by marathon two and delta seven from the tempest.
"Time for the best part"! Yells Rocky over the COMs as the pods are moved into place.
We go souring through the air,our chutes deploy and we land without any problems.
"They have set up an outpost two klicks due east of here,you are to take out its COMs system so the our shortswords can destroy it". Says Emily.
"Let's move men".  I Say over my MIC.
"Slow and quiet,we don't want to give away our position".
We slowly advance down a riverbed.
"What are their defences like"? I ask Emily.
"Nothings large,a couple shade turrets,a dozen or so brutes,and probably around fifty grunts".
As we approach the camp we hear some rumbling.
"What is that sound"? Asks butch.
A half dozen wraith tanks drive around the bend.
"Oh shit"! Yells Keith as we crouch behind some rocks.
"What was that,I saw movement,take aim at those rocks". Yells a brute gunner.
We rush out of the way but Anna from delta seven gets caught on a branch. Brody throws her out of harms way but takes a blast from the hover tank in the process. When the smoke clears he is left standing in a crater,half his helmet blown clean off. He rushes the tanks and jumps on the lead one. The brute gunner doesn't know how to react as Brody throws both his bandoliers into his lap. He looks the brute in the eye,pulls the pin on one of his hand grenades,puts his hand in the gunner's face,his fingers counting down from three,he salutes back at us as the grenades explode,causing a chain reaction to blow up all six of the wraiths.
"Brody"! Yells Ash as she rushes to the crater.
"We need to go Ash,they know we are here". Warns Keith.
"No...not you too...". Sobs Ash.
"I promised I would protect you guys...but I let you down".
"We need to go,covenant forces are on their way".
"I need to find him"!
"No,he is not dead remember,he is just missing in action".
"No,please let me find him".
"Ash,go,now".
"I can't".
"We are trained to deal with this,so remember some of that training,suck it up,and move". Yells Keith.
"Ok,I'm good...let's move".
We get to the outpost and no one seems to know we are there.
"I'll create a diversion,you guys go plant the bomb". Yells Ash.
"Just you"?
"I got it".
She draws her energy sword and magnum and rushes into the brutes,killing three before they even know what was happening,she takes out two more with her magnum and stabs a third In the neck,her sadness turning into rage,half the brutes were dead before they could fire a shot,one try's to slam her with a gravity hammer,she dodges right and kicks it out of his hands. She then slams the barrel of her pistol in his chest,firing half a clip into his abdomen. The last five start to back away,one rushes her with a spiker,as he swings downward towards her head she catches it and stabs him though the gut with her sword,she drops her magnum,takes the spiker,sprays it at one of the brutes who gets shot in about ten different spots,the gun in her hand empty,she slams the bladed bottom of the covenant weapon into one of her enemies heads,killing him instantly,she drops the spiker and stabs one of the last three in the side,the last two rush her at the same time,she sidesteps the first one's swing of his spiker and stabs him in the head,the last one nails her in the back with a shot from his plasma rifle,she shakes it off and stabs both of her energy blades through his neck. Grunts scream in confusion,none of them going to the COMs centre. We stay a detonator to the thing and get the hell out of the camp,we blow it and when we get to a safe distance the shortswords fly over,bombing it into oblivion.
We walk to a pelican waiting for us.
"Hey Ash are you ok,you look really...". A plasma shot cracks out,and Keith falls to the ground,a burn mark on his neck.
"No"!!! Ash yells as she grabs Katy's sniper and empties an entire clip into the elite marksman. She throws the gun to the ground and shakes Keith.
"Come no not you...not you... don't leave me alone...please...". she rips off her helmet,letting her long red hair fall over her face.
"Don't leave me...you are all I have".
Katy walks up to her and puts her arm around her grieving friend.
"Do you need help getting him out of his armour".
"Please".
She draws her energy sword and with Katy's help cuts of all the heaviest pieces of armour off and carries his body to the pelican. They fly back in silence,Ash is sobbing in the corner of the bird as Katy try's to comfort her.
We get back to the Headhunter at 0600,and the captain sends to his ready room for a debriefing.
"What happened down there,why did you come back with two less Spartans"!
"Brody took out six wraiths but sacrificed himself in the process,Keith went down to an elite sniper".
"I will file a MIA report for both of them,but stuff went from bad to worse,there are dozens of these outposts popping up all over the place,you guys need to get to the front line,an entire army of covenant forces are attacking the power station,we need every troop we have".
We immediately run to Our pods and drop into a giant battle,the door of my pod blasts off and I get my first real look at the battlefield,hundreds of covenant troops are storming the mountain,about two hundred marines holding them back,plasma bolts and bullets flying everywhere. Rocky and butch break off to defend the right flank,me Katy and Ash are pinned down behind a instacrete wall.
"I don't have a clean shot at anything"! Yells Katy.
"We should fall back,get the the entrance of the station".
We slowly run from cover to cover,finally getting to the blast door.
"What's the situation"!?
"We are holding them back,but we are all running low on ammo,our longswords are engaging fighters,we are alone down here". We fight off the enemy for as long as we can,losing twenty nine men in the process, until Finally the covenant starts to fall back. I find a makeshift bunk inside the power station and fall asleep,I dream of my home planet of tython,it's sprawling fields and beautiful mountains,now it is a barren wasteland,glassed by the covenant,I was lucky,my family made it out,but I had lost my home,and that is what made me take the fight to the covenant,I was going to make them give back my past.