Halo: Xenomorphs Revenge

Chapter 6: I Didn't Need You Anyway

Three Pelicans steadily flew closer to their destination. Troy clung to the overhead railing and peeked out the back. They were flying over a clear, blue ocean that sparkled in the soft light. He unclipped his Light Rifle from his back.

“Approaching the LZ. Get set to come out swinging, looks like it’s gonna be hot!” the pilot informed them. The Pelican zoomed over the top of a flat area of a large hilly island that was rather barren and had very few vegetation. The Pelican descended, turning around as it did so, revealing a large Forerunner structure half-buried within the centre of the island. A mob of Xenomorphs awaited them on the Landing Zone, rearing up and preparing their natural defences.

“Go go go!” Troy commanded, letting himself fall the two metres to the ground, ODSTs and marines could be heard behind him doing the same. He instantly set to firing his rifle at a nearby Warrior Xenomorph. It lunged at him, but disappeared in a cloud of ash before it could get close enough. He heard the distinctive sound of Suppressor fire behind him, and saw two Spitters get vaporised. Troy smirked and shot a Lurker through the head.

“It’s like beating up children!” a marine exclaimed. He suddenly realised what he had just said. “Not that I’ve ever beat up children before.” There were a few laughs as everyone admired how easy it was. Soon, the entire ‘Welcoming Party’ had been destroyed.

“Well, that was easy!” an ODST stated. There was a gunshot, a Sniper Rifle by the sound of it, and the ODST who had spoken collapsed onto the ground. Troy glanced upwards at a small ridge where he had guessed the shot came from.

“Oh shit!” he cried. He could make out a Warrior Xenomorph holding the human weapon, appearing to be snickering at them. “Bastards!” Troy fired a bunch of random Hardlight projectiles at it, missing it completely but managing to send it scampering away.

“When did they start using guns?” a marine shrieked. Calsu grabbed Troy’s shoulder.

“This makes our mission considerably more dangerous,” she pointed out the obvious. Troy shrugged her hand off.

“It doesn’t matter. Fred! Send a transmission to the other Fireteams! We press on! Lock and load, this isn’t going to be easy.” Troy started marching up the hill. He turned around when he realised no one was following him. “Is there something wrong marines?” They all stared back at him defiantly. “Oh, I see how it is,” Troy growled. He scanned their faces. “Look at you, the proudest the galaxy has to offer, and you cower in fear at a few lizards with nail guns? This isn’t the first time we have been faced with impossible odds, and it won’t be the last!” He had gotten no response so far. “When the Brutes decided they were going to take the ‘glory’ of the Covenant for themselves, were the Sangheili outnumbered? Sure, outnumbered, outgunned. They the slimmest of chances to emerge alive, and yet here they are, right here among us!” There were a few proud nods from the Sangheili members. “And the Covenant? Remember that we fought them for nine years! Even with their superior troops and advanced technology, we still held out for nine years! And we won! These guys, we only have to fight for three more days! Three days, and the war will be decided. Are you lot going to tell me you can’t handle that?” He got a few angry glares. That was good, he was going to make them think they were winning by proving him wrong. However, this was not why they were angry.

“The war left us with millions of losses. We are weak; we can’t fight them as we are. In a few decades... maybe. But now? We’re screwed! We should abandon the planet and just stop any ships from leaving it!”

“Brutes lacked our intelligence, that is how we won the war. These creatures have cunning, superior natural defences, and outnumber us twenty-to-one. I am sorry Sergeant, but we cannot win this.” Troy bit his lip.