Halo: Fireteam
"Step on it, Jackson! You got a death wish, Marine?!"
"Hell no, sir!" Jackson gunned the M12 LRV down the dirt path.
In the backseat, Cole revved the chaingun up and let off a sustained burst into the sky. Bright red tracers tore through the thick jungle haze, and one of the two pursuing Banshees peeled off, but not before launching another fuel rod blast.
A bright green blob of plasma thudded into the ground off to the right of the Warthog, forcing the M12 onto two wheels for several seconds before Jackson twisted the wheel to the left, bringing the 'Hog back onto all fours.
In the passenger's seat, Sergeant Lanning disengaged the spent magazine from his MA5 assault rifle, slapped a new one in, and racked a round into the chamber, sweeping the jungle in front of them for movement.
"Cole, eyes front! Movement two o' clock!" Lanning ordered. Cole immediately broke off firing at the Banshees and swung the barrel of the Light Anti-Aircraft Gun around, hit the triggers, and tore the foliage to shreds.
As the 'Hog whipped by at 70 miles an hour, Lanning caught a glimpse of phosphorescent blue - Grunt blood. What the hell were Covenant infantry doing on Cote d' Azur?
"Jackson, swing left! Get us off the path." Jackson yanked the steering wheel around and sent the LRV into the uncleared jungle, letting the massive tires chew up the brush in their way.
Another fuel rod projectile arced after them, but the Banshees were having a harder time tracking the Hog off of the cleared trail, so the deadly plasma landed a safe-ish 50 feet away.
Lanning looked around wildly for targets, and finding none, looked back to check on Rose. The only female member of their squad, Corporal Rose had taken a needle shard to the shoulder when they were ambushed by a Grunt patrol while searching their grid. Suppressive fire, then a mad dash back to the Hog before they were careening along in this nightmare back to base. Lanning and his men had taken out around eight of the diminutive alien dogs with a ragged volley and managed to patch Rose up with Biofoam, but if they didn't make it back to camp soon and get her medical attention, she might bleed out.
Twin lines of fire shot through the jungle foliage, igniting a hundred small brushfires. Jackson jerked the Hog sideways and cut off along a narrow embankment.
"Hold on - it's gonna get rough!" Jackson shouted, gunned the engine again, and sent the M12 down the embankment and into a wide stream. The Hog bounced on its frame, the tires compensating for the rocky terrain. Lanning registered an Elite's throaty howl from up on the ridge and loosed several bursts. A lucky string hit dead-on and the Elite's shield flared, struggling to maintain integrity. Now highlighted in a shimmering field, the Elite was completely exposed. Cole brought the big gun to bare and cut the Elite in half with the LAAG's 12.7mm rounds.
Lanning rose in his seat, craning his neck to see in front of the Hog. Shouting a curse, Lanning reached over Jackson's chest and pulled the emergency brake, fishtaling the LRV. The vehicle came to a stop feet away from an 100-foot waterfall.
Jackson put the LRV in reverse and tried to crawl up one side of the embankment. The tires spun dangerously with no traction, instead shooting up streams of soft mud. Undeterred, Jackson rammed the gear back into drive and let the Hog shoot up the other side, the powerful engine cutting its way out through sheer force.
Jackson paused at the top of the embankment, listening for the sound of the Banshees. "Shut her down - I think we've lost them." Lanning said softly.
Jackson pulled the electronic starter chip from the dash and the Hog's displays faded off. The deep purr of the engine slowed, then stopped, and everything was quiet except for the four Marines' heavy breathing.
"They're gone." Cole slumped against the chest plate of the chaingun, suddenly exhausted.
Lanning tried the Hog's radio. "Firebase Bravo, this is Sergeant Lanning. Come in, Firebase Bravo."
A few seconds of empty static, then, "Roger, Sergeant. Your signal is weak, but we have you."
"Bravo, we were just ambushed by Covenant forces. Looked to be a recon element - Grunts and Elites, with two fliers overhead."
"Acknowledged, Sergeant. Can you RTB?"
"Roger, Bravo. Our M-one-two sustained damage but is still running. We escaped with one major casualty."
"I'll alert triage to prepare for your wounded. What is your ETA?"
Lanning and Jackson consulted the GPS built into the Hog. "Ten minutes, give or take five. We are offroad and have to find the path back to camp."
"Good work, Sergeant. We are standing by to receive you. Bravo out."
Lanning replaced the radio and looked at his squad. Rose was getting paler by the second, and the sterile bandages Cole had wrapped her in were rapidly becoming stained with red.
"Hit it, Jackson."
The team pulled in to the firebase seven minutes later. As soon as the Hog had rolled to an abrupt stop, a medical team was offloading Rose onto a stretcher and carting her to the field hospital. Lanning went with her, leaving Jackson and Cole to unload the equipment.
After pulling the beaten-up M12 into the base's service bay, Jackson cycled the bolt on the chain gun and pulled the belt of ammunition from the receiver, set the ammo box aside, and loaded a fresh belt in. A crew of mechanics combed over the vehicle and made note of what needed to be repaired or replaced as Cole swept the seats clean of glass. Then the two of them hopped out and headed for the showers.
Lanning paced the small confines of Firebase Bravo's infirmary waiting room; Eight long by five wide. Several others had taken seats, but Lanning was too worked up to sit. While waiting for the medic's verdict on Rose, he had settled into a familiar line of thought; somehow, he had messed up. Rose's injury was his fault. Her death would be his fault.
The doors to the infirmary slid open with a hiss, and a tired-looking doctor stepped out and red from a datapad, "Sergeant Lanning?"
Lanning turned and nodded tightly. "That's me. How is she?"
"She's fine, man." And he could breathe again. "Took a needler round to the shoulder, right? We sealed the torn artery and filled in the cavity with a muscular regenerative gel and wrapped her up tight. She'll be good for active duty in a less than a week."
Lanning clapped the medic on the back. "Excellent. Thanks a lot, doc."
The medic had stumbled at Lanning's over-enthusiastic pat, and now he simply nodded and went back inside the infirmary.
Leaving Rose in the hands of the Firebase Bravo medical staff, Lanning walked outside, suddenly exhausted. Now that the sustaining adrenaline was ebbing, all he wanted was a lukewarm shower and a cot. The grander scope and questions of what they had actually accomplished today could wait.
Twenty minutes later, both of these desires had been met.
One Week Later
"X-ray three-one, this is Bravo. You are nearing the crash site."
"Roger, Firebase Bravo, we can see the smoke trail from here." Lanning responded via the Warthog's radio.
"Be advised, the banshees are still in the area, most likely looking for survivors."
"We'll give 'em a little payback when we see them." Lanning signed off and finished loading a Jackhammer missile launcher. Jackson kept the Hog's front end angled towards the acrid plume of smoke rapidly approaching off to their left, while Rose flicked the safety off of a BR55 battle rifle and Cole revved up the chaingun. A second Hog followed just behind them, with another four marines ready to return the favor for the two Banshees that had shot down a Pelican over the jungle.
Jackson brought the LRV to a sudden stop in front of a fallen tree. "Looks pretty thick from here on out, Sarge. I can try to slide around."
"Don't bother. We'll go on foot. Jackson and Cole, stay here, guard the Hogs. Rose, with me." Lanning set the jackhammer in his seat and hopped out of the M12. Waving for the two passengers from the other team to follow, Lanning set off towards the crash site.
An alien howl was Lanning's only warning before a barrage of plasma fire erupted from a ridge high on his left.
One of the two marines from the other squad, walking point, was killed instantly as the bright blue and green bolts melted his flesh. "Ambush! High left!" Rose was shouting shrilly, searching out cover as the plasma fire swept towards her. Alien soldiers dropped from their positions in the trees and ignited glowing energy shields on their arms.
Lanning had his missile launcher up and ready to fire, taking aim at a cluster of the Jackal infantry. He squeezed the trigger, and the high explosive rocket jetted from the tube and smashed into the base of a tree, tearing the limbs off of three Jackals and casting up a spray of dirt and wood splinters. A fourth Jackal was impaled by a two-foot long shard of wood in his throat and fell gurgling sickly - Lanning had a second to congratulate himself on taking out half of the enemy ambush team in one shot before the remaining Jackals sighted his position and opened fire.
Lanning dropped the launcher and dove behind a shallow embankment, wincing at the heat from the plasma passing overhead.
The third marine by this point managed to acquire a target and opened fire with his assault rifle, letting off a full-auto spray of 7.62mm rounds that cut down one of the Jackals, then another, and caused the rest of them to duck behind their shields. A pop that Lanning's experienced ears identified as an energy sword igniting, and then abruptly the fire cut out and was replaced by an Elite's satisfied cackle. Raising his head, Lanning saw a blue-clad monster triumphantly hoisting the marine in the air and then toss him aside, scanning for new targets.
Rose attempted to whittle down the remaining Jackals so she and Lanning could face the Elite alone. A burst tore through one Jackal's leg, but he swung his shield around in time to block the two successive bursts, and by then the Elite had seen Rose and raised his energy sword in the air, preparing to charge.
Shouting in turn, Lanning rose and drew his M7 submachine gun, sprinting for the Elite and letting off rounds from the hip as he ran. The ploy worked, and the Elite turned from the stationary Rose to the new threat coming directly for him.
The alien swung to face Lanning.
Shiiit..., Lanning thought, realizing he had no plan to tackle the Elite, and skidded to a halt with his submachine gun raised. The Elite stalked towards him menacingly, shaking off the full-auto fire from Lanning's M7.
Lanning jumped aside as the glowing arc of energy cut through the air where he had been standing, got to his feet, and pulled his pistol as he dropped his now-empty SMG. Stumbling backwards, Lanning feathered the trigger and sent six rounds towards the Elite, three of which caused its shield to flare and strain close to breaking. But there was no more time - the Elite was there, and Lanning's boot clipped a tree branch and he toppled over backwards. The Elite stood over him, raising his deadly blade with all the authority of fate, and prepared to strike Lanning down.
A single, resonant crack echoed through the humid jungle air. Lanning reflexively recoiled as the Elite's head spontaneously exploded in front of him, spattering both Lanning and the surrounding foliage with phosphorescent purple gore.
Twisting around, Lanning glimpsed a dark figure step out from the shadows behind him, loosely holding a sniper rifle with smoke still wafting from the barrel. The silver-reflective visor on the ODST's helmet faded to reveal a bruised and swollen visage - one of the crash survivors.
