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Aftermath Part 3
Posted By: Alex Ross<aross8@cinci.rr.com>
Date: 31 March 2002, 4:40 am


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     The chief finally took down the hunters by distracting them away from the lines and shooting them in the back, their weak spot. This left the elite, grunt, and jackal lines wide open for attack. However, the jackals activated their shields, formed and awesome phalanx, and took to the front line. The elites and grunts fell back to their dropships on the other side of the hangar near the entrance from space, as well as an unusually tall golden elite. The covie dropships lifted off, probably to return to the ship for reinforcements, but this left the marines at the mercy of the jackals.
     "Any ideas for breaking this line? They fight to the death to protect their commanders." John-117 asked Cortana.
     "Grenades would do nicely"
     "Sorry, fresh out." Then all the sudden John saw 10 incredibly huge humans run through the door to the docking bay with 5 toting rocket launchers. They were the ODSTs (orbital drop shock troopers or the UNSC's special forces) and they launched missile mayhem on the jackal lines. The explosions threw the jackals in disarray and they tried to retreat back to dropships for cover, but the five ODSTs without rocket launchers plowed the retreats down with assault rifle fire.
     "Master Chief sir. They took the docking bay near the front of the ship, near where the escape pods are. We need to get the admiral, set the self destruct sequence, and get the hell out of here." The ODST was not easily shaken by this chaos, a trait John admired in a non-Spartan.
     John obeyed the order and joined the special forces in the hall and went into the cafeteria. They welded the doors shut with metal bars and all stood around a cafeteria table. The special forces commander spoke, Lt. Gibson, spoke up. "Welcome to our squad Master Chief. Alright listen up." He pulled out a map of the vessel from his pocket. It was a great coincidence to board a ship with one of the best fighting forces ever. "We are now near here, in the rear docking bay on the left side of the ship. In order to escape it is imperative that we take the docking bay near the front of the ship so we can use the pelicans to escape. If they are "out of order" then we'll use the escape pods nearby. Three dropships are in that docking bay and 4 are in the docking bay we just left. They will probably leave the docking bays and come back with more troops for each docking bay." This was not good. If the covenant keep piling in troops, the admiral will surely die. The Lt. communicated with his second team near the northern docking bay by radio and was just informed that reinforcements have arrived in the northern docking bay and the dropships in the southern docking bay are on their way with more troops. That was quick. "Our first destination is the bridge. Alright let's move out."
     
     Omnitus was on a troop transport of 3 heading back to the docking bay they just fought in. He escaped the fight to get reinforcements. The northern docking by was now filled with 4 troops transports each carrying 6 elites. This time, he was taking all elite fighters. He stared at the variety: red, blue, gold, and the special black division, the most feared of covenant forces.
     "There is no honor in cowardice. You all know what you must do" Omnitus yelled. The elites nodded, knowing the job at hand; eliminate the Spartan threat, once and for all.
     
     The special forces met up with the second team and they were glad to see the Master Chief there for sure. Lt. Mikhail of the second team informed them that of their 15 men, they lost 5 to the elite divisions that just landed in the northern bay.
     "How bad was it?" inquired the Master Chief.
     "Pretty bad. We took down 8 elites, but to my recollection, I count 16 more alive."
     "16 more?!"
     "Not only that. They have sabotaged our pelicans and there is a covenant frigate keeping its distance from the Liberator, but it is ready to fire on any escape pods that jettison."
     Cortana than suggested, "Lieutenant, how about using the covenant dropships to escape? I can interface with the controls."
     Gibson looked doubtful, but agreed to the idea.
     "Then we have to act fast before those troops transports leave and get more troops."
     "We managed to get some of these from 3 elites before we retreated here." Mikhail revealed 3 optic camouflages. This would prove to their advantage. However, the door to the northern docking bay exploded and the covenant troops rampaged through, plasma rifles firing. Master Chief got ahead of the ODSTs taking most of the punishment with his shield. Gibson threw the Chief a rocket launcher and the chief let one fly straight at the elites coming through the door. Two elites fell dead from the impact, while many others were severely injured. Then elites from the other side of the hall charged towards the surrounded squad. They were the ones from the southern docking bay. All the humans saw the entrance to the vehicle armory. There was no way to get to the covenant dropships now and all made a run for the door. Three ODST units went down trying to get to the door. All saw two scorpion tanks and a few warthogs. Perfect.
     "Hurry, take cover," Cortana barked. Two of the special forces welded the doors shut into the armory.
     "I've got an idea. Everybody hide," the Chief ordered. He told Mikhail and Gibson too use the optic camouflages. The rest of the special forces hid behind the warthogs, tanks, and scattered crates in the room. The Chief and two commanders positioned themselves so effectively that the elites were sure to be in for a surprise.
     
     Omnitus watched as the elites were trying to break down the 6-inch thick titanium doors that led into the vehicle room, but to no avail.
     "Stand back" Omnitus said. The 32 eager elites stood back as their master planted plasma explosives on the doors. Omnitus ran back and the doors literally flew into the next room due to the explosion. The elites poured in to the room going to sides of the room as well as to make a barrage of plasma fire toward anything that moved. Omnitus pushed ahead of his elites to get a glimpse at his enemy with his glowing saber at hand. Nothing moved. Everything was completely silent. The elites listened and looked everywhere and nothing, except the looming vehicles around them, appeared to be a threat. In his own tongue, Omnitus told all the elites to begin a search of the whole area, not taking into account the stealth figures sitting in the cockpits of the tanks.
     
     "Now!!!" the Chief ordered from above in a pelican hanging on the ceiling. The two tanks roared their engines to life and both launched powerful shells onto the lines of elites. The two shells alone murdered 10 elites, but it was not over yet. The ODSTs came out of hiding and rained grenade hell from afar on the elites. Nine more elites fell victim to this onslaught and now the ODSTs opened fire with their assault rifles on the elite lines. The elite lines were in total chaos and now the Chief jumped from above and kicked an elite smack in the face while shooting another in the head. The moment he landed, he was met by a deft blow from a powerful gold elite that destroyed his stealth camo. The chief's shields dropped instantly and he was sent flying. The chief landed on the side of a warthog and caught a blurry vision of the same gold elite running towards him, sword ready to taste blood.
     "Chief, move for the love of God!" Cortana screamed. John immediately rolled out of the way and the elite brought the sword down on the warthog instead, slicing through the metal like fabric. The chief stayed down on his stomach now because he had rolled into the line of fire between the ODSTs and the elites.
     "What the hell?" the Chief wondered as he saw the gold elite jump over the line of fire to a certain pillar along the wall of the vehicle bay. It sliced it in half and to the Chief's horror he saw the pelican hanging above him detach and start on a descent towards him. The chief jumped out of the way and did not see the disastrous thud as the ship crushed one of the scorpions. Two of the special forces turned to fire upon the behemoth elite. To their horror, the elite cloaked and jumped into the air. Both of the troops were wondering where it disappeared.
     "Where the hell-"
     Then one of the ODSTs looked at his comrade who was lifted 5 feet into the air through his stomach by a vicious sword. All he could was watch in amazement at his friend screaming to death, impaled on the devil's sword. Blood flowed out of him like never before. Can a human possess such mortal blood? The elite tossed the body from his sword across the vehicular armory and punched the head of the other ODST right in the face, knocking his head off. The ODST had actually come to his senses, but it was a little late for that.
     "OH MY GOD", the Master Chief exclaimed as he saw this super elite. It was time for retaliation. The Master Chief lobbed a frag at the elite lines, threw back the rocket launcher to Gibson, to which he fired a rocket smack into the super elite that was actually still cloaked. The shields flickered, but still held!
     "Jesus Christ," Gibson gasped as he saw the elite charge for him. The Master Chief jumped on a warthog cannon and fired immediately at the golden death.
     "Oh shit", John said as he saw the elite turn and lob a plasma grenade at the warthog. This one was different. As he saw the glowing red object heading for the warthog, he knew what was coming next. The new grenade exploded on impact, throwing the Master Chief off the now ruined warthog. Before the chief could rise on his feet, a loud impact resonated throughout the hall, knocking every soldier off their feet. The steel frames that cascaded along the ceiling came crashing down throughout the vehicle room.
     
     "I've had it with waiting. Attack that vessel, but don't destroy it! Our courageous commander is onboard." Muteka was the second in command aboard the covenant flagship, and now authorized a barrage of plasma missiles fired at the Liberator. "Make sure the ship has taken enough damage only so it can't fire or defend itself." He had no knowledge however that the Liberator would not fire a single shot again after what took place on the bridge....
     
     The vehicle armory was in ruins. Everywhere metal poles, pipes, and whatever covered the floor. No one survived, except for a very dazed Master Chief. His shields slowly recharged and he got up off the floor examining the room.
     "Cortana, what's the situation with the admiral?" No answer. His head must have been banged pretty badly. He took off his helmet for the first time in a long time, revealing his thick black hair and aggressive appearance. He was a soldier indeed. He opened up the back of his helmet. Good, the chip for Cortana was intact, but the encryption reader was in shambles. As he was putting his helmet back on, he heard a moan only 5 meters away.
     "Mikhail! How bad are you hurt?" He noticed a cut right in his upper leg, too which there was no escape from death's grip. Just then, movement behind him caught the chief's attention, and he turned around to see a transparent hand punch him square in the chest, knocking the chief to the wall. The thud probably resounded throughout the ship as the Master Chief became immobile from the impact. It was the golden death he saw as it decloak with a special glowing dagger. All Mikhail could do was scream in agony before the golden figure severed his head from his body.
     The elite then charged at the MC to which he was too shocked to react. It grabbed the MC by the neck and pinned him against the wall, 3 feet in the air. The elite examined the face of the legendary Spartan closely while raising the glowing dagger to John's face, still in a chokehold.
     
     Omnitus eyed his new caught prey. This is the legendary Spartan? He is just like the others, he thought silently. No different. Now he would see if this warrior could fight in his true form.
     
      The MC was gasping for air and looked in horror as the elite lowered the dagger to his armored stomach. The elite started slicing through the body armor of the Spartan, taking large gashes of metal and armor lining apart, during which the whole time the MC was screaming defenselessly. Loud sparks of scraping metal filled the room. The elite constantly slashed at the armored stomach with the MC terrified of what would happen if the dagger cut through the whole nine yards. Then it started cutting the armor on his arms, quickly going for his legs, and finally his neck. With one hand on the human neck and one hand on the armor, the golden figure pulled John out of the armor and threw him back into the metallic ruins covering the floor, away from the wall. John was too astonished to wonder why he was still alive to actually notice that his armor lie useless and in pieces on the floor. He only wore a pure white t-shirt and military issued pants. He glanced up at the ruthless creature. Then it did something shocking. The golden elite ripped off its stealth camo and its shield generator, which were about the size of cigarette packs, and crushed them with his hand. What power, John thought instinctively. It threw down its plasma rifle, staring at John the whole time, and threw John something peculiar. It landed with a light tapping sound, a little black semi circle with a grip, but it then suddenly came to life and a glowing blue saber jutted out of it. Then the elite itself pulled out a duplicate sword. John understood now. Honor was at stake here and he had to fight for it. John picked up the sword and carefully stood up on top the ruined metal. He stepped forward threw the fires around the room to the elite standing in the middle of a flat area. Now the area was an arena.
     "Now we fight for who we truly are," the golden elite stated. John was impressed by the way he used the English tongue, but he knew the task at hand and quickly charged.
     





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