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Chapter 3 Section 4: The Fallen Arise
1300 Hours November 16, 2553 (Military Calendar)
New York City, Downtown Educational District 3

Ten of the original sixteen Pelicans had survived the heavy anti-aircraft fire and set down along the outskirts of the Third Educational District. Mechanized Covenant infantry patrols roamed the streets and offered heavy resistance. The group of seven Spartans were some of the last to land as the surviving compliment of marines advanced through the streets. The final members of the counter attack had stepped off as the Pelicans lifted off to begin their air support patrols along with the five Longsword fighters in the area.

The vast majority of Covenant heavy armor was hit before the drop had occurred and their smoking corpses offered plenty cover throughout the streets. The Spartans were dropped near several of the smoldering pieces of armored wreckage that they would use to their advantage. The group fanned out into smaller groups of two and advanced from piece to piece picking off the Grunts and Jackals that they ran across. The Chief traveled on his own and took cover behind a pair of destroyed Creeps. Twenty meters away from his position were two Shade turrets on top of a " bus hut" supported by a squad of six red-armored Elites on the road below.

" Blue-One to all groups. Ahead of my location roughly twenty meters are two Shades. Red Group you've got distraction duty. Move in on the right flank and draw off their fire. Blue-Group you move in on the left. I'll take center. Blue-One out. " He got his acknowledgement lights and watched Red Group move up and over to the other Creep on the right. They stayed along its edge and waited for Blue Group to get into their launching position.

Blue Group was ready and the Chief gave the signal. He tossed a single frag at the gun on the left. It toppled over with the Elite still inside it. It shields did not drop entirely when the grenade went off so it slid out of the hovering chair. Red Group quickly engaged and fired at the Elites. Another grenade was thrown and the second gun was disabled.

" Don't stop shooting, " the Master Chief said. The Covenant squad was confused and fired towards Red Group. With their backs now turned Blue Group engaged splitting up the Elites. The Chief waited three seconds reading his battle rifle. The Covenant began to advance on the two groups when he exposed himself out in the open and engaged.

With their shields already weakened he was able to take down two of them on his own. One of the others saw him and tried to get in a swing to cave his helmet in. It would have if not for the support fire he was given. Shields flickered then faded out as AP and hollow point bullets hit and tore through it like paper. Only one remained and the Master Chief was able to get in behind it and jump up high enough to get a strangle hold. The Elite wasn't even given a chance to shake him off as he grabbed on half of its split jaw and yanked with a loud snap breaking its jaw. It writhed in pain tossing the Chief to the ground. He fell to the ground hard and busted part of the road. His shields were damaged by a quarter when he hit. The Elite tried to deliver a downward blow and missed as the Chief rolled out of the way. When he was clear of the attacker the Spartans opened fire. They watched as bits of flesh and blood were blown off and spattered all over the road.

The Chief policed the plasma rifles and had the Spartans attach them magnetically to their sides ditching those which had less charge. They stopped to notice there were motion tracker contacts in every direction excluding their six o'clock. The problem was the Covenant were everywhere and they'd have to split up the two teams to secure the area. The Chief turned to Red Group and gave them their orders. They were to head north and eliminate any threat that was in the way. He ordered Blue Group to head south and do the same. The Chief decided he would move to the west on his own and meet up on the other side of the structures with whom ever he could find.

The Spartans looked at each other uneasily when the Chief had said he'd be on his own, but his orders were final. They knew that and would comply. The groups split and advanced. The Master Chief waited until they were a sufficient distance away and then continued down the street he was originally heading down.

" Why'd you do that Chief? " Cortana inquired. He mulled over the reasoning and couldn't find any real good answer.

" Instinct Cortana...and trust. " he replied. There wasn't any logical argument she could bring up to his answer at this time. He couldn't afford to concentrate on her and the threats ahead. " Now mind telling me where we are to go exactly? " Cortana gave him a NAV point. It was small meaning it was far away. About a kilometer away and not exactly on a straight path either. He had her patch it to the others and advanced until he had seen a few hostiles. There was an Elite accompanied by a squad of Jackals holding out on a street corner.

He saw tracers ping off the Jackals' shields as they shot out large bolts of green plasma. The Elite hid behind the squad and fired in the same direction. All were easy targets from his point. The Master Chief reached into his grenade sack and pulled out a plasma grenade and then set it back. They blue flame was like a flare and would allow them to dodge the attack more easily. Instead he grabbed an M9 HE-DP, primed it, and gave it a good toss into their position. The Jackals were so concentrated on their front that they didn't realize the grenade was there until they saw the Elite rolling out of the way. Black blood went into the air with a flash of smoke and fire.

The Elite shook itself off and took little notice of its damaged shields. They shined silver and then cooled at about half level. The Covenant warrior saw the Chief as he was taking aim at it's head. It roared in defiance and charged the Chief firing its needler. The Master Chief returned fire and side stepped enough to have the crystalline needles fly past him. They detonated mid air and in the sides of the nearby structures. His bullets finally made their way through and dropped the shielding system. A trio of bullets then met the Covenant warrior's skull. The body stopped in its tracks as bits of bone, armor, and brain flew from the falling corpse. He went to the corner it was holding out on and ran across a group of seven marines.

They continued in their southern advance and allowed the Chief to move on his own. He encountered another squad of Covenant and quickly put them down. He gave no more notice to the smoking corpses when he heard a piercing shrill above him. The Chief flattened himself on the ground until the noise and shockwave that followed it had passed him. He looked up and saw two trails of smoke and a badly damaged Longsword fighter coming in hot. The ship hit the side of a building and lost its port wing. After spinning out of control it came down hard, nose first into another building. The engines gave a final sputter and went out.

* * *

Major Sawyer winced in pain as he struggled to undo his holding straps. The front window had been caved in and shattered glass littered the fighter's deck. He looked over to his co-pilot and saw the overhead terminal had been forced into him during the crash. The Major looked around unbelievingly and saw the severed smashed head on the floor.

" Shit. " he said. Sparks flew as he undid his straps and grabbed his emergency radio.

" This is Major Sawyer of Gamma wing. Can anyone hear me? Over? " Static was the only response. " I repeat this is Major Sawyer of Gamma wing. Is anybody listening? I've crashed in the local educational district. Please anybody respond. Over. " Again only static. He repeated the message a final time and was interrupted by the squawking of a Jackal.

The pilot threw his radio to the floor and reached to his left for his M7C sub-machine gun. He grabbed the weapon, loaded it, and crawled out of his seat. He yelled as a sharp pain went through his lower back and right leg. Despite this he forced himself out and turned around to the ship's rear.

He looked outside through three massive glowing holes and a thinner almost scar like portion were the wing had been torn off. A squad of enemy infantry was on their way to examine the crash site. The Major propped himself up and aimed his weapon at the leading Grunt. His breathing became heavy as he sighted the weapon and squeezed off a burst.

Most of the bullets missed the intended target and sent tiny plumes of dirt upward. The Grunt recoiled from the three shots that hit it and fell back more into the rest of the line. The sudden gunfire had alerted the rest of the squad. They quickly ran forward and fired blindly into the ship. A pair of plasma bolts nearly hit the Major as he took cover behind his seat. The remaining bolts struck various instruments within the fighter and melted them away. A shower of sparks sprayed Sawyer's back. He let out a momentary scream of pain.

The Covenant outside heard this and moved in for the kill. He fired his weapon and took out two of them before having to reload. His gunfire had alerted the attention of several other Covenant nearby. The squad had continued to advance and stopped at the glowing metal at the outside of the fighter to avoid being burned. He was thankful for that. He was able to hold them off for now.

Several minutes had passed and many more Covenant were waiting to get their hands on some human flesh. The Major slapped in his last clip and began firing again as he heard a faint explosion. A ragged body of a Jackal had been flung into the fighter's rear bay and began to smoke up as it hit the heated panels. Two more faint explosions came and more bodies flew from the Covenant rear line.

The swarm's attention was diverted to their rear flank. The Major saw faint flashes of yellow flame and watched as the Covenant rear guard fell dead. Every plasma weapon suddenly opened up and fired that way. The Covenant fire slowly faded away as they fell one by one. As it did several assault weapons could be heard until the rifles took over. He tried to get up to see what was shooting and screamed out in pain as his leg touched a melted piece of cockpit chair. He turned to the melted portion and tore his leg from the spot. When he looked back out he flinched back at the sight of an armored giant, the Master Chief. Behind him was a marine watching the area with an S2 AM.

" Can you move? " the Chief asked.

" My leg's broke, " the Major said with a slight bit of pain in his voice, " and my back feels kind of weird. "

" We need to get you and your co-" the Chief stopped as he saw the decapitated body, " We need to get you out of here. " The Chief walked over and pulled the Major up and put him over his shoulder. The two bodies slipped around and nearly off each other from the shields. The master Chief brought the Major out and set him down on his back away from the dead.

" Where's the rescue squad? " the Major asked looking around noticing their were only two of them.

" What rescue squad? " the Chief replied. Major Sawyer's jaw dropped. " The sergeant over there was only lending me a hand to get you out of here. Can you walk on one leg? " The pilot nodded and the Chief whistled to the corporal to have him give the Major a hand.

The corporal unslung his rifle bandoleer and handed the Chief his weapon along with it. After they put the Major on the marine's shoulder the sniper pulled out his pistol with his free hand. The Chief put the bandoleer on and slung his battle rifle in favor of the long distance weapon. The marine then activated his radio.

" This is Corporal Sherman to Private Chung. Do you read me? Over." he said. A moment when a static filled response came in.

" This is Chung. What is it sir?"

" Chung get down here with the model M12 Model D. I've got wounded. Come straight to my position. Over." the corporal said.

" Roger that sir. ETA five minutes if we don't run into any trouble. I'll bring support. " Chung responded. Sherman nodded and looked to the Chief.

" Think we can wait that long? " Sherman asked with a slight grin. The Chief loaded a fresh magazine into the sniper rifle and scanned the area. The corporal chuckled and waited patiently. Four minutes later five Warthogs came speeding in. They slowed down and were loaded up with a bunch of troops. Two were newer models, Model D's, mainly meant for bringing in a lot of troops. It was a great idea if not for the removal of the turret. Six medics piled out and set up a stretcher, IVs, and began to wrap the Major up as they brought him over to one of the troop transports. When the seven men were inside the Warthog sped off along with one with a turret as an escort. The other three waited for the Chief and Sherman to get on board. Before they left Cortana spoke up.

" Marines I've transmitted onto your Warthogs' radar the direction we need to go. We'll need to grab the other Spartans and assault the Museum of Earth's Geography and Culture. The Covenant have put their full backing into this area and are not giving up. They must be removed, those are our orders. " she said. The drivers acknowledged this a split up into three groups. The Chief and Sherman were headed for the museum while the others would grab the rest of the Spartans and would meet up in the assault. As they went other Warthogs came with them and ran through the streets causing all hell to break loose in the scattered Covenant line. The randomization of landing zones proved effective allowing for the rapid and confusing deployment of human troops.

After dealing with the loose units in the streets the marines had to agree with Cortana. As they got closer to the museum the Covenant seemed to double in number and firepower. They made their way past a squad of Elites by running they down, but were forced to a halt up ahead. They were down the street about two blocks from their objective.

Flak guns, Shades, several light armored vehicles, and flaming wreckage occupied the space between them and the main objective. In the sky ten escort Banshees and six dropships owned the air in that sector. The Chief stopped the driver from going any further.

" I'll make my way from here. " he said. The marine turned around and had a look of fear for the Chief in his eyes. The other marines also gave him a similar look.

" No offense sir, but are you crazy? " the driver asked. The Chief hopped off the back and walked over to the driver.

" No marine I'm not. If anything staying on this hog is worse than going on foot. Being in a vehicle just makes you more of a target. I'd recommend you too get out and advance with me. " The Chief responded. The driver looked to his passenger who was already disembarking and did the same. The rest of the marine on board got off as well and ran to the sides of the road with the Chief. The Covenant then engaged.

" Nice work Chief, " Cortana said. " I'm assuming you have a plan? " He ducked into a small bus stop for cover and told her what he intended to do.

" I'm going to use the back door like at the city center earlier. I want you to give my instructions to Red and Blue teams. We need to get back there safely and without grabbing much attention. From there we can see what the hell is going on and maybe we can split the Covenant line in two. " He said. She understood the logic in attacking the rear and relayed the message to the rest of the Spartans.

He looked out to his right to see two Warthogs go by fast and then exited. The sound of battle echoed through the streets as buildings collapsed, weapons were fried, and people were dying. A squad of marines were advancing fast up ahead and were suddenly pinned down by one of the Phantoms overhead. The dropship fired its main gun and sent long thick streams of red plasma their way. Every time the gun hit a marine turned to carbonized bone fused with molten armor. The deaths were instantaneous. The survivors fired back in defiance and were unable to leave a scratch in the armor.

" Cortana to Gamma Wing Patrol. We need support fire at our position. Covenant air patrol is to hot for ground forces to engage. Over. " This message was relayed to everyone. A moment had passed until they got a response.

" Roger Cortana this is Colonel Tate. Gamma Wing is inbound hot. Engaging enemy air patrol now. " The Master Chief took cover and watched as the remaining four Longswords still in the air came in. He and the marines watched as the Covenant flak guns reoriented themselves to fire on the human fighters.

The balls of blue fire missed repeatedly and were unable to hit the fighters. When they came within range the Longsword fired everything they had. Over thirty missiles had been fired in the area knocking out the dropships and several of the Covenant ground forces below. However some of the missiles were off target and grabbed the Chief's attention as they became unstable.

He looked more closely and saw the missiles swerving from side to side and then detonating midair as if something had intercepted them. It was then that the Chief saw why they had done this. The blur from before was there and the explosions were not that far from it.

" Gamma Wing this is MCPO Spartan-117. Do you have anything left in those pods? Over. " he asked. The Longswords flew off and circled back around high above to avoid the Banshees.

" Negative Master Chief. Pioneer missile pods are dry. Gattling guns are at zero percent as well. Over. " the Colonel replied. The Chief was unnerved by this, and zoomed in on the blur.

" Chief I'm picking up a coded transmission from inside the museum. Very heavy in traffic. I'm recording now. " Cortana said.

A faint light was seen for a split second and then the object moved upward. A mighty wind and thunder shook the ground. The Chief, along with several others, fell and looked upward. The Banshees were disappearing in mid-air and the object had moved off. With all the dropships gone the Covenant entered a frenzy and charged the remaining human forces.

Only ground troops remained and were giving the UNSC forces hell. A wall of magenta colored light came flying forward from the Grunts and Elites as large globules of green plasma came from the remaining Jackals. Nearly twenty of the remaining marines died in an instant. Several plumes of shrapnel were flung into the sky and the smell of burnt flesh permeated the air. The survivors returned fire in the lapse that followed when the enemy had to reload.

Tracers peeled away at the Elites' shielding and tore through the Grunts. It was utter chaos. The genocide continued on for another ten minutes until the remaining Spartans showed and helped mop up the remains.

* * *

The Chief and the others helped out those they could along their way to the Museum of Earth's Geography and Culture and entered the through a pair of wide steel doors. Inside were tons of Covenant crates, transmission devices, and other sorts of things they had never seen before. Other than the Covenant technology the rest of the place of an absolute mess. Rocks were scattered, priceless artifacts were destroyed, and data records were virtually raped. The Spartans were the only ones that entered the vast museum to see all of this.

The Chief walked forward and saw one of the transmission devices and recognized it from somewhere. Next to it was a pile four meters high of many different rocks and another box that looked nearly destroyed. This puzzled him and brought him to ask of Cortana's advice.

" Cortana any ideas? " he asked looking around and handling some of the objects.

" Scanning...Yes Chief I do. Tell me do these images looking familiar to you? " she replied. A series of triangles, squares, and other geometric shapes appeared on his HUD.

" Some sort of writing perhaps. Why? Do you recognize them Cortana? " he said confused. His team mates looked at him attentively listening to the conversation.

" Yes I do. We'll be heading there as soon as we get off this rock. It's a map Chief. And the Covenant don't want us to know we've got it. " She said.

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