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The Sergeant unstrapped himself from his seat and followed Jenkins out of the pod.
"WHOA!!" exclaimed the Sergeant.
"I know" agreed Jenkins.
The Sergeant followed the land, where the horizon should have been the land just continued up and up, getting further and further away until it was just a small band of land and ocean above their heads, and then in the opposite direction it came back down, getting closer and wider.
"Who the hell built this place?" the Sergeant said, more to himself than anyone.
"The Covenant?" Jenkins offered.
"Jesus Christ, I hope not..." replied the Sergeant, starting to survey the land around him, "the land reminds me of Earth... it even has the same strength of gravity."
"And nearly exactly the same atmosphere" added Jenkins.
"Have you investigated that structure" the Sergeant said, indicating a large structure that looked more like some giant monument crafted from solid metal than a building.
"Mendosa and one of the other Marines we met on the Autumn are checking it out now, Sir."
"Have you met any life forms?"
"Nothing Sir, whoever built that thing doesn't seem to be here."
The structure suddenly pulsed and sent a pulse of what reminded the Sergeant of the Covenant ship's plasma fire, it shot up all the way into the sky, travelling to the other side of the ring.
"What the hell was that!?" the Sergeant asked,
"No idea sir, but it keeps doing it, it doesn't seem to be meant to cause any harm."
"Where's Bisenti, he was wounded."
"One of the Techs is tending to him and the other injured Marine."
"Take me to him" the Sergeant ordered.

The Sergeant followed Jenkins to Bisenti and another injured Marine. They were sat infront of a boulder next to a large metal wall that was part of the structure, under the shade of the ledge above them.
"Sir!" Bisenti got up off the ground.
"You OK, son?" the Sergeant asked.
"I can fight sir" said Bisenti with a determined face.
"Good man" the Sergeant said with a proud twinkle in his eyes.
The Sergeant turned to the other Marine.
"How about you?" he asked.
"I've taken a couple of those damn needles in my shoulder, they've blown some of the cartilage off my arm socket, the Tech pumped me full of painkillers, so I'm OK, but they're affecting my sight and reactions, I can fight, but I'm gonna be fighting like a pissed one-armed civilian." The Marine replied, he had an Australian accent.
"What's your name and rank Marine?" the Sergeant continued.
"Sir! Private Hackett, Sir! Fire Team Sierra!" The Marine said, saluting with his uninjured arm.
"I am your new commanding officer, Private, you will address me as Sergeant, you and your team mates are officially transferred to Fire Team Charlie!" "Sir! Yes Sir!" Hackett saluted again.
The Sergeant turned to see Mendosa returning with another of the new Marines.
"Sir!" said Mendosa, "I see Jenkins managed to wake you up from your beauty sleep"
The Sergeant gave him a 'don't-push-me' glare.
"...uh...the structure is clear, Sir, it doesn't seem to have an entrance, I guess what's inside is the thing that's making that pulse." Mendosa reported quickly, "However it's a useful spot, plenty of cover and places to fire from, we've got the Techs emptying the weapons and supplies from the pod, they're taking it up to the ledge above us now.
The Sergeant acknowledged but didn't reply, instead he ignored Mendosa and turned to the other Marine.
The Marine straightened and saluted,
"Sir, private Kennedy, Sir! Fire Team Sierra" he shouted.
"Not any more Marine, now you're in Fire Team Charlie." The Sergeant said.
The Sergeant turned to face Jenkins, "Have you called for evac? Is there any evac, even? I don't wants us to stay out here a second more than we have to, what's the status with command?" He asked.
"One of the Techs has managed to get a com working, there is a group of Pelicans, Longsword Fighters and the Command Shuttle about 80 kilometers downspin. They're having trouble with Covenant air forces at the moment, but they'll get a dropship out here as soon as they can, Sir." Jenkins replied.
All of a sudden the Marines heard the roar of engines, they looked up to see a life pod with it's break thrusters firing and air breaks open. It was rocketing through the air above them, leaving a dense grey trail of exhaust. They watched it shoot down behind a rock face crowned with evergreen trees.
"SHE'S COMING IN TOO FAST!" Kennedy shouted.
They heard it's rockets go off into the distance and then they felt the ground beneath their feet tremble slightly and heard a distant
<whaaaam!!!>
"Shit that must have struck the ground pretty damn hard..." said Mendosa.
"Shouldn't we go and see if anyone survived?" asked Hackett.
"No one could have survived an impact like tha-" the Sergeant began, but he was cut off.
"COVENANT DROPSHIP INBOUND!!!" Screamed one of the Techs from above them on the ledge.
"MARINES" The Sergeant roared "LOCK AND LOAD, LET'S SET THE TABLE FOR THESE MOTHERFUCKERS!!!"

"GO! GO! GO!!" The Sergeant roared, beckoning the Marines up the slope on the side of the structure to the open floor above them.
The Sergeant glanced to see the Covenant dropship coming down near the life pod. The plasma turret on it's underside turned to aim at him. He sprinted up the ramp, hearing the repeated discharge of the turret and the fizzle of scorching plasma hit the structure wall just behind him.
"RUN SARGE, RUN!!!" shouted Mendosa on the ledge above him, firing his rifle at the dropship in a futile attempt to distract it. The Sergeant lunged forward behind the cover of a wall at the top of the ramp that was in between him and the turret. He heard the plasma impact against the wall with an angry hiss. Keeping his head low he walked up the rest of the ramp right in front of him to the landing where the rest of them were. They were all hidden behind what could only be described as broad metal barricades that were about a metre high, they served very well as battlements, which was probably what they were.
"The dropship doors are opening Sir!" shouted Hackett, peering through a gap around the battlement he was behind.
"Everyone get some grenades before that dropship takes off and we have to get cover from it's turret again!!" the Sergeant ordered.
Everyone, including the Techs, scrambled for the small spread of ammunition they had placed on the floor.
"AND SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE THESE TECHS SOME WEAPONS!!" the Sergeant cried, handing the Technician who'd been in the pilot seat his pistol.
"HERE COME THE COVENANT!!" Someone shouted.
The Sergeant chanced a look over the battlement. A blue-armoured Elite charged with a squad of seven Grunts towards the structure, they were two far to reach with grenades, and the Sergeant wanted them to be as far as possible.
"TRIGGERS DOWN MEN!!!"
The Marines emerged from their hiding places and rained merry hell down on the advancing Covenant.
Because of the distance and the recoil of their guns the bullets were inaccurate and sprayed all around the Covenant in a spread firestorm. The Sergeant kept his finger down and watched the bullets rain down on the creatures. Sending up clods of Earth all around them and making the ground they stood on look like it was boiling. The Grunts shrieked and jumped on their feet on the spot in a panic-induced dance. The Elite flickered brilliant silver as a few bullets bounced off it's body force-field. The Grunts ran for cover. Three Grunts were already sprawled dead on the ground, and the Sergeant could see bright blue methane leaking from the life support pack of another one that was headed for a tree. That one would be dead soon too. The Elite, however did not run for cover. The Marines guns were still firing, but their accuracy was poor because of the recoil and distance, and the Elite had realised this.
It put it's claw to it's waist and drew a plasma grenade. It pulled it's arm back and grunted as it put it's whole weight behind it's hurl. The Sergeant watched the ball of blue flame rise into the air, about sixty feet, the creature was a powerful thrower. It arced and came down towards the ledge. It was coming in to land right in between Bisenti and a Tech, and the Sergeant was sure that that was exactly where the Elite had wanted it. Apparently the Elite was a very accurate thrower too. Bisenti turned on the spot and ran from the deadly, fizzling threat of the plasma grenade. The Tech however, did not, he stood there paralysed with fear for a moment, then in an incredible demonstration of bravery, the Tech tried to kick the plasma grenade back down at the Covenant. However he also demonstrated he had no idea about the awful ability that the Covenant grenades had - they seemed to know when they were touching something that was a target, and when they did they stuck to that something, in this instance; the Tech's boot. He flailed his foot about in panic for half a second before it detonated, incinerating his legs and sending what remained of him crashing into the branches of a tree.
"WHOR HRUGH WRAAAAAAAGH!!!" The Sergeant heard from the ground below, he turned to see the Grunts who had regained their courage now there was a break in the human fire, charging for the ramp.
"REGAIN YOURSELVES MARINES!! LOAD AND FIRE!!"
it was impossible, the charging Grunts were firing their plasma pistols and needlers up at the ledge, forcing the Marines into cover.
"Wait a second..." The Sergeant said, "where the hell's that Elite gone!?" The Sergeant turned around to see on the opposite side of the landing was the top of another ramp. It was leading down to the ground on the other side of the structure!
"Oh shit." The Sergeant said, "The bastard's sneakin' up behind us!"
The Sergeant sprinted to the other side of the landing.
"SARGE!!" shouted Jenkins.
The Sergeant ignored him and came to a stop on the part of the landing that was directly above the head of the ramp, if the Elite was coming up it wouldn't see him, but he would hear it."
Sure enough the Seargent could hear the loping, striding footsteps of the Elite sprinting up the ramp beneath him.
The Sergeant drew his grenade, unlatched the detonation latch with the same hand and crouched down. The loping footsteps were nearly right beneath him. Looking down on the top of the ramp the Sergeant saw the Elite emerge from beneath the obscurity of the ledge that the he stood on.
"Surprise" the Sergeant said quietly.
The Elite heard him and turned it's head up just in time to see the Sergeant directly above it before he dropped the grenade. The Sergeant leapt backwards, hearing the "clink!" of the grenade dropping at the Elite's feet and a great gargling roar that could only be a cry of terror.
BOOOOOOOOM!
The Sergeant saw a plume of flame flare up from behind the edge of the landing above the ramp and heard the spray of blood spattering against a solid wall.
"Sir!" exclaimed Jenkins, running up to where the Sergeant lay and offering him a hand up off the floor, "The guys are dealing with the Grunts, they just turned tail and ran!"
"They must have heard what just happened to their leader" the Sergeant grunted.
"So that explosion was..." Jenkins began, peering down the ramp "Oh, I see."
"ANOTHER COVENANT DROPSHIP INBOUND!" someone cried.
"MEN!!" The Sergeant shouted, running over to the Marines "LET'S SPREAD OUT ONTO THE GROUND BELOW. I DON'T WANT US ALL UP HERE. IT'S TOO EASY FOR THE BASTARDS TO SURROUND US! TECHS! YOU STAY UP HERE AND GIVE US SOME COVER FIRE!!"

But the Dropship passed straight over them and continued in the direction of the other life pod.
"If anyone did survive they aren't gonna be alive much longer!" said the last new Marine that the Sergeant didn't know the name of.
"And if no one did survive then they're gonna come and deal with us, let's be ready.

Two tense minutes later one of the Marines shouted, "HERE COMES ANOTHER ONE!!"
The Marines aimed their guns up at the menacing, circling Covenant dropship, but stayed in the cover of trees and boulders (the turret was searching for targets.) The dropship came to a stop and started to come into land on the opposite side of the structure to Fire Team Charlie's life pod.
"MARINES!! FRONT AND CENTRE!!"
As the dropship came down it's broad side doors swung down, and when it reached the ground the Covenant who'd been inside piled out - six Grunts and one Elite. The Sergeant aimed his rifle at the group of four Grunts who'd just jumped from the left dropship door when in the distance on a ridged hill beyond the dropship he saw an unmistakable figure. It landed from a huge jump onto a huge boulder about ten foot high and launched itself back into the air with puma-like grace. The Sergeant saw the Master Chief draw a pistol in mid-air and open fire on the Grunts the Sergeant himself had been aiming at. By the time the Chief had hit the ground two of the Grunts were dead, and he continued to charge and fire the pistol. In moments all four Grunts were motionless, bleeding. The dropship took off and the Elite who'd come out of the opposite door to the Grunts saw the Chief and it's four dead soldiers. The Master Chief ran behind a tree and the Elite growled and advanced with it's plasma rifle ready.
When the Elite was mere feet away the Chief emerged from behind the tree and charged towards the Covenant warrior. The Elite opened fire, but the Chief just kept running and then leapt right over the incoming plasma and over the Elite itself. He landed gracefully behind the Elite and with lightening speed span around and sent the butt of his gun slamming into it's face. The Elite's shields took the blow, but they were surely badly weakened. The Chief instantly levelled his gun at it's chest and opened fire. The force field flickered out and the Elite staggered back as bullets tore through it's chest, until finally it fell to the ground with an agonised groan. The two remaining Grunts were fleeing, waving their arms in the air in panic, it was a strange thing - what sheer terror could do. They ran right into the gunfire of Hackett and Mendosa, and were thrown back by the force of bullet impacts.
"Shit! I knew there was a Spartan on board, I KNEW IT!" said Kennedy, who started to run to greet the Supersoldier. The Sergeant followed him. The Master Chief had reloaded his assault rifle and pistol and was now taking plasma grenades from the Elite's corpse.
"Thank God, Master Chief" Kennedy said when he reached the hulking figure "I thought we were in real trouble."
The Sergeant stepped forward and proceeded to report the situation. "It's a mess , Sir, we're scattered all over this valley. We called for evac, but, until you showed up, I thought we were cooked."
The Sergeant looked into the gold visor of the Master Chief's helmet, but merely saw his own distorted reflection, it was unnerving. The reply however did not come from the Master Chief but from a woman's voice that he recognised as Cortana from the bridge. It surprised the Sergeant for the briefest of moments before he realised that, of course, the Chief had Cortana with him.
"Don't worry Sergeant, we'll stay here until evac arrives." She said calmly.
"HEADS UP! I GOT A COVENANT DROPSHIP HEADIN' IN, OVER HERE!!"
The Master Chief, however, had already started running to engage the incoming enemy the moment they'd heard "dropship."
Kennedy was just about to follow the Chief who was headed around the left side of the structure when the Sergeant shouted after him, "HOLD IT!" Kennedy stopped and turned to face him, the Sergeant could see from his face that the Marine was itching to see the Chief in combat again. "I don't think the Chief is going to need your 'help' Marine, you're coming with me to secure the right side of the structure." The Sergeant ordered. The Marine was disappointed but understood that the Sergeant was absolutely right.
The two sprinted to enforce the other side of the structure.
The dropship had already touched down and unleashed it's load, and the Chief was already there perched on a smaller structure to the front of the large one. He was sending a dead accurate hail of pistol rounds down on a charging Elite. They cracked away at it's shields, until the field gave out. The stream of bullets however, did not pause, a pistol round blew right through the Elite's face and out the back of it's helmet, sending the contents down onto the ground. The Sergeant was watching the Chief dealing with a pair of Jackals when a familiar impish bark made him aware of three incoming Grunts. He and Kennedy fired bursts at the Grunts while trying to duck and cover from their plasma shots. They managed to get down and crouch behind a boulder unscathed, but could hear the trot of the advancing Grunts, who were spurred on by Kennedy and the Sergeant's retreat. The three yapping Grunts were getting closer. The Sergeant had to act now or at least one of them would be killed by the trio, they were outnumbered. He remembered how the Grunts on several occasions had just fallen apart and fled once frightened.
"Kennedy, give me a leg up over this boulder when I say" He hissed.
Kennedy asked no questions and got ready.
"NOW!!"
Kennedy put his whole force under the Sergeant's foot and propelled him right over the boulder.
The Sergeant saw the Grunts jump back in fright at the sight of a roaring, flying human.
He landed two feet infront of them and fired his assault rifle into the gut of the middle Grunt before they had regained themselves. The other two however were under control again and had their guns pointed right at the Sergeant.
The Sergeant hesitated, but before he had decided what to do a blast of bullets from Kennedy behind the boulder blew through the Grunt's armour to his right.
The other Grunt turned in surprise and the Sergeant brought the butt of his gun crashing down on it's skull. The thick strip of metal that was attached to the gasmask and went along the front of it's face and over it's head prevented the blow from smashing the Grunt's head in, but the little simian was still concussed by the force. The Sergeant would have kicked the little monster to death had he not heard the call of a Marine on his comm: "LOOK SHARP, COVENANT DROPSHIP ON APPROACH, I COULD USE SOME HELP OVER HERE!!"
The Sergeant looked up to see the dropship decelerating and coming to a stop right in his field of vision, about the same distance from the escape pod as the previous dropship had been in the opposite direction.
Another thing entered his field of vision, the Master Chief had his pistol and drawn and raised up at the craft as he charged from the direction of the previous dropship. The moment the dropship doors opened the Chief's gun fired, a grunt was tumbling out of the craft before it had even landed.
"KENNEDY! NOW LET'S GO GIVE THE CHIEF SOME HELP!!"
"YES SIR!!" cried Kennedy with open enthusiasm.
The pair ran between the cover of the huge bulbous-trunked evergreen trees to the dropship. The hatches were open, one door faced them, the other faced the direction of the Chief. The door that faced the Sergeant and Kennedy now had four Grunts climbing out of it. The Sergeant and the Private leaned around the tree they hid behind and sent short bursts (too increase their accuracy) of bullets at the creatures, their shots missed however and just ricocheted into and off of the dropship interior, ringing in the Grunts ears and fully alerting them.
They did not panic however, they spotted the two soldiers, and realising they had superior numbers, charged barking and howling.
That is until they heard a grenade explosion and the dying cry of their leader on the other side of the now rising dropship. The dropship took off from the small hill it had landed on, and up over the top of the hill came the unstoppable, relentless figure of the Master Chief.
With his rifle drawn he charged down the slope of the hill after the terrified and fleeing Grunts, mowing them down methodically and efficiently. The Sergeant could see that the Chief took no pleasure in killing things. Once the Chief had dealt with the Grunts he reloaded his gun and ran right past the Sergeant and Kennedy, without acknowledging them. The Sergeant's eyes followed the Chief until he saw the Covenant dropship the Spartan was running to engage.
"UH-OH! ANOTHER BANDIT DROPPIN IN BEHIND US! THEY'RE TRYIN' TO FLANK US!"
"Let's go sir!" called Kennedy, following the Chief.
The Sergeant reached for a clip on his belt... there were none.
"How are you doin' for ammo son?" The Sergeant called back to him.
Kennedy tapped his gun, "This one's my last"
The Sergeant started to run, as he passed Kennedy he said, "Let's get some more while we have the chance, we don't know how long we're gonna have to hold up here!"

From the top of the structure after they had replenished their ammo they simply watched from the edge of the building as the Chief finished off the newest Covenant forces.
The Sergeant watched the Chief punch through the lifepack and spine of a fleeing Grunt , spraying his armour with methane and blood. It was good to see the Covenant having their asses kicked.
"Why didn't the UNSC make more of those guys?" a Tech said incredulously (the one Sergeant Johnson had sat next to in the life pod), pausing to fire off his pistol at a Grunt fleeing into some trees.
The Sergeant remembered once seeing a UNSC specs operative who had suffered extreme Parkinson's Disease and some mutated bone growth. He had wondered why the UNSC had decided to even accept such a disabled individual.
When he asked his superior he was told to watch where he stuck his nose. However after a little digging he discovered the 'individual' had been a failed Spartan, and there were others. It seemed that the Spartans had gone through some risky bio-enhancement that had killed and badly disabled many of them. All the suffering the Chief must have gone through...
"They don't just crank them out on a factory line, boy! They're Human Beings, Show some respect!" The Sergeant scolded.
The Tech shrank, "Sorry, Sir. It's just..." The Tech froze, staring beyond the Sergeant, "OH SHIT, HERE COME TWO OF THEM!!"
The Sergeant turned. The two menacing dropships were coming in to circle them like birds of prey, the turrets searching. One of the turrets locked on their position, making them run from the open-to-fire edge of the landing to the cover of the middle. The Sergeant, Kennedy and the two Techs stayed under the cover of the monument-like structure above them, listening to the malevolent hum of the two ships.
The dropships were coming down to land (like others before them they were landing to the front of the structure near the escape pod.)
"LET'S MOVE IT KENNEDY!!" the Sergeant barked.
As they came down the ramp they saw the Chief headed for the left dropship, the one that was closer to the ground.
"MARINES!!" the Sergeant cried, addressing all those who could hear him, "THE CHIEF CAN HANDLE THAT DROPSHIP, LET'S TAKE THE ONE TO THE RIGHT!!"
The Marines acknowledged and ran to hide behind cover around the right dropship's LZ, ready to engage.
Over the throbbing hum of the Covenant ship they could hear the sound of the Chief mashing his way through his enemies off near the other dropship.
"MARINES, GET YOUR GUNS READY!!" the Sergeant bellowed.
The dropship was a metre from the ground.
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!" cried Bisenti, hurling a grenade that settled in front of the craft's left door.
The doors opened, from the left side of the ship came three Jackals and an Elite.
They piled out, and unaware of the grenade, they walked straight over it.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
The grenade detonated a few feet behind them, the blast caught the Elite and one of the Jackals.
It sent the Jackal flying forward, but the Elite's body-shields protected it from the blast.
The Marines emerged from their hiding places and fired.
But the Elite and remaining Jackals didn't panic, the Jackals instinctively raised their shields, in time to deflect the incoming bullets.
The Elite waved his hand imperiously and roared, ordering the Jackals forward. The two vulture-headed creatures advanced while firing their pistols, sending cover fire at the Marines who were leaning around boulders and rocks.
The Sergeant wasn't sure whether they had enough manpower to try a frontal assault, he needed to see what had come out of the other door... The ship took off, revealing four Grunts, two red, two yellow. The Elite roared again and the yellow Grunts came forward to help the Jackals. They sent plasma in the Marines' directions, forcing them into cover and not giving much opportunity to retaliate.
"I'VE BEEN SAVING A LIITLE SOMETHING FOR YOU, YOU BASTARDS!!" cried Hackett, pulling his grenade from his belt.
However before he had a chance to pull the latch, the Sergeant saw the two red Grunts the Elite make a synchronised grenade toss, sending three plasma grenades right among the hidden Marines.
"They're flashing us out" thought the Sergeant.
Despite this he had already started to run, he'd rather take his chances with the Covenant plasma fire than with an exploding plasma grenade. The Marines scrambled from their hiding places, running for the nearest safe cover.
The Sergeant ran for a tree, awaiting blasts of plasma to rip through his back.
He heard the Covenant fire their weapons... yet he was unharmed, he didn't even see shots that had missed him. Then he heard human gunfire. He stopped and looked over his shoulder.
The Master Chief was there, he had pulverised the Grunts and was advancing on the Elite and Jackals. He rolled under a volley of fire, and as he straightened up the Sergeant saw he had drawn a grenade. The grenade was thrown behind the Jackals, who turned to shield themselves from the explosion, exposing their backs to the Chief. The Chief ducked under a weighty blow that the Elite had aimed at his head, and fired his rifle at the two exposed Jackals' backs.
The bullet impacts sent them toppling forward, only to be flung back by the sudden explosion of the grenade.
The Chief turned, to face the Elite, but the towering creature was already on him, it struck a skull-crushing blow to him with it's plasma rifle, the Chief's shields saved him from a messy end...only just.
The Chief was thrown to the floor.
The Elite levelled it's gun at the unshielded Chief.
"HEY, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!" The Sergeant cried, firing his rifle, more to attract attention than to hit the Elite. "TAKE ME ON!! I'LL RIP YOUR THROAT OUT!!"
The Sergeant could have sworn the Elite had understood what he'd said, as it let out an enraged roar, and aimed it's rifle.
Before it had a chance to fire however, a plasma grenade hit it squarely in it's chest and stuck there. The Elite stopped and looked down at the grenade unbelievingly, before the explosion blew it backwards, staining the grass around it purple with blood.
The Master Chief rose from the ground, and reloaded his gun.
The Sergeant was going to see if the Chief was OK when an unexpected but welcome surprise piped through his comm.
"This is Pelican Echo 419, anybody readin' me? Repeat, any UNSC personnel respond!"
It was Foe Hammer!
"Roger Echo 419," Came Bisenti's voice over the com, "This is Fire Team Charlie, we read you five by five. That you Foe Hammer?"
"Roger Fire Team Charlie, good to hear from ya!"
"If you're not to busy Foe Hammer, we could use a lift, we have survivors to transport to the command shuttle."
Before a reply came the Sergeant heard the roar of more engines other than that of the circling Pelican's.
The roar got louder until finally three more life pods emerged from beyond a ridge and continued downwards into the distance and out of sight again.
A woman's voice piped over the comm channel that the Sergeant realised was Cortana, "Foe Hammer, we need you to disengage your Warthog, the Master Chief and I are going to see if we can save some soldiers."
"Great," thought the Sergeant "with the Master Chief headed out the survivors will have a solid chance of getting back alive, and we'll have more men."
"Roger Cortana," came Foe Hammer over the comm "OK Charlie Team Warthog deployed. Saddle up and give 'em hell!"
"Roger Foe Hammer" replied Cortana "Stand by to evac survivors and transport them to safety."
"That's affirmative, Echo 419 staying on station. Foe Hammer out."

The Master Chief was headed for the Warthog, and the Marines and Techs headed for the Pelican, eager to get back to a friendly area. The Sergeant helped the Tech who'd piloted the pod, who'd taken a needle to his hip and was limping in quite serious pain.
Cortana's voice, however, came over the comm once more, addressing the Sergeant, "The Master Chief and I need some back up, can you spare a few men?"
The Sergeant called over the Tech's shoulder, "ALRIGHT LADIES, VOLUNTEERS STEP UP ON THE DOUBLE!!"
The Sergeant could see however that Kennedy was already running to get into the passenger seat of the Warthog, next to the Master Chief. The Sergeant grinned, the soldier's fascination with the Spartan, was stronger than his fear of death.
"The rest of you get to the dropship!" he addressed the others.
Mendosa and Jenkins helped the Tech into the Pelican and into a seat.
The Sergeant climbed in and strapped into the seat right by the hatch.
The Pelican lurched forwards and upwards unpleasantly, the momentum made the injured Tech groan in pain, as the lurch moved his messed leg. Mendosa, who sat next to the Tech gave him a painkiller.
The Sergeant watched the ground below get smaller, he saw the trail of turned earth from the shrinking Warthog turn into a small band of brown against the rich green grass before they flew over a crest of trees and the clearing they had fought in disappeared.
The Pelican levelled and put on a powerful burst of speed , the engines roared powerfully, and the ground sped away below them.
The Sergeant walked to a comm on the rear wall and switched it on.
"HEY FOE HAMMER," he shouted over the noise of the engines "HOW LONG TILL WE REACH THE COMMAND SHUTTLE?"
"About ten minutes Sarge!" came the reply.
The Sergeant was about to take his seat again when he switched the comm back on, "AND CAN YOU CLOSE THE GOD DAMN HATCH!!"
He got no reply but the hatch started to close, when it did it muffling the sound of the roaring engines a bit.
The Sergeant inserted a music chip into an audio player on his belt.
The inside of the Pelican was filled with the powerful sound of heavy metal, even more powerful than the Pelican's engines. To this Mendosa, Jenkins and Bisenti groaned, they hated it.
"Don't you think we've suffered enough!?" wailed Mendosa in mock hysteria.

TO BE CONTINUED

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