Thirteen: Metropolis (Ladies Like Superior Firepower)

Fred manned the tank, naturally, and the decision was made to take only two of the three Warthogs with them, letting Johnson take the third back with him. Jai, Mike, and Adriana took up positions on the tank, and the two Marines clambered into the passenger and gunner seats in the Warthog that Fred left to Kelly; Linda and Sam remained on their Warthog. The LRVs served as a kind of advanced guard for the Scorpion, and almost immediately, they encountered resistance from the Covenant on the bridge. A wave of Ghosts charged forward, their Elite drivers eager to kill off the Demons that had terrorized the Covenant so.

Fred began launching rounds at them the moment they came into range, and the three Spartans on the tank used the heat-seeking rocket launchers if they got too close. The tank and its Warthog escort wove through the wreckage of vehicles and barricades that the Scarab left behind when it went on its rampage through the area, and they wiped out the waves of Ghosts that tried to stop them.

There was a Wraith waiting for them at the bridge's summit, but the plasma bombs it launched missed entirely; the Scorpion was fast enough to evade them, and the Warthogs raced forward to give Fred some cover as he slowly but steadily guided the tank through the burning wreckage he'd made of the Ghosts. When he finally got close enough, he put a round straight through it and blew it to pieces, letting them reach the apex and start down the other side. Their altitude enabled them to get a spectacular yet saddening view of the burning city of New Mombasa, Regret's carrier hovering over the buildings like some kind of airborne Angel of Death.

They swerved to avoid a hole in the road caused by the Scarab's prior passage just as a Phantom rushed overhead and fired on them as it receded into the distance. A Marine armed with a rocket launcher ducked out of cover and hopped onto the tank as it trundled past after the first Phantom. A second appeared at the side of the bridge and slowed to begin firing a hail of red plasma bursts at them. Fred launched a handful of shells at it, and it accelerated ahead of them after the first, only to be replaced by a Banshee on the other side. Yet another Phantom fell in behind the Banshee before S-104 shot the smaller craft down, and the violent violet transport fired at them for a bit before continuing on ahead. 'They were regrouping, exactly as Cortana said,' Fred thought as he took care of two of the Ghosts waiting for them at the base of the bridge, and as they got closer, those on the turrets were able to gun them down.

"That's quite a welcome party."

They saved the rockets for the Banshees that flew in over the buildings and began twisting about in something akin to a formation over the entryway to the next stretch of tunnel; the explosions blew apart vehicles and riders and sent them spinning down to Earth. There was another pair of Ghosts hovering inside the toll station leading to the tunnel, and one managed to avoid the initial shell meant to destroy it but not the rocket that followed. They swept the area before Fred turned off the tank, confident that it was safe for the moment, when a seemingly innocuous hum alerted them to the presence of more Covenant machinery; two Wraiths emerged from the tunnel and lobbed a plasma bomb in his direction.

He got the Scorpion started just in time, and they lurched out of the way before returning fire, the Warthogs already circling around back to get a line on the reactor cover for one of the Wraiths. The scuttling vehicles were very difficult for the Wraiths to turn and attack; they were slow, lumbering, and focusing on the LRVs left them vulnerable to fire from the tank. They were taken out rather quickly, and rather than risk another incident in which they'd be woefully unprepared, Fred drove the tank right down into the tunnel. As a result, they blew through the opposition in the tunnel until they reached another offshoot of the tunnel, another Warthog racing down it to join them. At the far end, there was a raised barrier in the road, forcing them to continue on foot through another short stretch of tunnel. The muzzle flashes from when the Spartans fired at the Covenant played havoc with their night vision, but the aliens screamed and died just the same. The Jackals were easy to see, however; their bright shields were like beacons in the semidarkness, enabling easy kills.

From there, the humans continued through a maintenance access way and up a – there was no other word for it – pipe, and it opened up into a courtyard. In the distance, the Scarab was heading away from them further into the city. Fred gritted his teeth; they were always just a step behind it. He took out his brief burst of frustration on the Jackal perched on the edge of the slight raised stretch of earth ringing the courtyard, and the group swiftly high-tailed it around to a large platform, using it as cover while they advanced down to the floor. A Warthog with a Gauss cannon on the back came swerving out into view, and Sergeant Stacker called, "Could use someone on the gun!"

By unspoken consent, Kelly and Linda jumped down and took up positions on the Sergeant's Warthog, and within a few passes, they had taken care of the plasma turrets manned by Grunts and the Jackals with beam rifles, leaving the Elites to the other Spartans as they moved ahead to clear the way. A pair of Ghosts slipped in just as the Warthog headed out, but Sam and Fred easily overtook the drivers and provided an escort for the other three Spartans and the Marines that had joined them along the way. There were more Ghosts to hijack in the next courtyard, and the Sergeant and two of the Spartan women were circling a Wraith, firing at its reactor cover. The Ghosts hosed plasma fire at the thick plating of the tank, forcing it to focus on one or the other, and inevitably it blew up under the combined fire.

After that, the Jackals with beam rifles were a walk in the park, and they headed on through an archway to a room with waterfalls covering every free stretch of wall and out into the city proper, where a LAAG Warthog was defending itself from another pair of Ghosts. The floating single-riders were easily disabled by the Gauss cannon and riddled with bullets from the LAAG, killing their drivers and allowing the Spartans to round the corner – and come virtually nose to nose with three Wraiths bombarding a building on the far end of the thoroughfare and their Ghost accompaniment.

"There are a number of Marines trapped in that building, Chief," Cortana said, "Concentrate on the Wraiths; they're the biggest threat."

Whilst the Spartans were doing as she had said, a Phantom swooped in overhead and dropped in another pair of Ghosts virtually on top of them, but the determined soldiers bulled right through them; it would take a lot more than just a handful of vehicles to stop seven stubborn Spartans.

The doors to the building slid open to admit them when the soldiers drove, jogged, and walked up, and one of the Marines stepped forward to greet them. "Sir! Corporal Perez, A-Company! CP's this way. The Lieutenant got hit as soon as we dropped in."

As a Pelican dropped off a Scorpion on the road behind them, Cortana asked, "Who's in charge now, Corporal?"

"Uh, Sergeant Banks, ma'am. He's pinned down up top. Come on, I'll show you." He turned and led them up a set of heavily guarded stairs; just as they reached the top, a beam of green plasma lanced across the far side of the thoroughfare to impact against the buildings there.

The doors slid open in front of them, and Sergeant Banks turned to see who had arrived – and blinked in surprise. "When I asked for reinforcements, I didn't think they'd send a Spartan, much less seven." The Scarab rounded the corner and stopped briefly when the Scorpion fired at it. "We got trouble."

Even as they watched, the Scarab prepared to fire its main cannon at the Scorpion, protective panels folding away from the "muzzle" as it began to charge. The plasma beam hit the Scorpion and blew it apart in under three seconds, the superheated metal flying this way and that. A scared Marine somewhere behind them said, "See this look? It's terror!"

"Marines," the Sergeant barked, "did I give you permission to bitch?" The Scarab walked determinedly forward, the footpaths over the streets below crumbling before it, and Banks called, "I don't think it's stopping! Get your heads down!" The vehicle planted its pedes and lifted its upper half over the building climbing like a child determined to get on top of a footstool, and it changed direction slightly to move around the building ahead as the Sergeant growled, "That thing is really starting to PISS ME OFF! Marines, it's time to kill us a Scarab!"

The Spartans jogged across the rooftop of their building, following the Scarab, moving through something like a warehouse before emerging onto walkways ringing the edges of what appeared to be a canal, and there were weapons lying all over the place. They immediately began picking up extra ammo for all of their weapons as they followed the Scarab through the short stretch of canal. Fortunately for them, their rocket launchers were heat-seeking-enabled, letting them look on to the Elites, Jackals, and Grunts that had emerged from within the Scarab itself to protect it while the humans had the advantage of height. There was some error due to the rise and fall caused by the Scarab's walking, but finally Gray Team was able to jump aboard and dart down the short hall leading to the control center of the Scarab.

There was a squad of SpecOps guarding the pilots, including an Elite Ultra, and as quietly as possible, both Mike and Jai dropped to one knee, bringing their launchers to bear on the split-chinned alien while Adriana prepared to fire on the Grunts taking cover on the other side. Simultaneously, they let fly the three rockets and ducked back into the passage leading up onto the Scarab's back to shelter from the ensuing explosion. The two pilots turned to fight but were easily cut down by the trio of warriors.

Explosions rippled the length of the Scarab, venting blue-white smoke into the already smog-filled skies, the vehicle itself slumping slightly toward the ground, parts hanging loose or falling free entirely. Gray Team emerged from the escaping smoke, padding down one of the ramps on the Scarab's back. Beyond a few buildings, they could see the gravity lift of the carrier fading out as the alien ship prepared for takeoff.

A Pelican settled into hover behind them, and Gay Team turned to face it, seeing Johnson in the cockpit. "That's right, you mothers!" the Sergeant called, "Run!"

"Not if we can help it, Sergeant. Extract the Spartans and return to In Amber Clad," Miranda said over the radio.

"Roger that." Johnson replied as the Pelican turned to admit the remainder of the Spartans into its cargo bay.

Onboard the In Amber Clad, Miranda switched her view screen over to Lord Hood, who barked, "Status!"

"The Prophet is bugging out, sir," she said immediately, "request permission to engage."

"Negative, Commander. I'll vector two heavies for star-side intercept." Lord Hood's tone brooked no argument, but that was before Commander Keyes heard what one of her navigational officers had to say.

"Ma'am, Slipspace rupture off the target' bow; it's going to jump – inside the city!" Indeed, the ship had begun to move forward, visible ripples of light forming before it curved bow.

She hesitated for a split second, brushing her hair out of her face, knowing that Lord Hood had heard, then said, "There's no time, sir!"

The man took only a blink to consider. "Green light," he called, "green light to engage."

"Punch it," Miranda called as Johnson's Pelican docked with the In Amber Clad; the whole ship shuddered as the frigate's engines ignited for pursuit of the Prophet, "get us close."

"Ma'am, without a destination solution-" the nav officer started.

"We are not losing that ship!" Miranda broke in, and In Amber Clad accelerated toward Regret's carrier, flying in and up under a fin-like protrusion at the back of the enemy ship just before it jumped. For the briefest of instants, there was only a slight ripple in space that signaled the exit point of the ship before space exploded, a wave of white light racing out from the Slipspace entry. It washed over everything, and the shockwave sent flying everything that was not solidly anchored: cars, debris… people… The light consumed the whole of New Mombasa, and what was left behind was anyone's guess.

-------------------------------------------

"Hey, Commander."

"Yes?"

"What about the Arbiter and his little soiree thing with the quote-unquote 'heretic'?"

"I'm already way ahead of you…"

**********

I fear who I am becoming,

I feel that I am losing

All beauty within.

I can no longer restrain it,

My strength it is fading.

I have to give in.

- "It's the Fear," Within Temptation (The Silent Force)