Ten: This World's Guardian

In light of the fact that the Covenant already knew Earth's location, Vice Admiral Whitcomb made the executive decision to take the Ascendant Justice-Gettysburg straight to Earth to warn HIGHCOM, and vowed to take full responsibility for any consequences. But upon verifying Cortana's claim, HIGHCOM didn't deal out any punishment, instead scrambling all of them to defend the planet against whatever followed the spectacular destruction of the Hierophant.

(They hoped it wouldn't be much.)

(The Spartans weren't holding their breath.)

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"The plating was about to fail; there's viscosity throughout the gel layer." The master gunnery sergeant picked up a piece from the Spartan's old armor, now disassembled for study. "Optics, totally fried. And let's not even talk about the power supply. You know how expensive this gear is, son?"

Fred picked up his new helmet and put it on, the seal hissing as it engaged. "Tell that to the Covenant."

The sergeant sighed. "Well, it was all obsolete anyway. Your new suit's a Mark VI, just came up from Songnam this morning. Try and take it easy until you get used to the upgrades."

The Spartan ran through the targeting and shield testing and was just about to go through weapons' testing when Sergeant Johnson arrived on the lift. Linda, Sam, and Kelly were with him and remained on the elevator platform, though the sniper lifted a hand in an informal salute, which Fred returned.

The two sergeants exchanged some banter before Johnson asked, "Are you done with my boy here, Master Guns? I don't see any training wheels…"

"His armor's working fine, Johnson, so shut your chili hole." To the Spartan in question, he said, "You're free to go, son. Just remember, take things slow."

"Don't worry, I'll hold his hand."

Fred followed the other man onto the lift and swiped a Spartan smile at the other three. They returned the gesture.

"So, Johnson, when are you gonna tell me how you made it home in one piece?"

"Sorry, Guns. It's classified."

"Huh, my ass! Well you can forget about those adjustments to your A-2 scope…" Anything else the man might have said was lost as the lift started its ascent.

"Well, he's in a particularly fine mood," Johnson sighed, "Maybe Lord Hood didn't give him an invitation."

The elevator slowed to a stop and let them out in an intra-platform transportation station. The monorail was already waiting, and they all stepped onboard. Johnson walked all the way to the other side to look out over the dark curve of the planet below. "Earth," he nearly sighed, "Haven't seen it in years."

The Spartans drifted over while the man spoke about her and her orbital defense grid. Reach had had something similar, but unlike what Johnson said, it hadn't saved her from the Covenant. To be fair, though, it had done some pretty significant damage before going down, but not "nothing's getting past this battle cluster in one piece" damage.

"Ships've been arriving all morning," the man continued as the monorail began to slow, "Nobody's saying much, but I bet something big's about to happen."

The transport halted at a platform, where some Marines waited, cheering, and two naval officers guarded the door to the control center. The group stepped out, and Linda growled at Johnson, "You told us there wouldn't be any cameras."

"And y'all told me you were gonna wear somethin' nice!" he shot back, "Folks need heroes, team, to give 'em hope. So smile, would ya? While we still got somethin' to smile about." He lifted his cap to smooth back his hair, then replaced it.

The doors hissed open to admit them. They marched smartly over to where Lord Hood and now-Real Admiral Keyes were waiting for them. They all saluted, and both officers returned the gesture. "Gentlemen, ladies, we're lucky to have you back," said Hood, before another officer in white stepped over to whisper in his ear. "Go ahead, Cortana."

The AI appeared atop a holopedestal close by. "Another whisper, sir, near Io. We have probes en route."

Hood nodded in acknowledgement. "I apologize, but we're going to have to make this quick."

Cortana turned to look at Johnson and the Spartans. Then she smiled mischievously and said, "You look nice."

"Thanks," said the Spartans. At the same time, Johnson said, "Thank you."

They glared at each other, and Cortana giggled. But she quieted down when Hood presented the Colonial Cross to Johnson. He gave the same to the newly-promoted Rear Admiral Keyes, but before he could get to Blue Team, the AI sounded the alarm. "Slipspace rupture directly off our battle cluster," she said, pulling up the display before Hood even asked, "Fifteen Covenant capital ships holding position just outside the kill zone." She also flipped on the COM so they could hear the incoming message.

"This is Fleet Admiral Harper; we are engaging the enemy."

"Negative, Admiral," Hood responded, "Form a defensive perimeter around the cluster." Since the younger Keyes was also present, he said, "Admiral, Commander, get to your ships, link up with the fleet."

Both of them saluted and sprinted off. Hood turned back to the AI. "You have the MAC gun, Cortana. As soon as they come in range, open up."

"Gladly." Her hologram flickered with a personality spike, then vanished.

"Something's not right," the man continued, almost to himself, "The fleet that destroyed Reach was fifty times this size."

One of the other officers signaled for his attention. "Sir, additional contacts: boarding craft, and lots of 'em!"

"They're going to try and take our MAC guns offline, give their capital ships a straight shot at Earth," he realized. Then he turned to the soldiers. "Spartans, defend this station."

"Yes, sir," Fred replied. To Johnson, he said, "We need weapons."

"Right this way."

They followed Johnson down a flight of stairs and grabbed submachine guns and battle rifles from the wall brackets, loading them automatically as they moved through a short hall to a recreation station. The sergeant quickly set up a stationary turret, then called, "How's it going, Malta?"

"Stand by… They're latched! Check your targets and watch for crossfire. They're in standard formation, little bastards in front, big ones in back. Good luck, Cairo."

Through one of the exterior windows, they saw one of the boarding craft zoom in and "dock" with the station. And the term "dock" was used very loosely; the craft simply drilled a hole through the outer hull and sealed their ship around it. The platform shuddered as they did so.

The Spartans took cover behind portable barricades and leveled their weapons at the blast door. Just in time; there was the unmistakable glow of a cutting torch from the other side. A small eternity later, the door burst open, and aliens swarmed out, firing their plasma weapons. The warriors returned fire and took them down, along with two Elites that jumped down from above. Then they went after the rest of the boarding party.

Some of them hadn't gone far. Two grenades killed the Grunts and drove the Elites from cover. They'd been hiding behind some cargo modules, but now they were in the open and the Spartans - and another stationary turret gunner - didn't let the opportunity slide.

When they were dead, the Spartans continued up the stairs past the turret and into a security station. There were two more turrets in the windows overlooking the commons beyond, and Linda and Sam manned them while Fred and Kelly jumped down into the commons. They split up to drive the aliens into the turrets' line of fire, and when the area was clear, Fred led the way into a Pelican bay, where a handful of Marines were trying to repel another boarding party.

There were grenades on the floor; Kelly scooped one up, primed, and threw it across the room. The plasma grenade stuck to the helmet of one of the Elites and exploded, killing the alien and the Grunts trying to hide behind it. Sam shot the remaining Unggoy, and the Spartans came to the fore to help the Marines stave off wave after wave of additional aliens.

When the last one fell and gave them time to breathe, one of the Marines noticed something beyond the Cairo. "Hey, the Malta's already driven off its boarders."

When the Spartans looked, they saw boarding parties racing away from the station like hell itself was after them. Cortana came over the COM only a second later, and she didn't sound pleased. "Malta, what's your status, over."

"I don't believe it! They're retreating - we won!"

All of the Malta's windows burst at once, right before a bigger explosion ripped the station apart from the inside. Though they grieved for the lives lost, the Spartans still couldn't help but be grateful that none of their siblings had been onboard.

The shockwave reached them then; even through the rarified upper atmosphere, the force was still great enough to rattle the entire station. The Spartans waited until the shaking stopped to fire on the newly arrived aliens, instead hurling grenades into their midst. They died, and the warriors headed back through the way the aliens had come.

In the next bay, the Covenant had set up plasma turrets on a catwalk. Linda dropped to one knee, took aim, and killed the Grunts manning them with one shot a piece. There was another boarding craft here, too, and the Spartans took to dropping grenades below it when waves of troops jumped out, saving them some time and ammo.

"Uh-oh," said one of the Marines, "Hey, they're leaving the Athens."

And then that platform exploded, too.

"Cortana! Assessment!" Hood barked over the COM.

"That explosion came from inside the Athens, same as the Malta. The Covenant must have brought something with them: a bomb. Regret, regret, regret - we will make you regret your trespasses against us, accurséd Prophet!"

Hood ignored her outburst, as most wisely did. "Then they sure as hell brought one here. Spartans, find it."

The team all flashed an acknowledgement and split up to move below, killing the Covenant hiding in the MAC storage area before continuing up towards Master Guns' armory. Through a grating, they heard the man himself shout, "Come on, is that a weapon or a flashlight?!" right before he was killed by two Sangheili.

Blue Team use the cover provided by the recessed stairwell to take revenge; Kelly took down their shields with an overcharged short from her plasma pistol, and Sam and Linda followed it up with three-round bursts from their battle rifles. Then they advanced into another commons area, where another cadre of Grunts and their Sangheili leader moved to engage the Spartans.

Linda took out the gunners on the plasma turrets on the far side of the room, giving them a little space to breath as they fought their way through the habitat, up a flight of stairs, through a security center, and down the other side. There they found a long hall filled with cargo modules, enemies, and allies. "I was almost on board when they showed up," Miranda said by way of an explanation, jerking her head in the direction of the Sangheili blocking the path.

"Don't worry, ma'am; we're on it," Johnson replied, and he moved forward alongside the Spartans. They took aim at different targets, firing almost in sync at the aliens coming at them. The bodies dropped, and Blue Team moved up to cover Keyes while she and Johnson headed for the airlock.

"Thanks, Spartans. I owe you one," Miranda called after them.

Fred waved her off, and the Spartans headed out the airlock that the aliens had come in through. The doors sealed behind them, and the airlock depressurized. The outer doors opened, revealing two surprised Sangheili.

Kelly darted forward, knife already in hand, and though she didn't cut deep enough for an instant kill, the depressurization got to him quickly.

The second activated his jetpack and got out of range, firing at them with his plasma rifles. But keeping them in range of his weapons kept him in range of theirs, and they killed him as well. They kept moving across the exterior of the station, through another airlock and down an elevator to another supply lift. As the lift ascended towards them, a swarm of drones preceded it, which the Spartans gunned down alongside the Marines who joined them.

They killed the Covenant coming up on the lift as well, then descended on it and headed out through another airlock. They were on the MAC gun's recoil arm, rocketing downward as the cannon fired and slowly returning to the previous position, which added a bit more chaos to the already chaotic fight between them and more Sangheili with jetpacks. But they were victorious and managed to pack themselves into the elevator down to the firing center.

"Just so you know, there are quite a few Elites guarding the bomb," Cortana said, "You may need to get creative."

"Quite a few" turned out to be not as many as they expected, though all were red-armored veterans. Sam and Kelly ducked across to the other side of the MAC loading platform so they could do a pincer strike against the Covenant. They weren't completely sure that shooting the bomb wouldn't set it off, so they were careful with their lines of fire. The veterans' Needlers were hell on their shields, but they took the aliens down without dying or the bomb detonating, so they called it a win.

Cortana appeared on the holopedestal next to the bomb. "Me, inside your head, now."

Fred laid a hand over the panel, letting her sort herself into his armor, then moved her over to the bomb, which was whistling with increasing intensity. After half a second, the bomb beeped, and the whistling stopped.

"How much time was left?"

"You don't want to know."

"Cairo, this is In Amber Clad. The carrier's shield is down; I'm in position and ready for immediate assault." It was Commander Keyes; she'd made it to her ship and launched successfully.

"Negative, Commander. Not against a ship that size, not on your own," Admiral Hood replied.

"Sir," Fred interjected, "Permission to leave the station."

"For what purpose, Master Chief."

"To give the Covenant back their bomb."

"...Permission granted."

The other Spartans helped Fred haul the immense explosive device back to the lift and assured him that they would catch a Pelican, join him down at the surface as soon as possible. The door slid closed between them, and Spartan and bomb began to descend to the lowest level of airlocks. "It know what you're thinking, and it's crazy," said Cortana.

"So stay here."

"Unfortunately for us both, I like crazy. But we like crazy more when we're with him."

Fred ignored the personality spike's words - there would be no getting answers out of her anyway - in favor of hauling the bomb out of the lift towards the airlock doors. When it was at least clear of the lift, he let it go in favor of going to the doors to see how the battle was going.

A Seraph raced past close by, chased by two Longswords. Cortana selected a target and put up a NAV point on his HUD, and he nodded in consensus before sprinting back to the airlock controls. They would only have one shot, and he was not about to let this opportunity slip.

"Just one question," the construct said as he prepared to pull the emergency release, "What if you miss?"

"I won't," he returned. Before she could respond, he pulled the handle. The bay depressurized, and he grabbed onto one of the bomb's spikes as it went sliding past, pulled out by the force of the escaping atmosphere. He'd timed it perfectly; the carrier was directly below them as he fell, and a UNSC ship flew precariously close before being crippled by the carrier's plasma weapons. A pair of Longswords dropped in as an advance escort for the Spartan while the UNSC ship's engines sputtered fitfully behind; the two fighters unleashed a small hail of carpet bombs to open it up for the Spartan before swooping away to get out of range.

Fred climbed his way up the bomb and laid his hand over the interface, letting Cortana restart the countdown. When the display started flashing, he knew it was primed, and he pushed off of it, using the forward momentum to glide through the hole the Longswords had made for them.

The Covenant warship exploded in plumes of silver-white flame as gravity pulled them towards Earth.

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There was a heavy clang of metal on metal somewhere overhead, making both Johnson and Miranda look up. "For a brick, he flew pretty good," the former commented, making the latter smile.

"Chief, get inside, gear up. We're taking this fight to the surface."

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In Amber Clad followed the remaining carrier into Earth's atmosphere and held position outside of the city of New Mombasa, out of range of the ship's guns. But the carrier was also out of range of hers, so the Spartans launched in Pelicans toward the city. As they flew, Cortana said, "The message just repeats. Regret, regret, regret."

"Catchy," Commander Keyes replied, "Any idea what it means?"

Johnson promptly broke in. "Dear humanity, we regret being alien bastards. We regret coming to Earth. And we most definitely regret the Corps just blew up our raggedy-ass fleet!"

"Ooh-rah!"

"Regret is a name, Sergeant," Cortana replied, "the name of one of the Covenant's religious leaders, a Prophet. He's on that carrier, and he's calling for help."

That made Blue Team straighten. They remembered what Cortana had said on the Cairo; how had she known it was the Prophet of Regret? Surely he hadn't begun broadcasting for help that quickly?

One of the sniper scout teams hailed for the attention of the Pelicans as they flew by, preparing for insertion. "Immediate, grid Kilo-Two-Three is hot. Recommend mission abort."

"Roger, recon," said the Pelican's pilot, "It's your call, Sarge."

Johnson was silent for a moment, then said, "We're going in. Get tactical, Marines!"

"Blue Team, get aboard that carrier, secure the Prophet of Regret," Lord Hood ordered as the Spartans checked their gear, "This is the only place on Earth the Covenant decided to land, and that Prophet is going to tell us why."

"Thirty seconds out, stand by to - whoa."

An immense, four-legged Covenant machine dominated the skyline, turning on its pedes to face them. Its body was a bright violet, but the gun at its front glowed a livid green as it charged. One of its pedes crushed a car on the highway as it got into position, protective flaps folding away from the muzzle as the power built. It fired a long stream of plasma at the Pelicans, and one took a direct hit, exploding and going down immediately. The Scarab's upper turret fired on the remaining Pelicans, and theirs spun out of control and went skidding across a rooftop before tumbling into a courtyard, knocking everyone out at once.

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"Hey." Cortana played a "tapping on glass" sound. "Wake up. Rise, organics. Fire, foes, awake!"

Fred shook his head to clear it, then pushed himself up to his knees and glanced around. All the Spartans were stirring as well, and most of the Marines had made it, including Johnson. He found his weapons in the wreckage and got to his feet, the rest of Blue Team with him as they headed through a doorway in front of them. They took point of the survivors, and Kelly killed a Grunt in the next room before he could call for help.

They emerged in a courtyard beyond and took cover behind some raised plant beds, peeking over the tops and firing on the Jackals on the far side and the Grunts trying to hide behind wrecked pillars. They fell and let the group keep moving, the Spartans thundering up a set of stairs to the upper level of a mostly intact building. There had been some defenders there prior to their arrival, going by the machine gun turret and abandoned human weapons; no doubt they had been slain by the Elite and Grunts that came to greet them.

They got into position to defend themselves just in time. More Covenant emerged from an alley down the street and began firing on them, but the humans had the advantage of cover and high ground and used both to the fullest. A brave Elite fired on them from a building across the way, but that made him even more of a target for Linda; she also sniped the leader of another troop of aliens that emerged from an alley, sending the Grunts into fits of terror.

Some Jackals were dropped in behind them, following their path into the courtyard. A perfectly thrown grenade killed one pair and toppled a cargo module to kill another pair. Only one was left, and it and the Sangheili squad leader couldn't put up much of a fight against four Spartans and half a dozen Marines. Drones flew over the rooftops and met the same fate as all the others before them. More Jackals followed, along with a drop from a Phantom, but they weren't any more of a match for the humans than the rest.

Then a Pelican arrived. "My girl's a little big for that courtyard, Sergeant, but I see a good LZ on the other side of these buildings. Meet you there, over."

"Copy that," Johnson answered, "Someone get a satchel on the gate."

Blue Team jumped down from building and took cover behind the cargo modules, all guns trained on the gate. They hadn't survived this long by assuming that there wouldn't be hostiles in a combat zone.

Justified; before any of the Marines could even approach the barricade with explosives, the doors shuddered under a metal on metal impact from the other side. There was a second impact, and then the doors burst open on the third, releasing a pair of Hunters into the courtyard.

Fred signaled, and the Spartan team split into two groups of two to deal with them, the Marines providing support where they could. The "rabbits" baited the Hunters into charging, exposing their unarmored backs to the shooters, and when the blue-armored behemoths were dead, the humans headed through the gate that they had so kindly opened for them.

As they walked, Cortana opened a COM channel. "Second squad, this is Cortana. What's your status? Over."

"We're operational, ma'am, barely. Our pilot didn't make it."

"Find a hole, stay put. We'll come to you."

The squad leader confirmed the order and snapped off.

Blue Team took point again and followed the wreckage of the Hunters' passage to a small open area between buildings. A cadre of Jackals was holding it for the Covenant, though not for long; Linda got the Jackal with the beam rifle right between the eyes, letting them continue their advance and eliminate the rest. Once they were down, a Pelican came in to set down some more soldiers.

"Sergeant," Keyes came over the COM, "I need you on that bird."

"Ma'am?"

"My Pelicans are going to start airlifting armor and reinforcements into the city. They'll need an escort that isn't afraid of a little hostile ground fire."

"Understood, I'll keep an eye on them. Blue Team, good luck." Johnson hopped up into the Pelican, and it took off, heading back toward In Amber Clad.

The four warriors and their Marines continued forward and paused at the edge of what looked to be a market now crawling with aliens. There was little cover out in the market itself with tall buildings on most sides; the perfect set up for a sniper alley if ever they saw one. More Jackals with beam rifles were taking cover in the still-glowing hot levels of a building on the far side, probably damaged by the Scarab. Linda took a knee and nailed them all, letting the humans move up to take out the others without fear of snipers.

They hit a snag when more Drones came up over the rooftops; they lost two Marines to plasma fire. But the Spartans and the survivors took them down, too, and split up to go down two parallel alleys. They met up at the other end and slew the enemy squads they found there, and looped around the side of another building to find the hotel where the second squad had taken cover. They fought their way through the Covenant laying siege and met up with the Marines.

"Spartans, glad you could make it!" the squad leader, one Sergeant Stacker, called to them, "Crash site's on the other side of this hotel; Covenant are crawling all over it. Follow me."

The power seemed to have been knocked out; the halls through the hotel were nearly pitch black. The Spartans could still see, however, and followed Stacker through to the other side, where the glow of plasma fire alerted them to the presence of the Covenant. They ducked into the hall alcoves and peered out with grenades in hand.

Two Elites entered the hall from the far end, Grunts trailing after them. They had their plasma rifles in hand but didn't seem fully alert, like they thought they had already eliminated all the resistance in the area.

A fatal mistake. The first grenade stuck to one of the Elites' helmets and blew him apart. The second killed half the Grunts and sent the surviving Sangheili staggering forward into Sam's grip. He snapped its neck, then lifted his assault rifle to fire on the surviving Unggoy.

Once they were out behind the hotel, they saw the Pelican's crash site - and so did a Phantom, apparently, because it dropped its soldiers on a nearby platform before soaring off. The Spartans fought them, too, and two Warthogs sped up just in time to gun down the last few before the Marines hopped out to let the Spartans take over.

They sped off down the beach, Cortana talking over TEAMCOM. "The highest concentration of Covenant troops is directly below the carrier. I don't think they want you to get onboard. That bridge is the most direct route to the city center."

Some bright spark of an alien had set up a small anti-air turret just around the corner. The Spartans didn't have time to actually go through and kill all the aliens, but they did make it a point to fire on them as they passed until they went around a bend. There, there was another anti-air gun set up, this one three Ghosts guarding it, and Sam and Kelly made a greater effort to take them out; if their plasma fire hit the right spot, it would kill the 'Hogs.

The made it through and followed the curve of the beach over a concrete divider - and plunged right into a fight between the UNSC and the Covenant. This time they slowed to help, and eliminated the aliens in the area. As a result, they were able to stock up on ammo, not just for themselves, but also for the LAAGs; the Marines had some extra boxes of ammo, but nothing to use it with.

Something - mostly likely the Scarab - had blown open the side of the highway tunnel, and the Spartans used it to enter the tunnel, leading the way for the Marines who'd followed them after taking control of the unoccupied Ghosts they'd left in their wake. "This tunnel links up with the bridge," Cortana informed them, "It's full of rats, if you know what I mean, but it beats swimming."

They followed the tunnel, weaving around sealed doors and blocked passages, as the AI continued, "I've been analyzing the Covenant tactical chatter."

"Still broadcasting on unencrypted channels?" Linda asked.

"A fair bit of it, though not all. Dumb apes. But more important is this: they're surprised, confused. I don't think they expected us to be here. Not you all and me; all of us. Humanity on Earth. Odd, I know, but it does help explain why they came here with such a small fleet."

"I thought the Covenant knew Earth's location?" Sam said, gunning at Drones that swarmed into the tunnel.

"They do."

"Then what the hell was all that with the Unyielding Hierophant if not an invasion fleet?"

"And that's what makes it all the more intriguing. We'll need to capture Regret if we want the answers to our questions."

The Covenant had moved some road barricades in an attempt to block the path, but the Spartans mowed through the opposition like always.

They seemed to have been keeping pace with the Scarab; it blasted a Warthog through a pre-existing hole in the roof right as they passed by below. They felt the wash of heat even through their armor, and Kelly looked up to see the machine walk over the hole, blocking the smoky sunlight with its bulk.

The sound of an engine came down one of the highway entrance ramps. Both turrets swung around, thumbs hovering over the triggers, but they relaxed without firing when Gray Team came skidding onto the main thoroughfare in a Warthog of their own. Mike was driving, and Jai was in the passenger seat, with Adriana on the turret. All of them snapped off Spartan smiles to each other continued together down the highway, firing at the Covenant they came across, including a convoy of Type-29 Shadows.

"The Covenant must be trying to regroup," Cortana said over TEAMCOM, "Don't let them."

Though the Spartans didn't manage to destroy all of the Shadows, but they did significant damage to most of the convoy by the time they pulled ahead. The two teams continued up through the tunnel and out onto the bridge leading to the city center. There the Spartans dismounted and approached the two surviving Marines posted at the entrance. One of them was on the ground panting, but the other was glaring at the retreating Scarab. "It blew right through us," she told them, "Fifty-cal, rockets, didn't do a thing."

The roar of a Pelican's engines made them look up. It swooped slowly overhead, heavily laden with a Scorpion tank, but its engines were more than equal to the task. It dropped the tank off, and Johnson jumped down from the troop bay. "Where's the rest of your platoon?" the man asked the other Marines.

"Wasted, Sarge," the female Marine answered.

"And we will be too, sir, if we don't get the hell out of here!" The second Marine staggered to his feet and turned to hop into the Pelican.

Johnson grabbed him by the shoulder. "You hit, Marine?"

It was a metaphorical question, but the Marine answered anyway. "N-no, sir."

"Then listen up! Usually the good Lord works in mysterious ways, but not today. This here is sixty-six tons of straight up H-E spewing divine intervention! If God is love, then you can call me Cupid!"

Cortana rolled her eyes with a smile inside Fred's armor.

"What about that Scarab?"

"We've all run the simulations; they're tough, but they ain't invincible. Stick with the Spartans; they'll know what to do."

"Yessir, Sergeant!"

"Thanks for the tank," Cortana said over Fred's speakers, "They never get me anything."

Johnson jumped back into the Pelican and cycled a round into the chain gun mounted there. "Oh, I know what the ladies like."

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Gray Team hooked their Warthog up to the Pelican, then mounted up on the side panels of the tank as the bird flew away. Fred climbed into the Scorpion and started her up, letting the female Marine take over driving the Warthog he'd shared with Kelly. The male Marine piled into the passenger seat; Linda and Sam remained on their Warthog.

Almost immediately, they all encountered resistance from the Covenant holding the bridge. A wave of Ghosts rolled forward, the Sangheili driving them eager for the glory of killing one of the Demons. Fred began launching shells at them the moment they came in range, and Gray Team used targeting rocket launchers if by chance they got too close.

The tank and its escorts wove through the wreckage of vehicles and barricades that the Scarab had left behind, wiping out the Covenant who tried to stop them - like the Wraith at the bridge's summit. Its plasma bombs missed them by a metaphorical mile; the Scorpion may have been barely faster than a walking pace, but it was still faster than the Wraith's bombs could reach them.

The Warthogs raced ahead to harry the Wraith while the Scorpion closed with it. When Fred judged he was close enough, he took aim and put a round straight through the machine, blowing it to pieces. They reached the apex not too long after and started down the other side, and their altitude gave them a spectacular yet saddening view of New Mombasa burning below Regret's carrier.

They swerved to avoid another hole in the road just as a Phantom raced by overhead, firing on them as it went. Not too long after, some Marines who had been hiding on the bridge broke cover and raced to join them, one hopping on the remaining tank panel and the other jumping into Sam and Linda's empty seat.

As they did that, a second Phantom slowed next to the bridge to begin firing at them. Fred put a few shells into its armor, sent it on its way, only to have some Banshees fall in behind. The Chief shot them down even as a third Phantom cruised by, firing a few salvos on its way. 'They're regrouping, just like Cortana said,' Fred thought as he watched them go.

Then he turned the Scorpion's gun on the Ghosts skittering around at the base of the bridge. The slugs nearly pulverized the vehicles and sent them spinning end over end. Then more Banshees came in over the rooftops, and all of them turned their weapons on the fighters before they could start dropping fuel rod rounds on them.

More Ghosts were hovering inside the toll station before the next stretch of tunnel. One avoided the shell that Fred launched at it, but not Mike's rocket, and Adriana got the other. They swept the area twice before Fred turned off the tank - but before they could dismount, a rising hum let them know that something wasn't right.

The engine turned over again just in time. Two Wraiths emerged from the tunnel and started throwing plasma bombs their way, and the Warthogs raced in to give them cover, the LAAGs firing for the reactor covers on the backs of the enemy vehicles. Even though there were two Wraiths, they weren't enough to stop the Spartans and had to turn their backs on someone, who promptly took advantage.

Rather than risk another incident like that, Fred said, "Fuck it," and drove the tank down the tunnel, firing round after round into the Covenant that they came across. The muzzle flash of the tank and the LAAGs played havoc with their vision in the dim light, but they still blew through the opposition, another LRV jolting down another entrance ramp to join their convoy along the way.

At the far end, there was a raised barrier in the road, forcing them all to dismount and continue on foot. The Jackals in their way were clear to see, their shields like beacons in the semidarkness, and the Spartans gunned them and everything else down, then continued through a maintenance access way and up a pipe into another courtyard.

The Scarab was still ahead of them, stamping its way deeper into the city. Fred gritted his teeth; they were always either level with it or behind, never a step ahead. He took his brief burst of frustration out on the Jackal perched on the earthen embankment ringing the courtyard. Then they all headed for the large platform at the center, using it as cover while they got down to the floor.

Sergeant Stacker came back into view at the wheel of a Warthog with a Gauss cannon. "Could use someone on the gun!" he called, and came skidding to a stop next to them.

Kelly and Linda jumped on, passenger seat and gunner turret respectively, and the Warthog took off again. Within a few passes, they took care of the plasma turrets and beam rifles, leaving the Elites for their other siblings as they went ahead to clear the way.

A pair of Ghosts slipped in just as the Warthog went out, and Sam and Fred hijacked these instead of destroying them. They escorted the Marines and remaining Spartans into the next area, where there were more Ghosts waiting, along with a Wraith being targeted by the Gauss Warthog. Gray Team took the Ghosts, and together with the others, they destroyed the Wraith.

Once it was down, they continued escorting the Marines through the city, fighting their way through more Covenant to a city center of sorts, where a handful of Ghosts and three Wraiths were bombarding a skyscraper. "There are a number of Marines trapped in that building," Cortana informed them, "Concentrate fire on the Wraiths; they're the biggest threat."

The Spartans did as she advised, even as another Phantom swooped overhead and dropped off still more Ghosts. It wasn't enough to stop them; they smashed through the Covenant blockade, then dismounted and approached the building they had been attacking.

The doors slid open to admit them when all of them walked up with their Marine platoon. One of the Marines from inside stepped forward to meet them. "Sir! Corporal Perez, A Company! CP's this way. The Lieutenant got hit as soon as we dropped in."

A Pelican dropped off a Scorpion on the road behind them. Several of their Marines took up positions guarding the door, but the Spartans kept moving. 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 heavily guarded flight of stairs. Just as they reached the top, a beam of plasma lanced across the far side of the city center to scythe through the buildings there.

The doors slid open. Sergeant Banks turned to see who had arrived - and blinked, eyebrows climbing toward his hairline. "When I asked for reinforcements, I didn't think they'd send a Spartan, much less seven." The Scarab rounded the corner and caught the man's attention again. "We got trouble."

The Scarab fired its main cannon at the Scorpion and blew it apart in only a few seconds, superheated metal flying dozens of meters.

Somewhere behind them, someone yelped, "See this look? It's terror!"

"Marine, did I give you permission to bitch?!" the sergeant barked at him.

The Scarab walked forward, completely ignoring the other vehicles and people firing at it - and even walking right through an elevated sidewalk in the center of the thoroughfare.

"I don't think it's stopping! Get your heads down!" Banks called, and just in time. The massive machine planted its front pedes on the roof one at a time, then climbed up over them and kept moving. "That thing is really starting to PISS ME OFF! Marines, time to kill us a Scarab!"

The Spartans followed the Scarab on foot, up across the rooftop and through a warehouse before arriving on a series of walkways across a canal. The area seemed to have been abandoned in a hurry; there were weapons and cargo modules scattered across the walkways. They picked up extra ammo - especially the heavy weapons - and ran after the Scarab, rocket launchers locking on to the Covenant soldiers that appeared on its top.

When it reached the end of the canal and tried and failed to climb out, Gray Team was finally able to jump down onto it and get inside. There, there was a squad of SpecOps guarding the pilots. As quietly as possible, all three Spartans brought their launchers to bear on the aliens, then let the rockets fly, moving backwards to better protect themselves from the detonations. The Scarab pilots staggered as well, then turned on the three Spartans, but they fell too.

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

Small explosions rippled the length of the Scarab, and it sagged on its pedes, venting smoke into the already smog-filled skies. Gray Team emerged from within, their shields shimmering but their armor undamaged, and they saluted Blue Team, who returned the gesture.

Over the buildings beyond, they saw the gravity lift into Regret's carrier flicker off, the ship preparing to depart. "That's right you mothers!" Johnson roared over the COM, "Run!"

"Not if we can help it, Sergeant. Extract the Spartans and return to In Amber Clad," Commander Keyes responded.

"Roger that." His Pelican descended and turned to open its troop bay for the Spartans and Marines.

On the bridge of the frigate in question, Miranda switched her vidCOM screen to Lord Hood. "Status!" he barked.

"The Prophet is bugging out, sir; request permission to engage!"

"Negative, Commander. I'll vector two heavies for star-side intercept."

But that was before one of Keyes's nav officers signaled for their attention. "Ma'am, Slipspace rupture off the target's bow; it's going to jump - inside the city!"

He was right. The carrier was pushing forward, ripples of light cascading over its curved hull.

Both officers' eyes widened, then Miranda turned back to Hood. "There's no time, sir!"

"Green light!" the man answered, "Green light to engage!"

At the same moment, Johnson's Pelican docked with the ship. Once she had confirmation of it, Keyes said, "Punch it, get us close!"

The whole ship shuddered as the frigate's engines screamed up to maximum speed. "Ma'am," said the nav officer, hanging on to his station, "without a destination solution-"

"We are not losing that ship!"

In Amber Clad streaked for Regret's carrier - and plunged into its Slipspace portal right before it closed.