The Spartan Effect

A Day in the Sun

    The Spartan was busy trying to reach the officers who had given the order when one such animal blindsided him as it crashed into his side and began trying to tear out his throat. The armored gauntlet was all that it closed its jaw around. Thomas had been thrown to the ground, and his AR had flown out of his hands as he grappled with the beady-eyed animal. It released his arm for another bite at his neck, only for the Spartan to grab its upper and lower jaws and YANK. With a snap and a crunching sound, the beast got kicked away, and the Spartan turned over to reach for his assault rifle. Another varren was upon him as he grabbed his AR and got the butt of the weapon smashed into its skull for the trouble. The beast was only stunned and was given time to recover as a third climbed the armored back of the Spartan after he reached his knees.

     Two turned into three, and by the time the Spartan had clawed the varren off his back, two more lunged for him, and he was surrounded. He caught one by the throat and crushed its windpipe before throwing at another that had been trying to circle him. The other bit into his shoulder, causing his shields to flare up and begin dropping. The Spartan shoved his assault rifle into the offending creature's gut and pulled the trigger quickly, disemboweling it before throwing it off and turning to open fire on the others. The varren had a similar idea as they had charged again, the leader being a dark red color instead of the black and white on the others.

     Before it reached him, a burst from a BR brought down the leader, and several more followed as the ODSTs had managed their own batch of varren and regrouped with the Spartan to assist. 

     "Little close there, huh, captain?" The cheeky response from the sergeant reminded him that he would not have to fight alone and that he would always be more effective with backup. A nod from the spartan told the ODST all he needed to know. He appreciated the assist and would return the favor. 

     "Hostiles caught me trying to flank around. I couldn't get a shot at their officer. We'll have to keep pushing up and run him down." The ammo counter read 26 on his MA37, so he chose to forgo reloading it. The rest of the unit all looked no worse for wear, and the batarians hadn't pushed, so they chose to cover some ground. Moving quickly in an arrowhead formation, the squad covered ground and took the chance to put down the feral varren that came their way.  They pushed further into the Batarian's makeshift base camp and saw the forerunner structure not too far off. 

     They ended any hostiles who got between them and the library without mercy. The batarians kinetic barriers were too weak to be effective against the UNSC's weaponry. When they did struggle against one of the batarians, it was an officer or a tech specialist. They made it a point to interrogate this one and captured him swiftly. While he didn't know how they found the ring, he knew their admiral was desperate to get a hold of it and had taken several teams into the library, thinking it was the command center. Once the officer had spilled his guts, they turned him loose, and he started running. They had stripped him of his arms and armor and planned to look into the Kinetic shielding tech he had once they were back on Eternity. 

     "looks like they set the guns up on a hill around this next bend. They'll know we're coming," The sergeant stated as Thomas eyed the cliff face. They were on a path that would lead them around and under an archway. The spartan ordered the Group to a halt and studied the cliff face next to them. 

     "Then we'll have to get the drop on them. Start climbing." With that, he holstered his AR and began making handholds with his fists and climbing the sheer face of the wall. After a few seconds, the ODSTs followed behind him, some using his handholds and others finding their way up the jagged rock face. The top of the cliff had a clear view of the space the Batarians had set their AA up. Three guns had been set up, dual-barreled heavy machine guns on gimbals to track air targets. It was not cannons as they had thought, but still a decent threat with concentrated fire. A line of barricades had been set up to prevent anyone from advancing around the bend, and several Batarians stood guard. The far side of this position showed they had set up a bridge to cross the chasm between here and the Library. They hadn't advanced across for some reason, but the Spartan wasn't one to give them the chance. It's better to strike while the iron is hot.