Halo: Feet First Into Hell

Chapter two: The Transfer

Three hours after drop

Aztec woke up to the sound of gun fire, shouting, and the undeniably familiar growling of brutes. She jumped up onto her feet. Still sore from the damage she sustained on that rough ride down to Reach, she grabbed at her hip which felt like it could be broken. It wasn't, she knew because she could still move just as easily as before, however, now she had pain pulsating through her body. She rounded the corner and ran into Laylen.
"Aishia, you haven't fully recovered! Get back to the bedding!" Laylen said, trying not to shout and give up their position.
"If I don't help fight, I might not ever get to recover." Aztec protested.
Laylen grunted then moved aside so she could pass him.
"If Cole asks, I put up more of a fight." Laylen said, covering his tracks.
"If Cole asks, that means we survived." She said while running off into the open battle.
She dodged a few projectiles, rolled under a warthog that was ripped in half, and jumped onto the conveniently attached turret. She opened fire.

Obdul came out from behind his cover, upon doing so he saw another human running through the small open field. He opened fire on the meat sack he planned to eat. She ducked under a destroyed human machine. Before he could register what was happening, she had the upper ground and the stronger firepower. Obdul took two rounds to his right thigh and four to his lower abdomen. He dropped behind cover. His femur shattered beyond repair. He couldn't even crawl. He was bleeding out and he couldn't stop it. The young Jiralhanae was going to die.

Petah-B241 jumped over Aztec and the hog entirely, he rolled then hugged the wall to avoid fire from a brute. When the rounds stopped flying, he started toward the direction they came from. The Spartan cornered a brute. The thing was larger than he was. He charged right into it. The brute shrugged him off, picked him up and then slammed him onto the ground.

Talgaba tried to pull away from the demon but realized a knife had punctured his wrist and the demon was not letting go. He threw the human against the wreckage that once cornered him and now the demon was against the wall. Talgaba thrust forward, his spiker rifle extending forward. The armored human barely dodged the blow. The twin blades attached to the gun dove into the wreckage. As he was trying to pull his firearm free the demon threw knee after knee into the Jiralhanae's abdomen. Just as the gun gave and was pulled free, Talgaba felt a sharp pain in his back. The turret behind him had finished him off.

Petah-B241 kneed the brute repetitively in it's stomach. The brute pulled back, rifle in hands, but just as he went to swing another blow at the Spartan he dropped. His back exposed several gun shot wounds. Petah looked up at the girl on the turret, he started towards her so he could provide cover. She threw her hands up but before Petah could register the meaning of it his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a giant hammer being slung at him. He reacted but not fast enough. He got just to where the hammer would graze him. It hurt, but it wasn't the fatal blow he would've received had he not moved as much as he had. Petah was thrown by the hammers force over the body of the brute he'd just helped kill and the wreckage that they fought at.

Aztec opened fire with the turret but it wasn't enough. The brutes shield was too powerful. He began towards her in an aggressive charge. She jumped from the hog's turret just as his hammer made contact. He had no problem moving the weight of the hog. It was like zero-g training. She landed on her back. The brute now standing over her with his hammer in the air ready to fall on her at a moments notice. He hesitated and spoke a tongue she couldn't understand.

"For The Great Journey!" Cried Kra'actus just before putting his full force behind his tool of destruction. Before the hammer hit the ground the massive Jiralhanae was thrown from his feet. He got back up and realized the demon he thought he had disposed of had tackled him seconds before slaughtering his prey. He smiled. The Spartan charged him. Kra'actus threw a punch with his prosthetic arm. The demon ducked, then was back up with a blow to Kra'actus' chin. The chieftain back stepped then reeled around to force the demon into an enclosed space. The Spartan jumped onto the Jiralhanae's shoulders then backflipped off. Landing on top of the wreckage, the Spartan pulled out an M6G Magnum and opened fire. Only a few shots were fired off before the Spartan was tackled from behind by another brute. As the Spartan was getting up, Kra'actus brought his hammer up from underneath him. The bladed edge caught the Spartan's armpit. The limb was severed. The other brute had stumbled out into the snipers line of sight and his occipital bone was completely erased from his body along with a deafening sound from a sniper rifle. The scrambled bits of brain disturbed by the shot fell out of the back of his open head as his body collapsed. Kra'actus grabbed the Spartan by the neck and lifted him up to head level.
"Eye for an eye, Demon." The chieftain said in his native, unfamiliar tongue as he laughed in the Spartan's unconscious face.

Laylen, Caleb, Cole, Aztec, and Dick rushed into the open and held up their firearms. They couldn't fire without risking Petah-B241's life. The brute held the unconscious Spartan closer to him as if he was a meat shield.
"Nagdus, extraction needed." The chieftain said openly. He knew the humans couldn't understand him.

Spartan-B049 had no visual. A chunk of hull had been blocking whatever was going on over there. She had gotten lucky that a brute popped his head out, otherwise he'd still be a threat, but now she was missing all the fun. She waited patiently until she caught glimpse of a phantom.
"Cole, in bound air support."
It was too late though. The phantom was already right on top of them. Flying so low that Kra'actus was able to reach up and grab it. His hammer on his back and the demon in his arm. The phantom began to take off.

Spartan-B049 saw Petah dangling limply from the brutes grasp. Without letting emotion take over she fired a round and it hit the brute's prosthetic arm. Petah fell twenty feet before landing on some jagged wreckage. The phantom continued away and Kra'actus got inside before he could be shot again. Spartan-B049 dropped the rifle and initiated a dead sprint towards Petah's body.

Spartan-B049 dropped to her knees over Petah's body. He was still alive, but no one could determine how much longer that would be the case. A pole from the wreckage had gone through the body suit unprotected by Mjolnir. They couldn't move him. His helmet had rolled a few feet away.
"Petra, you'll have to secure the objective without me." Petah-B241 said. She grabbed his helmet and nodded at him.
"Keep it. Do you guys more good than it will me." Petah said with a chuckle. Everyone gathered around and stood over Petah. No one said anything for sometime until Petah broke the silence.
"Guys, you need to leave Szurdok Ridge. Get going." He explained. Cole agreed, they needed to leave.
"Thank you sir." Cole said to Petah. "You've served well."
"Petah out." Said the dying Spartan, then closed his eyes. He wasn't dead yet. He was just trying to make it easier for the team to leave him behind.
Petra-B049 stood up, handed the helmet to Cole then said "Which way sir?"
"Which way is your objective?" Said Cole, trying not to sound accusatory.
"That's classified sir." She respectfully stated. Cole didn't budge, he just continued to stare into her depthless, matte black visor.
"Teams of two. Dick you're with me. Laylen and Caleb, head up that way. Petra and Aztec, opposite of them. We're scavenging. Find whatever can be useful. Contact through personal COM's only when necessary. Understood?" Cole said. The group said "Sir." As a whole and broke off into their groups.

The phantom docked into a hanger in the Ardent Prayer, a Covenant SDV-Class Heavy Corvette. Upon landing, Kra'actus limped out of the phantom.
"The Shipmaster will see you now." Said Adyap, an Unggoy servant. The smaller creature lead the chieftain to the bridge where he'd confront Shipmaster Ardo 'Moretumee and his inquires about the operation to defend the teleportation spire presumably.
"You requested my presence, shipmaster?" Said the Jiralhanae upon entering the bridge.
"Not requested Kra'actus, demanded." Said Ardo with a hint of hostility spewing between his four mandibles.
"Very well, shipmaster." Said Kra'actus before leaning against a support column expectantly.
"You're being transferred. Get off my ship." Ardo said without looking away from his activities. Kra'actus pushed off of the strut, loosing his temper.
"What have I done?" He shouted towards the Sangheili. The Sangheili turned with incredible speed and drew an energy sword.
"Silence you imbecile; I do not take kindly to those who disturb my bridge. The order was not mine, Rho 'Barutamee has requested it. You can undock your phantom whenever." Ardo placed the swordless hilt back on his magnetic holster and turned back to his observation deck. The chieftain walked out of the bridge and Ardo continued his work.