Red Letter Days/Chapter Seven

Previous Chapter: Chapter 6: Holding the Breach

Chapter Seven: Planet Fall


 * ''Epsilon Indi System
 * UN Colony: Second Base
 * Pvt. 1st class Leonard Schaeffer
 * Retreating to UNSC rally point''

The constant jolts and shaking kept Schaeffer from enjoying his short nap, so did the adrenaline still pumping through his veins and the constant image of the piles of civilians dead in the lot, the memory still fresh on his brain. Graphic images were not new, Monroe dying had occasionally flickered up when he closed his eyes, the bullet slicing through his neck and nearly taking off his head. On top of that, the memory of them holding out against the rebels in the bank liked to push its way to the front of his brain. Marines being torn to shreds, people screaming and crying and praying...

Sighing, Schaeffer rolled his shoulders and once again tried to fall asleep. In the heat of battle, in the midst of war, when the adrenaline pumps through your veins and you don't know whether moving an inch will take your arm or save your life, details get lost. You glaze over them because if you stop to wonder or begin to think about it, you die, and you forget. Schaeffer had hardly noticed the bodies, piled practically on top of each other. Civilians, man, woman and child, covering the ground between doorway and pelican. Schaeffer had glazed over this and jumped over the bodies, the only thought about them being that they had bought him a spot on a pelican.

As Schaeffer sat there, he smelt burnt flesh wafting to his nose, heard the moans and cries of the dying and saw the sizzling and bubbling as the plasma burned through the skin and melted the fat. The blackened bones and the glazed over eyes, arms holding luggage or loved ones, some still squirming and groaning, despite the smoke rising from them and the stench of decay already rising into the air. Schaeffer only remembered it now, and he remembered it as if he was there, and it scared him.

Finally, his eyelids started to shut and the images of the bodies were kind enough not to resurface. He had stayed up, the morning he came to Second Base, what felt like years ago had only been less than four hours or so. He had been tired when he got to the planet, having stayed up reading some stupid book. He felt himself fall into the sweet escape of sleep.

"I see the rally point now, ETA is fifteen seconds." Schaeffer didn't curse, he didn't feel angry, he just felt empty. He slowly opened his eyes and stared at the black pair of boots in front of him, he wanted to go home. He wanted to sleep. He wanted to die. The boots moved forward, the bay of the pelican blinking a brighter red. There was a shaking, someone called his name, the light turned off and another, darker one, filled the area. He smelt rain.

The smell of decay and death, burnt flesh, all mixed with the wet ground. People crying in pain, a child clutching a mothers hand, both of their heads fried practically to ash. Crying and screaming and hell, it was hell, the world was hell, he was in hell, he was going to die in hell-

"Schaeffer!" Someone shouted, a hand shaking him away from his thoughts. He blinked twice, everybody was staring at him and everyone besides the lieutenant was standing. Most of them were gathered around him. His head shot around the bay, a frown creasing his face. The smell was gone, so were the sounds.

"Sorry..." he said, slowly getting to his feet. He helped Meyers to hers and with the other ODST, walked her out of the pelican, behind fifteen or so marines. McBee kept glancing over with a worried look in his face, though everyone seemed to have forgotten about him already. Her arm lay on his shoulders, and Schaeffer grinded his teeth as he handled most of her weight. Her armor dragging him into the dirt. She walked at a limp, her foot twisted at the ankle. The biofoam was beginning to wear off already, and he felt a light prickly sensation in his wounded shoulder.

Three other ODST's ran up and took Meyer's off his hands. She smiled her thanks but the others dragged her off before she could say anything to Schaeffer. When he stood there, he realized he was alone.

The marines had all scattered, saying hello to friends who they didn't see to the hospital or ones they thought hadn't made it in their retreat. Civilians were being herded into groups for reasons that Schaeffer couldn't care less about.

The rally point was ramshackle, they had been dropped into the loading dock of some sort of factory building on the south side of town. The war hadn't reached the area yet, and he heard constant gunfire and explosions from just about everywhere else. Marines watched over the LZ from the various platforms around the loading docks, and the docks were swarmed with the confused evacuees. Pelicans were landing from all over the city, so were Hornets. Night had also began to fall, the the last hints of the sun, a reddish hue in the sky, were slowly being replaced by the thousands of lights of the city.

The rest of the company had been lost in the crowds, and the ODST's had dragged Meyer's away somewhere. Sighing, Schaeffer went to shoulder his rifle when he realized it was somewhere at the hospital. He stared forward for a moment, wondering what he would do before he heard a Hornet begin to land directly overhead, he stumbled out of the way as it touched down.

The lieutenant and the captain hopped off, along with Sergeant Gaffer and another marine that he didn't know. A second Hornet followed soon after, and a few others from first platoon slid off the seats. Schaeffer was pleasantly surprised, he had figured they were all dead at the hospital. He raised a hand to get them to notice him, but Gaffer just sneered and shoved past, walking to the closest building which seemed to have been repurposed as some sort of forward base. The lieutenant glanced around and walked up to him, the captain following Gaffer.

"Private Schaeffer, pleasant to see you're still alive." Schaeffer told him the same, rubbing the back of his neck. After a moment, he asked what what had been on his mind, giving up on finding a soft way to put it.

"Where the hell were you?" He realized that he had put too much spite in his voice and the lieutenant's eyes darkened considerably.

"My men decided to break and run and I was stranded in the front of the hospital. I had to fight my way out of a side door and through the streets until some pilots took pity. Even then, I had to leave behind a team of men." Schaeffer went a bit more pale than he normally did, if so was possible. He stared at the lieutenant for a second before looking down at his feet, unsure of what else to do. The lieutenant shook his head and seemed to forget about the incident.

"What happened in the back? I doubt command can tell us anything you don't know." Schaeffer glanced back up and then around, wishing he was fighting the Covenant instead of talking to the lieutenant, the man's dark brown eyes seeming to size him up with every bit of movement.

"We... there was this huge... you saw. We broke off to the back lot, get everyone out... get ourselves out. When we got there, all the highers were dead and gone... besides McBee. We got him to take charge and he had me organize our defenses and stuff..." Schaeffer trailed off, the lieutenant kept staring at him with those blank and emotionless eyes. He rolled his wrist, indicating for Schaeffer to continue.

"Sir... there were at least a hundred civilians still there and only two pelicans..." he took a breath, about to mention the massacre when Gaffer came strolling right back out of the command post, he ignored Schaeffer and instead faced the lieutenant, who shot a worried look at Schaeffer before turning to his XO.

"Sir, command wants eight men to aid in the evacuation." The lieutenant raised an eyebrow.

"Evacuation?"

"Yes sir, the civilians are all being taken out of here. Command gave up on flying civilians into anti air and we are going by ground instead. Covenant have the whole city surrounded, so we are going by the old tunnels." The lieutenant glanced at the end of the dock where the civilians were being herded into whatever transport was available, Schaeffer followed the gaze. Meat for the meat grinder.

"And they are driving us through the tunnel and to...?" Gaffer only had a shrug for that.

"No idea, sir. But our benevolent commander wants us out in the hour, Major Sorelsky is going to be leading us." The lieutenant sighed and then shook his head.

"Sorelsky is only going to steer this convoy into a brick wall. Figuratively and literally, knowing him. What about Major O'Neil?" Gaffer thought for a moment before shaking his own head, a sour look on his face. Though Schaeffer could swear he always had it.

"O'Neil is fucking around in the government sector. He is leading some men to take back city hall and disarm the bomb before it blows this hole.” The lieutenant was silent, thinking.

"Command wants eight men for evac duty? Schaeffer, you're good with evacuations. You're volunteered." Schaeffer's eyes lit up and he tried to say no but realized the lieutenant had already forgotten him. "I want Reznikov, Greene, Omerta, Batteh, Carriol, Matterson and Blater there too." Gaffer frowned.

"Blaters been out of action since the warthog crushed him this morning. And Omerta disappeared in the hospital, shifty little shit probably deserted." The lieutenant frowned but then nodded, remembering the dead and missing. Schaeffer wondered if the man hadn't cared enough to remember.

"Get Monday and Kelano on it. They're one man teams right now." Gaffer saluted and called out to a nearby marine, the woman walked over and Gaffer gave her the names, before sending her off to find them. He looked over to Schaeffer and nodded towards the command post, distaste in his eyes.

"Move it, what the fuck are you waiting for?" Schaeffer suppressed a sigh and walked inside. Evacuation duty couldn't be that bad. What would he do? Tell people to get into cars? He walked inside and waited in the room, some glass on the other side showed him a view of a large warehouse, about forty feet into the ground and filled with crates. A door close by led to a catwalk and he saw marines in various states of dress walking across it. In the room, some sort of control room once, marines and police officers walked around, exchanging reports and viewing the bulky mobile computers that the UNSC issued to battalions

He waited for ten minutes or so before the marines all filed in, Red and Hooch waved but Schaeffer ignored them. After a few more minutes, some captain from some company he didn't know about greeted them and gave them his name. Schaeffer forgot it as soon as he heard but Captain Whatshisname told them to follow him and walked right back out of the command post. The marines all moved as reluctantly as they could manage.

The captain walked them towards another building, through the halls, through a large garage and then up some stairs, all the way to the roof. When they made it to the fifth floor, Schaeffer decided he would never climb a stair again when he was done with the corps and stumbled after the captain. His feet were aching and his mind was begging him to stop moving.

The captain nodded to a marine leaning against a wall next to a shut door. The man glanced at them all and then clicked a button on a keypad, the door quickly sliding up. The eight marines found themselves on a flat rooftop, nestled amongst the other buildings in the industrial park. On the roof, four Hornets hovered, their propellers beating lightly and raising the vehicles around a foot or so off the ground. Schaeffer's heart sunk. He wasn't going to be shoving civilians into cars.

"Right. The convoy is moving out in half of an hour on the dot. You boys are going to be providing air support with some good old DMRs. You'll pick off any hostiles you can, and then fly off to Fort Darkat." He referenced the base Schaeffer had came to the planet on, Schaeffer shook his head at the memory.

"Two men a Hornet, we got rifles and their ammunition in that crate over there." He lazily pointed to a box which had been pushed to the side of the Hornets. Schaeffer glanced around and then slowly raised his hand.

"Can I not do this?" He asked, Kelano snorted, the captain frowned.

"I asked for volunteers. You all volunteered. Was your choice, don't start whining about it because you remembered your fear of heights, kid." Schaeffer was about to tell him that he was in fact not a volunteer, when the man turned around and walked towards the vehicles. The Hornet's pilots worked at the controls in the cockpits, ignoring the marines. The captain slapped the side of the closest Hornet, the pilot glared daggers into the back of the mans head.

The captain leaned over and clutched a bunch of straps and cords. "Right, these straps should be easy enough to get on. Just push your legs through these holes, do the buckle over again with the straps, tug until your balls pop..." he noticed Kelano, the only female in the group. He lowered the brim of cap like some sort of gay cowboy, “sorry ma'am, didn't notice you."

Red hardly suppressed a laugh and the captain continued on. "It also has arm straps here so that you don't just spill out, you will loop the strap of your rifle into those so that you don't drop it in the flight. The harness is connected to the Hornet by this chord..." he gripped the rope and shook it, "nothing short of a bullet will cut through this thing. Should give you some wiggle room and keep you from toppling out. Any questions?" No one said a word. The captain happily clapped his hands.

"Right, two men per Hornet, get some of those rifles and some clips and then get harnessed. Convoy is leaving in twenty. Oh, and there are some earplugs by the rifles, along with night vision goggles, get those on." They all glanced around before walking towards the crates. Schaeffer pulled one of the weapons from the crate and tested the weight, they learned how to use the rifles in boot, though he was still used to his assault rifle. He then found the ear plugs, which was less plug and more radio and pushed them into his ears, wincing at how uncomfortable they were. After some more searching, Schaeffer found the goggles, they were built to fit on the mount at the top of his helmet and Schaeffer clicked it in easily enough. Red called out to him from the Hornet in the back and sighing, Schaeffer walked over.

The Slavic marine asked Schaeffer to buckle him in, and cursed in some harsh sounding language when Schaeffer pulled the straps as tight as he could. Schaeffer didn't have to know his language to understand it was directed at him. When he was finished, Red unbuckled one side of the DMD’s strap, looped it through his arm harness, reconnected the strap and then gripped it in his hands. Smiling nervously.

Schaeffer walked to the other side and sat down on the metal flank. He felt nervous already, though the beating of his heart began to slow as he buckled himself in. After several minutes of screwing around, he managed to get the harness as tight as it would go and the rifle strap through the arm strap. He was as ready as he would be and the hornet hovered a bit more now that the marines were on, Schaeffer saw the point of a barrel sticking out from under the nose and a heavy machine gun and a missile pod were mounted on the wing behind him. Definitely not police hornets, he thanked god for the plugs.

Another minute and they were being lifted from the rooftop, the captain shouting for the pilots to get a move on before saluting to the marines, Rat flipped him the bird in response. Lights flickered inside the cockpit and the last reds of the sky had gone, replaced by darkness, meanwhile, the rain was the hardest it had been all day. He felt it freezing when it slapped against his skin and he raised his balaclava. It didn't help much, already having been soaked.

The hornets got higher and higher and the view took Schaeffer's breath away. Night had descended and the lights of the city had still come on automatically thanks to the cities AI. The lights sparkled and twitched in the night and red light was washed over tons of buildings as fires spread across the city. Plasma flew into the sky, blue and green light following it where it went like some sort of light show. Tracers did as well, and he saw the blinking of lights on pelicans and hornets. An explosion in the distance painted everything around it orange, and a whole area of the city went black as a skyscraper collapsed. Not too far away, the orbital elevators lights twinkled. Fires were lacing up the side of it and Schaeffer could see explosions around the edge. Some marines must have been holding off from the inside. They're doomed... he thought to himself solemnly

The hornet rotated a bit and followed the others, lowering again so it was hovering over the loading dock. Schaeffer's heart was pounding, he had never flew on the outside of the vehicle and he never exactly wanted to either. The view wasn't worth the cold and the fear. Down below in the land of the walking, tons of headlights were flicked on, stretching out beyond the buildings. Schaeffer lowered the goggles until they hugged his eyes, and with the flick of a switch his vision was bathed in green.

The convoy really was huge, the hornet raising again and hovering over the street most of the convoy had stretched into. There were three scorpions at the front and two in the back, nearly twenty transport hogs sat, along with ten or so with turrets. Among them, large trucks and civilian cars waited, filled to the brim with people. Despite the number of cars, columns of marines still had to move to either side of it the convoy, to save space or to offer more defense Schaeffer didn't know. As the hornets hovered in position, the front scorpion honked its horn and the treads began to turn, Schaeffer glanced around in the green light, looking for contacts.

The area seemed clear however and the vehicles all began moving, slowly. Schaeffer wondered who thought this was a good idea, it would be safer if the cars just sped down the road and into the tunnels, not if they slowly went by with some scorpions. Whatever protection the scorpions provided was useless when they were going to get slammed by all the explosives the Covenant could muster. They wouldn't even have to aim to kill thirty men.

The Hornets hovered some more, Schaeffer could vaguely hear the whishing of their rotor, though he could have been imagining it. The radio was silent besides the occasional report or the major handing out orders. The convoy moved on for almost half an hour when Schaeffer began to doze off.

His eyes shot up when he heard a crack and the sound of plasma being discharged. His radio suddenly exploding with reports of contact. The Hornet spun him towards the direction of the ambush and he saw blindingly bright plasma flying at the Warthogs, who had began firing in response.

Schaeffer raised the rifle and aimed, he could see Squats running around behind windows, a Squid directing them. He held his breath for a moment and squeezed, the rifle immediately kicking into his shoulder. The bullet flew out and slammed into the frame of one of the windows, he waiting for a second and then fired again, a Squat dropping. One of the Hornets spun around, lowered and opened up with its three machine guns, the side of the building exploding into dust as the bullets tore through the concrete and brick. The Covenant were ripped to shreds.

When the enemy didn't return fire, the lead Scorpion once again began moving at an order from Major Sorelsky. Dust kicked up as the hundred vehicles moved, the hornet twisted and spun before righting itself and moving over the convoy. Schaeffer wanted to puke. They went on in silence for a bit.

"Uh, pilot. I see something." Red said, nervousness creeping into his voice, after he received no reply he continued on. "Big vehicles, moving around the plaza to the northeast. I think they are some sort of mortars." As soon as he finished, the pilot's voice came over the convoy radio, she seemed tired and bored.

"Viper Two to Champion Actual, we have hostile mortars setting up at Tillman's Square to the northeast. I see about three." There was silence for a minute and then Sorelsky came over the radio.

"Viper Two and Viper Three, divert course and take out the mortars. Over."

"Copy Champion, moving on the attack." The hornet broke off and flew to the northwest, another one following close behind. Schaeffer gulped and shook his head, he was amazed he had landed that shot, his movement sluggish from his shortly lived rest... or lack thereof. He felt hot and stuffy under his uniform, though his face was numb from the cold. He was thankful for the night vision goggles, the tools helping block his eyes from the whipping downpour.

They were deeper into the city now and a constant sound of explosions and gunfire was coming to his ears, muffled by the plugs. The sounds set his nerves on edge, screaming and plasma putting his mind back at the hospital evacuation. He wondered how many of those civilians were down in the convoy behind them, and how many had family that were dead because he didn't hold off the Covenant long enough.

The hornet spun again and Schaeffer saw an old plaza, a small park in the center, the fences flattened by something or another. A Scorpion sat to a side, blasted nearly in half by plasma. Broken fortifications, bodies which were just as broken if not more so, littered the ground at where the road met the plaza or in the entrances of buildings and alleys. There were large purple... radio towers, if he ever saw them. Two antennae sprouting out of a purple base, close by those, green barrel like items sat, around four feet tall.

They gave the rest of the plaza a glow and Schaeffer could see Squats, Squids and Jackals running around in the glow. Among them, large bulky tank like objects were floating a foot or so off the ground, bulbous and purple. Some type of mortar on top fired huge blue balls of plasma at their targets. When the infantry heard the chopping of the Hornet's rotors, they looked up and opened fire into the darkness. The hornet swung to a side and avoided the plasma as the other one lined up. After a moment of dodging and steadying, they both unleashed a salvo of rockets. Schaeffer's ears let out a sharp ping afterward, despite his plugs.

The Covenant position exploded as the rockets impacted, plasma soaring up from the wrecks of the mortars when they were hit, detonating into blue energy, the infantry were torn to shreds, and the green barrels exploded as well. The facade of a building on one side of the plaza crumbled and fell over, dust flying up as the bricks shattered on the concrete and slid into the huge craters. Schaeffer spotted figures running off into the distance and fired at their backs. One of the retreating Squats fell over and tried to crawl. Schaeffer didn't bother finishing it off.

"This is Viper Two, fire mission is complete. All hostiles dead, returning to formation." There was static in response, Schaeffer saw tracers lighting up the sky in the street where the convoy would be. The Hornets began to fly faster. "This is Viper Two, this is Viper Two. Where are you Champi-"

"For Christ's sake Viper, where the hell are you? The convoy is getting pounded and you're screwing around! Move!" The pilot began to sigh over the radio before turning it off, Schaeffer gripped the side of the flank with one hand as they sped along.

When they got there, the convoy was a mess. Four vehicles in the front had slammed into each other and the Scorpion, marines were scattered all along the cars and firing at something or another, the small Covenant scout vehicles from the hospital were circling and avoiding the marines fire, raining plasma on the convoy. Covenant infantry fired from several different windows, and were advancing down the road ahead. Schaeffer could see the entrance to the tunnels in the distance.

The hornet lowered and opened up with her guns on one of the buildings, tearing it apart as had happened previously. Schaeffer fired inside for good measure, though he was sure that he had little effect. As their Hornet stopped firing, another one of the Hornets zipped by and Schaeffer could see a marine he didn't recognize firing down with his DMR.

Two of the Scouts exploded as a Hornet flew by, unloading a payload of rockets. He heard a shout on the radio and more Covenant came pouring out of a park close to the middle of the convoy. He raised his rifle and spotted a Squid's shield pop, before the beast hopped back into cover. It hadn't thought of the Hornets however, and two shots later and it was on the ground. Another Hornet whizzed by yet again, firing its guns and ripping apart the Covenant's cover, the aliens continued to charge.

"This is Slumdog! I got bandits all over my tail, shit!" A Hornet flew low and twisted and turned, two of the Banshees on its tail, their own Hornet flew over in response.

"I read you Viper Four, moving in to assist." The Hornet sped up yet again, chasing the closest Banshee. The vehicles were raining plasma on the Hornet ahead of them and the marines on board were trying to keep them at bay with their rifles. When their own pilot was satisfied, she let loose on the machine guns and the Banshee in front of them exploded, torn to pieces by the gun. The other one banked away and their Hornet twisted to follow it.

The Banshee had a good pilot, weaving in and out of the many streets, through factory lots and over parks. Viper Two was better however, keeping tight on the hostiles trail, for all the good it did, Schaeffer fired at the enemy vehicle whenever he had a chance, though the effect was minimal. Even when he did get a shot off, they were flying far too fast and the rain was slamming into his face so hard that it felt like they were throwing pebbles at him.

The Hornet blasted off with her guns and the Banshee barely manage to evade the full blast. The wing wasn't so lucky and the vehicle shuddered before spinning out of control before smashing into the third floor of an old factory. The windows exploded outward in blue and purple plasma, putting an end to the Banshee. He heard Red cheering from the other side, but was cut off when the Hornet made a sharp turn and sped back towards the convoy. Less plasma and more tracers were filling the sky, so that was probably a good sign.

The convoy had managed to begin moving again, and the Scorpions and Warthogs tore up the surrounding city as they moved, almost every building seemed to have plasma flying out of the windows. On the ground, the rain was at flood conditions and water poured down the slightly sloped road and towards the tunnel, steam flew up where plasma hit. Covenant transports landed on top of buildings and back streets, or in front of the convoy. The alien infantry attempting to grind the convoy to a halt yet again, the convoy moved around any lost vehicles and kept going. Not bothering to save those who crashed.

Schaeffer glanced behind him and saw Covenant vehicles moving in after the convoy, sleek and purple with a turret poking out the top. Schaeffer decided to call them Specters as he raised his rifle and fired at the gunners, the Hornet spun around and fired a salvo of rockets, destroying two of them which were quickly replaced by three more.

"I can see the fucking entrance! GO GO GO!" Someone screamed into the radio, Schaeffer prayed they would be leaving soon. Covenant were swarming out of buildings, latching on to vehicles as they sped by. Some of them managed to get holds, some were splattered on the side of the road, some simply fired as they went by. Schaeffer spotted a Squid land on the shield of a Warthog and claw his way up, grabbing the gunner by the shoulders and throwing him off like a toy before stomping his foot down on the drivers head. In the head of the formation, one of the Scorpions had seven or so Squats banging on the hull.

A building crumbled and collapsed as a Scorpion fired into it, the rubble smashing against the road. The Scorpions piled on through however, bee lining for the large entrances of the tunnels out of the city. Schaeffer could see emergency lights all along the tunnel and the shattered remains of some Warthogs and Scorpions, along with police barricades and sandbag walls. The convoy tore through all of them as they approached, speeding out of the area.

"This is Viper Actual, the Scorpions are almost at the tunnel. Bug out to the rendezvous, move!" Schaeffer kept firing at the aliens as they sped past, the pilot speeding up in order to get out of the area as soon as possible. Plasma was flying up at them now, the convoy was beginning to enter the tunnel.

A trio of Banshees came up behind them, screeching as they did so. They slowly overcame the Hornets and began firing off their plasma cannons, Schaeffer fired a shot of his DMR before raising his arms over his head and cowering in fear. He heard the plasma hit the Hornet, the screeching of metal.

"Oh fuck me, I'm hit. I'm hit, I don't think I can hold her!" The pilot's voice wasn't louder than the others screaming into the radio, but Schaeffer heard it clearly above every other. Another barrage of fire and the Hornet shook, Schaeffer looked up and saw the rotor was melted away, only two of the four blades still attached. The Hornet sway slightly and then there was a pop, the vehicle began to spin.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no no no no." He said, the ground getting closer and closer. The pilot steered them towards the tunnel, the last of the convoy moving inside, followed by the sprinting marines. Schaeffer's ear buds tore out of his head as they spun, the swirling green in his goggles making him want to throw up. He dragged down his balaclava and did exactly that as the pilot shouted that she was going to hit the ground.

A voice in the radio shouted that the blast doors were going to be shut soon, the last marines running inside the tunnels and hoping to block off the Covenant. The Hornet continued to spin towards it, Schaeffer prayed. He prayed and prayed but could only think of the bodies piled at the lot. When he looked up, the cockpit was bathed in red from the warning lights and smoke was billowing from the back of the twisted metal. The vehicle slammed into the side of a building and embedded itself in the wall. Schaeffer screamed the whole way.

A moment later and he opened his eyes. The Hornet had stuck itself and he was dangling half a story from the ground. He heard a scratching noise and Red slid out from the back of the Hornet before landing on the sidewalk with an oomph. The pilot crawled from her broken cockpit and did the same. They were a hundred feet from the doors.

Schaeffer found his dagger and sliced through the cord connecting him to the hornet, he yelped as he hit the ground a second later, landing on top of his rifle with the harness still tied around him. Red and the pilot had already taken off and Schaeffer found his feet and followed, tearing off his ruined goggles. The doors were slowly closing now and Schaeffer begged god to not let him be locked out with the Covenant.

Marines had set up behind the closing doors and were firing at the approaching Covenant, their forms lit up by their muzzle flashes as they took cover with the moving door. The pilot screamed as plasma flew out and caught her in the back, Schaeffer hopped over her squirming body and ignored her cries for help. The doors were almost closed...

The air left his lungs as he tripped and fell inside the tunnel, the lights of the city being blocked out as the door sealed. He looked up, trying to catch his breath and only saw the deep reds of the emergency lights. The marines tried to help him up.

Next Chapter: Chapter 8: Tactical Retreat