Heavy Weapons

1537 Hours, May 23rd, 2543

UNSC Firebase D-11, Gamzigrad, Boljevac

New Zaječar, Paloma

Good Goddamn these things were heavy.

Colin-142 tried to stand as still as he could as the ensemble of technicians that surrounded him worked silently, the only noises being the rhythmic cranking of various wrenches as they bolted the additional metal plates needed for this crazy plan to even work. He stared at the reflective gray of the metal from behind his golden visor, noting how it contrasted with his soothing aqua MJOLNIR armor. He wished there had been time to repaint it, but the lack of time available was exactly why they were doing this in the first place.

The prefab building known as Firebase D-11 was erected with the sole purpose of protecting the civilian evacuations at the local spaceport and Marine Reconnaissance had just reported a huge Covenant armored battalion only a few kilometers away and closing in fast, and with no armored support and limited anti-armor weapons to speak of, it wasn't looking good. Luckily for them, Colin and Doug were passing through the area in an attempt to regroup with the members of Centurion Team and agreed to help, and that's when they wheeled out the goods. Doug elected to take an M510 grenade launcher that he could fire from the pair's Warthog, while Colin decided to go with the... heavier option.

Originally developed for use onboard some kind of experimental infantry exoskeleton, the T261 Arm-Mounted Gatling Gun carried 800 20mm high explosive rounds in just one of its massive magazines and could shred through infantry and vehicles alike, earning its nickname of Lucifer. Even with his impressive strength, it still had to be fired two-handed, lest the recoil threaten to tear his arm off. That wasn't the only "upgrade" currently being bolted onto him as on his shoulder rested the massive M149 Recoilless Rifle, nicknamed the Magellan, with its fifty 105mm shells per mag, it was solely a vehicle killer. And they would need every bit of it. Once the technicians had finished mounting the new gear onto his armor and synching it up with his HUD, the plan was for him to sit in the passenger seat of the Warthog and act as a mobile gun platform, mowing down everything in sight.

-

The plan had worked for a grand total of three minutes before it had all gone to shit. They had approached the armored column, dozens of Wraiths all moving in a line, flanked by Ghosts in formation. The Warthog sped through a gap in the convoy, the two Spartans firing on the alien vehicles as they passed, Doug managing to land a pair of grenades right in one Wraith's rear cooling fan, detonating it a second later. Meanwhile, Colin fired a single, devastating round from the Magellan into the front of a Wraith, the massive round easily passing through the tank's armor before lodging itself deep within the vehicle and exploding, showing the Warthog in flaming purple debris as he spooled up the Lucifer, absolutely chewing through the light armor of the Ghosts and even lighter armor of their operators, splattering fluorescent alien blood across the grass and rocks.

As they came around for another pass, they had to swerve to avoid a plasma shell, lobbed from one of the tanks, only to careen directly into a Fuel Rod shot fired by a lucky Elite, who didn't remain lucky for long as the Warthog tumbled end-over-end, throwing its occupants free from its chassis right before it crushed the poor creature. Colin tried to stand up, but found that he had to physically exert himself to lift his arm up out of the dirt.

''Shit, that's not good. Without the 'Hog, I'm almost a sitting duck out here.''

He shook his head, clearing the stars out of his vision. He might be slowed, but he certainly wasn't defenseless and with a groan, hefted the Lucifer cannon up into firing position, aiming for a trio of Wraiths and let it rip. The gun quickly spooled up and spat out rounds at a blistering fifty rounds a second, the 20mm rounds detonating on impact with the alien armor, literally tearing the tanks to shreds. Almost immediately after, he turned the Magellan on a Ghost that was rapidly speeding towards him, the massive shell vaporizing most of the tiny speeder and the driver with it.

As he mowed down the approaching Covenant forces, he felt something odd. He had been described as a one-man army for years, it came with being a Spartan, but this was different. Never before did he have the ability to obliterate a tank practically by staring at it, or annihilate swarms of soldiers with an artillery piece mounted on his shoulder. It made him feel... powerful, more so than he had ever felt before and oddest of all, it made him feel good. He grinned beneath his helmet as each shot from the Lucifer and Magellan reverberated through him.

''This is what being Death is like. I'm gonna earn that Demon name today.''