User:Azecreth/Halo: Riding the Storm

Prologue
Alex Granger was tired. He could feel himself slowing as plasma rounds burst around him, despite the assistance of his Mark III Exoskeleton. He dived behind a nearby boulder as a round sizzled through where his head had been. Ducking out, he layed out suppressive fire at the advancing Progeny troops, who were moving forward with leapfrog tactics. Once again, he found himself wishing that the M9A1 Heavy Battle Tanks would show up already.

Taking cover, he thought back to the earlier events of the week. This was supposed to have been the offensive that secured the border planet of [{Alexandria (SoR)|Alexandria]] from the Progeny invaders, but it had somehow become one of the biggest Charlie Foxtrots of the entire war. Now he was holding this section of the mountain pass with most of his squad dead or missing, and he was going to join them soon if the tanks didn't show up.

Flipping open his jacket, he pulled out his last flashbang grenade, then tossed it over his shoulder. When the grenade went off he turned around, rested his X37 Battle Rifle on the rock in front of him, and fired into the mass of Progeny troops.

The experienced enemy forces quickly recovered and returned fire, but Alex kept firing until the ammunition cartridge ejected from the rifle. Snarling, he threw it aside and pulled out his M2245 Pistol. He fired off a burst, then took cover behind the rock again. Suddenly, a Plasma Shrapnel Grenade soared over his cover and landed in front of him. His eyes widened as he mouthed "Shit."

The grenade exploded as he scrambled to move away form it. His energy shield absorbed some of the blast and deflected some of the shrapnel, but he was peppered with that which doesn't deflected and thrown against the rock, knocking the wind out of him and leaving him dazed. HE reached out for his pistol, the sight of it wavering in his eyes, but it was kicked out of his reach by an Elite in silver armor. The Elite raised his Plasma Beam Sword to deliver a killing shot, and Alex braced himself for the end.

Chapter 1
Shards of Reality Azecreth