Halo 2: Shadowed pasts and Ancient Runes

Chapter 13: Highway to Hell
Planet Earth: October 17, 2552
1600 hours

The Chief groggily opened his eyes to see a group of Marines standing over him. He brought a gloved hand to his helmet and checked his surroundings. It was dark, no light save for the fire in the elevator and the flashlights of the troops in the large space. He turned his to see Nathan, sitting up with something in his hands. He had his helmet off and a light smile on his face.

This was the first time the Chief had seen his full face. It was young and youthful, free of scarring and blemishes. He saw the man holding a small photo in his hand, he couldn't tell of who though. His thoughts were cut off as one of the Marines leaned in uncomfortably close and smiled. "Hey! The Chiefs waking up!" He said enthusiastically. John sat up and Nathan quickly slid the picture in his hands back into his helmet, placing it on quickly.

"Welcome back, Chief. How'd you sleep?" Nathan asked, holding out his hand. John took it and smiled.

"Fine. Status?" He asked, getting right down to business. Nathan looked back at the troops and then back to John.

"These guys were trapped down here when the invasion of Crows Nest began. Plenty of wounded also. We have a stack of weapons over there." He gestured to a rack with a few AR's on it then turned back around. "The Commander contacted me. We need to get to Voi ASAP, stop whatever the Covenant is doing in the dig site."

John was happy to finally have a true mission now. It had been nothing but hit and run since the jungle. But, with a clear direction on where he had to go, he could function at 110% and get the job done right.

"Settle down, Marines!" A Sergeant from the other side of the elevator shaft yelled. "Somebody hit the emergency power!" He ordered. One of the groggy Marines stood and nodded.

"On it, Sergeant." He said, making his way over to the power box.

"Anyone from Charlie 2? We got separated." Another soldier asked. The others shook their heads and looked around. Another Marine joined in as well.

"Nah, Alpha 6. They're all gone, too." He said sadly. The Sergent came through the door and waved the soldiers forward.

"If you can walk, put your boots on the line."

All the Marines who could walk and fight, as well as John and Nathan, entered the garage on the other side. One of them walked over to the Sergent and rubbed his chin.

"What's our situation, Sergeant?" he asked. The other troops milled around to get their orders as well. Their superior put his hands behind his back and frowned.

"Not sure, can't reach the Commander. Too far underground. Lets mount up, get the hell out of these caves." He said, walking over to the door.

"YES, SIR!" The troops bellowed, running for the Warthogs off to the side.

"Shotgun!" Nathan and a Marine yelled at the same time. They both stared at each other, then did rock, paper scissors. Nathan lost.

"Fuck! I never get shotgun! Fine, gunner!" He yelled. No one protested this time and he mounted the heavy turret. The Chief jumped into the drivers seat as the last of the Marines jumped in the Passenger Hog to the left.

"Lets hope you drive as good as you fight." Nathan joked. The Chief smirked and gunned it out the door. Nathan will soon learn that, John wasn't a legend for nothing.

"Twilight! They've breached the hanger! You need to get out, now!" Cam yelled through the mic. The Brutes had come back with a pretty good fleet. The Arbiter left a few ships behind to deal with them, and it was working for now, but a few Corvettes slipped through and dropped troops on the battlefield.

"How are the Princess'?!" She asked hastily. "Are they alright?" Cam came back again, this time accompanied by gunfire.

"We got them all to the bunkers! Now hurry! Your brother should be there with Bill to escort you out!" More gunfire was heard, followed by an explosion.

"How are my friends doing?" She asked again. Cam sighed, but kept the conversation going.

"Applejack and Pinkie Pie are evacuating Ponyville, Fluttershy is tending to the wounded in Canterlot with me, and I also have Rainbow Dash here, too. Now, hurry! Get back into the city and get to the bunkers!"

He clicked his mic off and Twilight turned to Almya who was sitting Indian style on the table. "So what now, Twilight?" She asked. Twilight finished dumping her files and looked to Almya.

"We're getting out of here. Now come on." She said, ejecting her holographic friends chip from the panel. She slid it in her saddle bag and ran out the door to run head long into Shining armor and Bill.

"Twilly! You're okay!" He yelled, hugging his sister tight. She gasped when she saw the state of his armor. It had plasma burns and holes scattered across it, and his leg had a large burn as well.

"BBBFF! What happened?!" Twilight yelled in horror. He wave her reaction off and smiled.

"Ah, this is nothing. You don't want to know what Bill and I did to the Covenant who did this." He said with a smirk. Bill nodded and turned around, upon hearing the Brute pack howling behind them.

"We need to go. Now. Our transport is waiting and you are too important to loose." Bill affirmed, running out to meet their Phantom.

As soon as Twilight was aboard, the pack of Brutes rounded the corner, opening fire instantly. They were accompanied by a very pissed off Weapons Chieftan, who didn't hesitate to bring its Fuel Rod to bear. "Shit! Everyone in! Go, go,GO!" Bill yelled. They boarded as quick as possible and sped towards a besieged Canterlot.

Twilight looked out the window in horror. Their defenses were being breached on nearly every front her and Nathan had set up. Their AA guns were almost all destroyed, save for the ones inside Canterlot, and she could make out thousands of Covenant below, killing and desecrating the bodies of the Equine soldiers. She turned her head and let out a quivering breath. This was all too much for her. She'd seen the Covenant kill some of pony kind...

But never like this.

Shining Armor trotted over and wrapped his arm around her tight. "Hey, little sis. It'll all be okay, don't worry about it. Laurence and his men are back on the front lines and will help clear this mess up quick, just you watch." He assured. Twilight however wasn't totally convinced. She trotted quickly away from the view port and rubbed her stomach.

Please, hurry back, Nathan. I need you... She looked at her stomach and frowned. We need you...

"Selina! Are the charges set?!" Laurence yelled, diving over a Hunters plasma beam. Selina looked over and gave him a thumbs up. "Good! Hit the button, NOW!" He yelled, firing on the large group of Hunters again.

A large roar enveloped him and his team, and the bridge the Hunters had been standing on a second ago was now gone. Laurence looked over the edge to see the behemoths plummet about 1000 feet to the base of the mountain. Laurence smiled and was finally able to deliver some good news. "Cam? It's Laurence. Do you copy?"

"Go ahead, Laurence. Do you have any good news?" Cam asked, sounding more and more winded. Laurence smiled and ran through his first victory in his head over and over again. It felt good to prove Nathan wrong.

"Affirmative. The bridge into Canterlot is destroyed, nothing comes in or out, except by air. As long as our AA batteries stay up, Covenant air cover shouldn't be a problem."

"Excellent work, Spartan. You and your team, keep bringing me good news. I look forward to hear when the invasion is quelled." Cam said. He began to whisper to someone next him and he heard the mic shift.

"Laurence? This is Princess Celestia. I just wanted to thank you personally for the help you and your team have given. We are in your debt." She said, with a hint of sadness in her voice. Obviously this invasion was getting to her.

"We'll get this filth off your world, Princess." Laurence said with unwavering determination. "You can count on it."

She chuckled lightly and continued. "Thank you. Now, I don't want to keep you all from your job, so-"

Laurence interrupted her to ask something he'd been wondering all day. "Is Star Trot okay? Is she in the bunkers with you?"

"Hi, Laurence!" A very happy Star Trot said over the mic. He let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

"Hey. Glad you're safe! You stay that way for me and I'll be back quick, okay?" He said in a sweet voice. He looked over to see his team giving him an odd stare, but shrugged it off. He heard Star giggle on the other end.

"Okay. You better come back though." She said with playful sternness. He chuckled and nodded.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, Star. Over and out." He clicked his mic off and looked back over to his team, who turned away quickly. "Alright! Lets get back to work!"

Cam looked back over to the Princess and frowned. "You didn't think it was important to tell him?" He asked. Another barrage on the bunker door sent the civilians cowering to the back in fear. Celestia looked over to her little sister and sighed.

"It wouldn't have made a difference. They never would have gotten here in time anyway. Tell me, Cam, what is it like? To face this kind of thing as a soldier, day in and day out? I have long since forgotten my days of war." She asked calmly. Cam clacked his assault rifle and frowned.

"You get used to it when it's just you against them. But when you got people to protect and save? It never gets any easier. I've nearly lost my sanity in this war, loosing so many innocent lives on my watch..."

The door began to dent and buckle, the calls of triumph from the Brutes on the other side could be heard. The royal guard now took defensive positions at the entrance, ready to protect their Princess'. Cam went on.

"I'm not going to loose you all, too." The door burs open. Cam turned and opened fire with the rest of the soldiers, who were being gunned down all to quickly. The Princess' comforted the civilians as Cam and the remaining soldiers desperately kept the Covenant at bay. He took a deep breath and looked back to Rainbow Dash, who was crying lightly. He was ready to fight for her, to try and save her. Ultimately, it would come down to one last thing.

To the end.