Halo: Gauntlet

Chapter 14

"Get down!"

Lance winced as blobs of plasma whizzed past his face, covering his eyes as they burst around him. The Phantom roared overhead, blowing past the Spartans before a grunt manning the side turret unleashed a flurry of pellets. Lance and Klace scrambled behind the arches, drawing their weapons. Klace poked his head out, quickly pulling it back before another spray streaked by him and dotted the structure with burns.

"You okay?", he asked Lance. Lance nodded before firing a burst at the Phantom. The bullets bounced off of its hull before its main cannon fired again.

"We gotta get back down!" yelled Klace between explosions. He looked out to see elites in white armor jumping out of the Phantom, joined by more jackals and some skirmishers. He turned back towards the lift, observing the distance. The lift's console couldn't be more than several dozen meters away, but the way they were pinned down would make it difficult to move anywhere.

"Lance, I need you to give me covering fire."

Lance glanced at what was out there, seeing the enemy infantry. The Skirmishers were charging fast with the rest just a little behind. "I can do that," he replied unconfidently. "Yeah. I can do that. You ready?"

"Ready."

Lance thrust his rifle out and squeezed the trigger, forcing the Covenant soldiers into dives. Two Jackals fell instantly, but the Skirmishers were elusive and weaved between Lance's bursts. Klace scrambled to the center of the arches where the lift was, dodging blasts from every side. The elites fired their plasma rifles, trying to strike down the sprinting Spartan, but he rolled to the side and successfully reached the lift console. One blast nicked his shoulder, but his armor's shield took most of the blow. He pressed the button and watched as the floor opened up again. Lance began to back towards his squadmate, still trying to hold back their attackers. Eventually, he relented and started running. The Phantom ascended again and chased him down, its main cannon unleashing blow after blow. Lance staggered and his shield began to shimmer brightly as it strained to protect the man inside. Klace fired at the ship to try and draw it away, killing the side gunner. Lance stumbled onto the descending lift, and he and Klace exchanged fire with the elites and jackals before lowering out of view. One Elite tried to jump in after them, reaching its arm through the closing hatch. The hatch shut with a snap, the Elite yelping in pain while its arm fell to the floor with a squelch. The whir of the Phantom's engines could still be heard hovering above, like a predator waiting for its prey to emerge. Klace and Lance took a sigh of relief, reloading their rifles.

"Where are we going?"

"I set it to the lowest floor possible," said Klace.

Lance stretched his neck, "Let's hope we don't make any stops."

***

"Lee, we have to go!"

Lee prepared to rip the connector cord between his tactical wrist pad and the forerunner console, "Almost done. Give me a second."

Kuzo turned to the door they entered, glancing through the narrow viewing window to see several hulking ape-like creatures plodding towards them. Their armor was scratched and beaten, their fur matted. Kuzo could make out their snarling faces and edged teeth, shoving and growling into each other.