Unsung Hero

The Maw

...And the Horse You Rode In On

The view skims low over a large body of water, tinted gold by an oncoming sunrise.

View slowly pans up as it flies over the sand, revealing a burnt coastline, and a giant gouge where the terrain has been ripped away and the sea has flooded into the newly-formed canyon. At the top of that canyon rises the massive stern of the UNSC Pillar of Autumn, relatively intact.

View circles around the side and front of her, revealing that her nose is hanging just slightly off a massive cliff; the antennae along the bow have been bent and torn away. The entire bow has been severely burnt; the metal is badly scarred. As the view circles around to reveal the ship's starboard side, four damaged and smoking Banshees drift into view.

The four damaged Banshees veers wildly towards the Autumn.

"This thing is falling apart!" Cortana shouts.

"It'll hold." The Chief says.

"Ash, our's is falling apart!" Xi shouts as a wing of Ash's Banshee blows off.

"Uh oh." Ash mutters.

"Warning." Auntie Dot starts. "Rose Two, the Vehicle is slowly losing power."

"I'll be fine!" Rose shouts.

"I'm not gonna be fine!" Ruby shouts.

"We're not gonna make it!" Cortana shouts.

"We'll make it." Chief says.

"Pull up! Pull up!"

The Master Chiefs and Noble Six's Banshees drop just before reaching the Bumblebee slip and smashes into the side of the Pillar of Autumn, sending debris and fire hurling out madly.

"You did that on purpose didn't you?" Cortana asks.

The two Spartans pulls them selves into the Pillar of Autumn.

"Incoming!" Rose shouts as he crash lands inside the hanger, his Banshees flipping several time.

"Asher!" Ruby's Banshee barley lands safely and she swiftly gets out and runs over to Rose's Banshee.

Rose slides out of his Banshee and he groans in slight pain. "Still alive."

Ruby helps Rose off the ground. "Idiot." She says to him.

"Actually, I'm the smartest one of the squad."

"Sometimes you don't act like it."

The Spartans move out of the hanger and the two ODSTs follow. 

Ruby picks up a fallen rocket launcher. "I have a feeling this will be useful." She puts it on her back.

"We need to get to the bridge." Cortana says. "From there, we can use the Captain's neural implants to initiate an overload of the ship's fusion engines. The explosion should damage enough systems below it to destroy the ring."

As the four head for the bridge, they are forced to engage Covenant, Flood, and Sentinels as they battle through the corridors. The Pillar of Autumn's mess hall is occupied by a Covenant Special Operations team. They kill all enemies present and eventually, they reach the bridge.

"The Bridge. We made it." Xi sighs. "Let's get to work."

The four clear our another Covenant Special Operations team guarding the bridge.