Convergence Infinites: Halo

Chapter Eighteen

The Spartan stopped walking toward the bulkhead. Three Elites had nearly killed him already. Was he slipping up? Then again, he had been on the go almost constantly from Halo. The battles at Reach and on the Unyielding Hierophant had nearly cost him his life, and he was feeling drained. Sensing this, he walked to the Marine and asked for a wake-up stim pill. The Marine thankfully had one. John lowered his visor, revealing only a handful of freckles on his somewhat youthful face and popped the pill in his mouth. The effects started to take hold immediately as he reloaded his BR55, bid the Marine and officer fairwell, and collected a few plasma grenades off the dead Grunts' bodies. He proceeded into the next launch bay, which was only a short walk through the blastdoor around the corner.

There was a machine gun turrent set up between two metal "shields", with a dead Marine laying behind one of them. An M6C lay on the ground next to the body. The Master Chief leaned over and picked it up, checking to see if it was loaded and it was. Racking the slide back, a fresh round popped into the chamber and he grabbed extra ammo lying nearby and clipped the magazines to his waistline. He proceeded through a blastdoor to his right into the next hanger bay. A Marine was waiting behind a metal crate, two plasma turrents firing in his direction.

"Glad you could make it, sir!" the Marine said with a thick Australian accent. "Could use a little help!"

With that, the Chief began to clear the room of Covenant forces.

Commander Zavi 'Peutomee and his squad had just disengaged from a firefight with the Humans when he felt the deck tremble heavily. He curled his mouth parts inward, smiling. The first of many to come, he thought as the platform the Humans called Malta detonated.

"Rally up!" Commander 'Peutomee called to the troops. "There's a service elevator that leads to the interloper's Fire Control Center, as they call it. Torlo, Usa, get beside the elevator with the bomb. Me and a couple of my troops will go down first to see if it's clear. Stay here and guard it with your lives in the meantime."

"Yes, Commander," the two Elites replied simultaneously. They manuvered the cart with the bomb to the side of the elevator, and stood in front of it. They withdrew their plasma rifles and aimed down the corridor.

Zavi and the rest of his troops crowded into the elevator, which was really small for his tastes. The odor of the Grunts permeated through the small space, which irritated him greatly, but knew there was nothing he could do. The door closed, a hiss of air was heard, and the elevator descended.

Torlo nudged Usa with his elbow. "Way to get stuck with this detail, huh?" he said quietly.

"What detail specifically?" Usa replied, never taking his gaze off the corridor ahead. "Guarding the bomb or having to stay behind while we get obliterated?"

The dropship pilot grunted. "Well, when you put it like that, neither is ideal."

Usa was slightly annoyed that Torlo had spoken at all. They had a job to do and idle chatter could give away their position to anybody listening in nearby. "Let's stop with the chit-chat and wait for the commander to report, okay?"

Nothing more was said after that.

What a hell of a way to get stuck, Private First Class Daniel Munez thought as he stood behind a metal pillar, his M7 gripped tightly in his hands. He had been in the process of changing shifts when the Covenant attacked. The rumble from the boarding craft hitting the sides of Cairo had done a number on the service elevator, disabling one of the gear shafts, and had effectively trapped him down here by himself.