Matt-038 (Halo Fanfiction)

Chapter 31: Did We Really Win?

Author's Note: If you have any tips writing tips, please feel free to comment.

Again, I gratefully accept constructive criticism as a means to help me develop my skills further as a writer.

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Chapter 31: Did We Really Win?

Location: Epsilon Eridani system, Reach Station Gamma

August 30, 2552

0637 hours

"Multiple signals on motion tracker," Matt said. "They're all around us."

The passageway behind the trio of Spartans swarmed with blips. So did docking Bay Nine, ahead of them. Matt saw, however, not all the blips were hostiles. Four Marine friend-or-foe tags strobed on his heads-up display: SGT. JOHNSON, PVT. O'BRIEN, PVT. BISENTI, and PVT. JENKINS.

Matt opened up a COM channel to them. "Listen up, Marines. Your lines of fire are sloppy; tighten them up. Concentrate on one Jackal at a time—or you'll just waste your ammo on their shields."

"Commander?" Sergeant Johnson said, startled. "Sir, yes sir!"

"Blue-Two," the Commander said. "Blue-One and I are going in. We're going to open up the Circumference like a tin can."

He nodded toward the Pelican in the adjacent bay. "Give us a few grenades over the top."

"Understood," she replied. "You're covered, sir." She primed two frag grenades, swung around the pressure doors, and threw them behind the Jackals.

"Let's go, Blue-One. When we get there, take the controls," Matt said.

"Roger that," John said.

The duo pushed off the wall—propelled themselves in the zero-gee across the bay.

The grenades detonated and caught the Jackals on their backsides. Blue blood spattered on the insides of their shields and across the deck.

Matt and John crashed into the Pelican's hull. They pulled themselves to the side hatch, opened it, and crawled in. John got into the cockpit, released the docking clamps, and tapped the maneuvering thrusters once to break free.

The Pelican lifted off the deck.

Matt said over the COM channel, "Marines and Blue-Two: take cover behind us."

John maneuvered the Pelican into the center of the docking bay.

A dozen Jackals poured in through the passage that Blue-Two had just left.

John fired with the Pelican's autocannon—cut down their shields and peppered the aliens with hundreds of rounds. They exploded into chunks; alien blood twisted crazily in zero gravity.

"Commander," Linda said, "I'm picking up thousands of signals on the motion tracker, inbound from all directions. The entire station is crawling."

Matt opened the Pelican's back hatch. "Get in," he said. Blue-Two and the Marines piled inside.

The Marines did a double take at the trio of Spartans in their MJOLNIR armor.

The Master Chief turned the Pelican to face the Circumference. He sighted the autocannon on the ship's forward viewports—and opened fire. Thousands of rounds streamed from the chain-gun and cracked through the thick, transparent windows. He followed up with an Anvil-II missile. It blasted through the prow and peeled the craft open.

"Take the controls," he told Blue-Two."Blue-One, I'm going out. Cover me."

"Copy that, sir. I got your back," John said.