Matt-038 (Halo Fanfiction)

Chapter 55: Warthog Run

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 55: Warthog Run

Location: UNSC Pillar of Autumn

D +76:45:39 (SPARTAN-II Blue Team Mission Clock)

The Engine Room hatch opened, an infection form went for Matt's face, and he fired a quarter of a clip into it. A lot more bullets than the target required, but the memory of how the penetrator had slipped in under the surface of his skin was still fresh in his mind, and he wasn't about to allow any of the pods near his face again, especially with a hole in his neck seal. A red nav indicator pointed the way toward a ramp at the far end of the enormous room.

The Spartans pounded their way up onto a raised platform, ran past banks of controls, and ducked through the hatch that led up to Level Two. They followed a passageway out into an open area, and then up the ramp to Level Three. Near the top, a pair of combat forms fell to their well-placed fire. The duo policed the fallen creatures' ammo and grenades and kept going.

"Not acceptable, Reclaimers," 343 Guilty Spark intoned. "You must surrender the constructs."

The Spartans ignored the Monitor, made their way up to Level Three, and encountered a reception party comprised of Flood. They opened fire, took two combat forms and a carrier down off the top, and backed away in order to reload.

Then, with a fresh clip in place, Matt opened fire, cut the nearest form off at the knees, tossed a grenade into the crowd behind him. The frag detonated and blew them to hell.

Quick bursts of automatic fire were sufficient to finish the survivors and allow the Spartans to reach the far end of the passageway. A group of forms was waiting there to greet them but quickly gave way to a determined assault as they made their way up the blood-slicked steel, and through the hatch at the top of the ramp.

The duo moved onto the Level Three catwalk and immediately started to take fire. There was total chaos as the Sentinels fired on the Flood, the Flood shot back, and everyone seemed to want a piece of him. It was important to concentrate, however, to focus on their mission, so the Spartans made a mad dash for the nearest control panel. The Chief hit the control labeled OPEN, heard a beeper go off, followed by the sound of Cortana's voice.

"Good! Step one complete! We have a straight shot into the fusion reactor. We need a catalytic explosion to destabilize the magnetic containment field surrounding the fusion cell."

"Oh," Matt said as he jumped down onto a thick slab of duracrete, and felt it start to move. "I thought we were supposed to throw a grenade into a hole."

"That's what I said."

Matt grinned as a brightly lit rectangular slot appeared, and he tossed a grenade in through the opening.

The ensuing explosion threw bits of charred metal around the smoke-filled compartment.

'One down, and three to go,' Matt told himself as the Sentinels fired, and the laser beams hit his chest.

As the final grenade went off, Matt felt the shaft he was standing on shake in sympathy and Cortana yelled into his ears. "That did it! The engines will go critical. We have fifteen minutes to get off the ship! We should move outside and get to the third deck elevator. It will take us to a Class Seven service corridor that runs the length of the ship. Hurry!"