"Move in," the words flowed clearly from my lips as I yanked the trigger of my cannon, sending a round at an unsuspecting grunt in front of me.
A blur of blue blood later, and it was eliminated.
I stayed low and turned my direction to one of the legs of the AA weapon. I jerked the trigger once more, only to immediately regret my decision. The high-velocity tungsten bullet hit the brown armor and instantly ricocheted off into the forest at an angle to the east of my position. Glancing back at where it supposedly impacted, I made out no damage from my cannon.
"Don't try to damage the legs," I warned, getting a wave of green check marks.
I turned my attention back to the infantry, seeing some grunts being mowed down by Jorge's buzz saw. All the while, loud whining shots rung out from the forest to the west, and light arcs also seemed to trail from various parts of the forest.
Plasma shots were returned in all directions haphazardly. The Covenant forces were panicking, but because of how dangerous their weapons were, we weren't exactly able to capitalize on it. Thankfully, because Daisy was using a more subtle weapon, she remained mostly unnoticed, and due to the loud, massive weapon above all of us, it made tracking us in the woods even more difficult.
I stood up in the shade and slammed a few more rounds, trying to pick out higher-value targets. I nailed two brutes, blasting holes into them, eliminating them. A few jackals also caught the wrong end of a hypersonic round. Their shield gauntlets did not save them, their bodies becoming scorched as the round energy field failed.
Fwishhhh
I paused as I heard the shaking of trees behind me. I tried to listen closely to my surroundings as the sounds that had masked my position were now working against me.
I focused, and the only thing I could make out was the sound of horses running. That made no sense. Why the hell would a horse not only be in a forest but also be running toward a deafening battle?
I swiveled to get a look and maybe better hear. That was when I was met with the source.
"BAHHHHH"
A Brute larger than any of the others I had seen appeared from the depths of the forest behind me. His armor was tribal and the same shade of brown as the gun above me, with red accents. Small lights were scattered around each section of his armor, and in the instant, I quickly identified them as shield emitters.
In one hand, he held a massive hammer; he waved it around the same way a toddler would with a "magic wand." The handle itself was the size of a human, and it glowed slightly at the head with ornate carvings and furniture. Again, my head tried to recall any description of the weapon, only to come up with a vague mention by one Staff Sgt Avery Johnson, who'd said something about the Brute leader on Harvest having one.
It let out a deep roar as it swung an empty hand to the side. Like a wrecking ball, it snapped a tree in two, wood splintered as bark was torn from the shearing force and stress. Fibers exploded from the inside, sending a small cloud of wooden splinters at the Brute, not that it seemed to have any kind of effect on it.
Time slowed as my reactions kicked into overdrive. I scrambled to stand and face him, my feet moved back to get space to open up with my Gauss cannon, only to feel my blood drop by a degree. I distinctly felt the trunk of a tree against my back.
I went to turn to move around it only stop midway. The head of the hammer was in motion, cleaving through the air to do God knows what.
In a last-ditch effort to defend myself, I adjusted my grip and heaved my Gauss cannon above my head to block the hammer strike. I barely managed to get it into place as the hammer reached the barrel of the gun.
WAAABAAAM
At once, I felt something behind my back snap, and my hands extended out past what the Gauss cannon should have allowed. I felt myself flung backwards through the trunk of the tree before skipping across the ground once. I caught myself converting it into a backwards roll where I stopped crouched.
I was a little shaken up, but nothing was broken; still in one piece. My arms shook, and I could feel dulled pain in my arms. There was something more to the hammer than just being a metal handle with a slab on top of it.
Glancing around, I noticed I was in the area under the AA gun; no hostiles living in my immediate vicinity. I found my Gauss cannon lying a bit further away from me. It had been folded into the shape of a U. I felt a pang of disappointment; it had been useful, and it was a shame that it was my only one.
I glanced down, seeing that there were large scratches and dents in my grey right chest plate. The source of which was unknown.
"FAHHH EHT KCAP LLAHS DEEF NO ROUY SENOB"
My head snapped up seeing the Brute come barreling out of the tree line, shoving a tree down without any effort. I stood up, drawing my magnum from its magnetic mount on my thigh, whilst simultaneously pulling my knife from its sheath.
POP-POP-POP
I opened up with my pistol, a transparent yellow shield flaring as the rounds were flattened and caught by the energy. The Brute, in the meantime, had crossed the distance and had brought his hammer back up for another strike. I stayed on the balls of my feet; I had no chance to block it or catch it while it had its attention focused on me. My best option was to dodge and avoid before countering and re-attacking.
It moved until it was merely a yard or two away from me and began to bring the blunt weapon down. Time slowed once again, and I saw an opening. I stepped to the side and leveled my handgun in line with the Brute's head as he was bringing the hammer down-
WAABAAM
I felt myself thrown away, tossed onto my back, feeling worse than before. I had been thrown like a leaf in the wind. 'Did someone get the license plate of that truck?' I couldn't help but muse to myself as I brought myself back to my feet. There was a small distance between the two of us, but the Brute was covering ground quickly
But once again, I didn't charge in, 'This must be what it would be like to fight a bear,' I considered as I watched the Brute close in on me for a third time.
'Wait for it,' I thought as it began to raise its hammer.
'Wait for it,' my concentration remained unbroken as its two hands began to bring down the mighty weapon.
'Now,' I snapped and leapt backwards the instant before the hammer would have hit me.
WAAABAAAAM
The ground literally exploded, creating a crater I could easily be buried in. Dirt and dust filled the air, but I didn't wait to get eyes on. I had escaped by being outside of its range, which I made a mental note of for later.
I leapt back into action, landing on the handle of the hammer just as the Brute was going to try and yank it back up, "URF," it groaned as it strained to pick up the hammer, surprised by the new weight I added. Its large eyes feral in bloodthirsty anger, which only intensified as I came into view with the air clearing.
"Hmmph," I raised a foot and smashed down at the center of the handle. Just as the Brute was about to put his back into it.
CRUNCH
The handle snapped, a sickening sound of metal being overstressed filled the air between us. I didn't have to worry about that damn hammer now, but I couldn't relax. Quickly, I ducked as a wild fist came aimed for my midsection.
I popped back up, extending my left hand, which held my handgun, but just as I fired a shot, the creature in front of me used its free hand to slap the gun out of my hand. I didn't wince, but I felt pain as what was a casual hit caused not only my shot to miss and fly beside its head, but also flung my pistol off somewhere to my right as my grip had released.
I instantly recovered, thrusting with my right hand that held my knife. The tip stopped inches from the Brute's eye, "RAHHH," it screamed in pain as it had caught my blade using the palm of its…. Paw. The alien didn't have a hand so much as it had a bear paw that just so happened to have fingers as well.
Another wild swing of an arm came, it traveled through the air like a battering ram, and I had no choice but to leave my knife embedded in its "hand". I once again lowered my level, taking the opportunity to deliver two quick jabs straight to its belly. He bent over, the wind being knocked out of him. With the height difference being significantly shortened, I popped up, unleashing an uppercut, forcing it to stumble backwards and fall backward onto the ground.
My head swiveled quickly as I looked for a weapon to end this and fast. Nothing was in sight, my pistol wouldn't penetrate its shields, my Gauss Cannon was trashed, and I didn't have anything else… That was until I came up with an idea, and I quickly snatched up the half of the hammer that had the head.
I picked it up with my right hand, finding it to be surprisingly lighter than I originally thought. It was probably half the weight of my Gauss Cannon. I quickly pursued the Brute. It rocked back up onto its butt, and was about to stand up when-
WABAAM
As if I had a club, I swung the broken weapon, smashing its face into what could only be described as a bloody smudge. I went to bring down the weapon again, only to stop… it was already dead by the first strike.
I glanced at my makeshift weapon, marveling at the damage it did, while inwardly cautious. Mjolnir was strong, but if I had gotten hit earlier….
My thoughts trailed off as a voice entered my ears.
"Area Secured," Jorge said, his voice being broken up with an AA gun shot. I breathed a sigh of relief, inwardly thankful that I didn't have to worry about being shot by plasma during the fight.
"Form up on me," I said as I turned to look at the AA gun, watching it carefully. I also took the time to retrieve my pistol and made sure to knock out the dirt that had been kicked up into its chamber.
Soon enough, the rest of my team reached me as I bent down to get my knife.
Jorge was the first to speak, his eyes seemingly locked on the new dents on my chest plate, the result of being flung. "Are you good….David?" he seemed to hesitate before relenting and using my name.
I drew my knife out of the Brute's paw and snapped my wrist, flinging purple blood off the titanium blade, "Right as rain, Jorge," I responded. Both Cal and Daisy relaxed, hearing me, but based on his body language, Jorge wasn't so convinced.
I stood back up, shoving my knife back in its place,"I am fine, Jorge," I reiterated, "Now, that might have been a different story had I been hit by this thing's hammer," I motioned to the large, dead corpse of the Brute.
"Haven't seen this one yet, " Daisy said, looking down at it before looking back up at me, "Think this is the one that was listed in the report on Harvest?," she asked
"Negative," Cal spoke up, interjecting and answering her question, "The Brute leader on Harvest was larger and had darker fur and hair. Also, the hammer description doesn't match this one."
"What she said," I nodded toward Cal's answer, "Though if I were a betting man, I'd bet this one is probably something of a Brute high-ranking officer." I shifted gears, changing the subject slightly, "Going forward, if you run into any Brute with a hammer, be careful. I found out the hard way that you cannot be anywhere near the area it comes down on," I got a couple of nods in understanding.
Good. Now it was time to finish the objective we came for, and as if on cue, the AA gun fired again. Simultaneously, a giant white ball seemed to pop out of the bottom venting gases into the atmosphere.
It seemed important, and that was a good enough sign as any.
"Daisy fire a rocket at that," I pointed up at what I believed to be the core of the weapon. She pulled her SPNKR off her back as the rest of us retreated to the forest line.
A muzzle flash later, and I got to watch Daisy run away from the AA gun as it exploded. The main gun assembly being rocketed upwards as a plume of purple fire stretched to the sky. The bronze barrel crashed into the forest opposite us, and fires erupted throughout the crevices of the machine roared to life.
"AA gun at my coords neutralized. Alpha proceeding to additional weapons," I informed in general to the comms channel, but didn't sit around to wait for a response.
I turned to the rest of my team, "Come on. We are burning daylight, and we still have two more to knock out before sunset."