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Well i'm not getting as much feedback as I thought i'd be getting. I really like hearing what you say about the story so keep your comments coming! BTW: I'm getting a NEW BETTER computer this Thursday which means maybe my typing will be getting a little better and there might be a gap between Chapter 7 and 8 so you may need to wait for Chapter 8 a bit longer then you might expect. Also, random shout out to Amy again! ENJOY!
PS: It's a bit lengthy!

Chapter 7: The Honor Guards' Revenge

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY?" Roared a furious man.
"I said I'm joining the marines!" Barked back what looked like a younger version of John. He was in the kitchen of his house. There was a strange feeling of home sweet home in his heart but his initial emotion was actually hate.
"YOU IGNORANT BASTARD!" The man bellowed.
In a matter of seconds the man was in John's face and he felt something hard strike him across the face. John recognized the abstract pain he felt, his drunken father's fury.
"You've been drinking again, haven't you dad?" John asked as he looked into his dad's furious, blood shot eyes.
"So what if I have?" Growled the beast that he was now face to face with.
Hate seemed to intoxicate John's body as anger flowed through his blood and nerves. He clenched his fist and he heard his mother weeping in the other room. "Why do you care if I leave or not?" John asked.
"Because you're part of this family and your mother needs you," growled his dad through clenched teeth.
"Bull shit!" John said and he felt the same pain strike him again. He looked into his father's raging eyes and said, "If you think that I'm going to stay here and be your punching bag for the rest of your life then you're wrong."
Something struck him again and his father's words were more painful then his drunken fury, "YOU WORTHLESS BASTARD! YOU ARE NOT WORTH THE ARMY'S TIME AND YOU'D BE A SAD ASS EXCUSE FOR A MARINE!"
John unleashed all his rage to the point where his father was on the ground bleeding and quivering by his feet. He knelt down to the menacing man and whispered in his ear, "You know what dad, you're right about something. I am a bastard. You abused mom and left her before I was born, and I still don't know why till this very day. And before I go I want you to know that the happiest time of my life was when I never met you and never knew your name."
"I came back to her didn't I?" Wheezed the pathetic man.
"Freshman year. Worst year of my life," John replied softly.
John began to walk off but before he left home he stopped as he heard his father's last request, "Could you at least help your old man up?"
John turned to look at his pathetic father on the floor, his face in his own puddle of blood. John decided it was the least he could do so he got the man back on his feet; a mistake.
His father grasped him by the neck fiercely and began to choke him. John began to panic and struggled to get out of his father's grasp but he couldn't. Then with the remaining rage and energy left in his body he punched him in the stomach and smashed his skull into his father's.
His father let out a cry of defeat that sounded like the cry of an Elite. Baxter's eyes opened immediately and he found himself badly bruised on a beach similar to Zanzibar but looked more alien like. In front of him was a blue armored Elite whom Baxter apparently head butted in his sleep.
It was just a nightmare, he reminded himself, but in truth it was his past. He got to his feet and examined the situation. Behind him was a smoking, badly damaged Phantom. Scattered near the phantom was Kaskut, the Hunters, Betronus, Lib, and Alei 'Limoto.
Beyond the Phantom was a recognizable Human drop ship known as an Albatross.
He walked over to Alei's motionless body and began slapping him across the face to get him to wake up.
"Alei! ALEI! ALEI 'LIMOTO! WAKE UP YOU STUPID ELITE!" Baxter yelled.
Alei's eyes opened and his eyes met Baxter's. Baxter smiled, happy to see the Elite was alive and awake. Then at that moment Baxter felt something white-hot and agonizing pelt him in the back.

Alei watched Baxter fall in pain by another Elite's plasma rifle. He could feel the heat coming from the blue plasma that splashed against Baxter's back. The Elite began to close in on him.
The Elite's plasma rifle was pointed square at Alei's head and the Elite gave out a hearty laugh. "The Honor Guards send their regards," the Elite growled.
Alei knew at that moment the Elite would finish Alei but with lightening speed Alei whipped out his Energy Sword, gave it a crack to activate it, and in a split second his sword had impaled the other Elite. Blue blood spurted from the other Elite's chest and the alien staggered.
"Tell the honor guards they can come and kill me by themselves next time," Alei said as he retreated his sword form the Elite's chest and it toppled over.
Alei looked over at Baxter who tried desperately to get up and helped him to his feet. "Thanks," Baxter said cringing as he felt the burnt spot on his back, "But next time you send someone to their deaths you might consider telling them to go fuck themselves."
"Go fuck themselves?" Alei asked.
"Never mind, we'll work on it later," Baxter said equipping himself with his Sniper Rifle.
"Are you able to fight?" Alei questioned.
"I've felt worse," Baxter said as a vision from his nightmare flashed before his eyes.
"Then let's wake up the others and find out what's going on," Alei said.

"How long has it been Sarge?"
A group of marines were in a dark, round room below a Forerunner Relic. There were a total of four able Marines and three wounded. Most of the marines were Corporals and Privates. The highest of command was a man named Sergeant Stackers.
"Two days Corporal," Stackers said who was lying down with his back up against the wall. Stackers glimpsed around at his unarmed Marines who tried their best to tend to the wounded or tried to get some sleep.
Sleep wasn't an easy thing though when three Elites were watching you day in and day out. They were all prisoners ever since they were taken from their crashed Albatross that lay somewhere along the beach. Stackers glared into one of the Elite's cold, emotionless eyes. He would do anything for a Battle Rifle right now or for a measly pistol.
"Sergeant could you check out Billy's wound over here? It looks pretty bad," asked a Marine.
"You've been trained in first-aid soldier, you can handle it," Stackers said in a weary manner.
"Sir, we really need you to check out his wound," the Marine said hinting his best to Stackers that the matter was vital.
Stackers glanced over at the Marine. His eyes had a great deal of hope and urgency in them. Stackers glanced back over at the Elites who continued to watch them.
The Sergeant got to his feet and walked over to the Marine.
"What the hell is it Corporal?" Stackers asked in a hushed voice.
"Billy's picking up a signal on his comm. device. It's got to be another Marine or something, but the batteries in his comm. device are running out so if we want to make contact with whoever is out there then we've got to do it fast!"
Stackers looked down at the wounded Marine whom seemed to be looking more hopeful than hurt. Stackers glanced over his shoulder and said, "Yea it looks like a pretty bad wound. I should be able to patch it up within a few seconds."
Billy and the other Marines managed to crack a smile at Stackers' playing the Elites out as idiots. Stackers took the comm. device from Billy and tried making contact with the outside signal in a hushed voice.

"Oh dear, our current situation is most unfavorable," Remorseful Incentive said examining the debris from the severely damaged Phantom in a confused manner.
"No kidding. Where's my plasma pistol?" Lib asked scavenging around the debris.
"You mean my plasma pistol?" Kaskut said waving a plasma pistol in his hand tauntingly at Lib.
Lib bared his teeth and hissed at Kaskut angrily when Baxter stepped in between the two of them, "Stop it! We need to all calm down and figure out our…" Baxter was cut off by a loud static coming from his comm. device.
"What that?" Kaskut asked.
"It's…my comm. device. There must be someone nearby," Baxter said trying to tune into the signal that was trying to reach him.
"Try to make contact with whoever it is. Perhaps whoever it is can tell us where we are and aid our us with our current situation," Alei said as Baxter messed around with his comm. link until he got a better signal.
The static slowly turned to a hushed crackling voice and slowly became clearer.
"Th…ss…ker…an…one…er…me…ver?" Kalno made a confused humming sound at the crackling sound.
"Quiet it's getting clearer!" Betronus growled.
"Re…eat th…is Serge…tackers…an…anyon…hear me?"
"Hello? HELLO? This is Sergeant J. Baxter, do you read me? Hello?"
"Sergeant…Baxter? I vaguely…ear you. This is Serg…Stackers. Do you re…me?"
"I read you Stackers. What's your position?"
"Me and…arines are prisoners in some sort of…Relic like struc…re. We've got seven Marines total, three wounded. There's thr…Elites guarding us ri…now. I'm assuming ther…ore Covenant above us. What's your position?"
"Me and my…squad crashed here. I'm guessing you're the owner of the lovely Albatross."
"Yes! Listen Baxter, your squad is close to our…osition. The structure we're in has a…pillar that you can hardly miss. The pil…is part of the base that the Cove… are guarding. Could you and your…uad spring us free?"
"No problem. We'll be there ASAP, hang tight!" After that he heard endless static and he turned off his comm. device.
"So what's the plan human?" Betronus asked.
"May I suggest we use this?" Alei suggested. Alei was nowhere in sight but his voice came from behind the Phantom, near the Albatross. They all went to see what he was talking about.
The crimson Elite was examining a Warthog that was parked near the Albatross. It had a few dents in it and looked like it had taken a decent beating but was still in a drivable state.
"Shotgun," Baxter called as he hopped in the driver seat. Alei hopped in the back where the turret was. He recalled being in the back seat last time and doing a fairly decent job, however this turret looked strangely different.
It was not as large as the last turret and had a different shape to it. Alei found a nearby rock to test out the gun. Instead of there being a loud bang and a force that shook the vehicle the shots coming out of the turret were suppressing, rapid, and less powerful. He remembered that this was the mounted turret used against him when the humans attacked him on the beach.
"There's room for one more," Baxter noted.
Alei looked at the others, trying to decide who should take the side seat. "Lib has too much potential on the ground and the Hunters would be too large," Alei speculated. He looked at his last two choices and came to a decision, "Betronus will do. Should we ever have to bail the vehicle, Betronus would be able to drive. Kaskut, you are in charge of Ralna, Kalno, and Lib."
"Me be good leader," Kaskut said confidently.
"Shall I assist in any way?" Remorseful Incentive questioned.
"Stay with them. Do not mess anything up," Betronus warned as he climbed into the Warthog, his grenade launcher ready.
With that the Warthog took off leaving the Hunters, Lib, and the oracle all awaiting Kaskut's orders. "So, who has plan?" Kaskut asked looking around at the others for suggestions.

The Warthog rolled across the bumpy, sandy turf at high speeds. They closed in on the large, forerunner Relic where they saw many different Covenant guarding and scouting around it. Baxter closed in on the structure to give Betronus and Alei a better shot at the Covenant around the area.
Alei's whole body began to vibrate uncomfortably as he shot suppressing lines of fire at the enemy. Betronus gathered a much smaller body count with his sluggish and inaccurate Covenant grenade launcher.
The way the enemy had fallen and how slow they reacted to them indicated that their assault was taken as a surprise to the enemy. The enemy seemed confused and unaware to what was going on. Baxter wondered how long it would take them to fully react to them and continued to drive along the Relic.

"Hurg…RA!" The revolting sound of Elite bones breaking followed the sound of a Hunter's battle roar. The commotion attracted a Jackal whom stood guard in a Covenant Sniping Tower. He carried with him a Particle Beam Rifle. The Jackal cocked its head and looked below to see what was going on. He watched the Hunter trample over two Jackals below and fling a Grunt into the ocean with his mighty shield. The Hunter looked up at the Jackal.
The Sniper above took aim at the Hunter's revealed weak spot and then felt something painful hit the back of its skull and was knocked out cold. Lib had went up the Sniping tower secretly while Kalno Tebo Jamu attacked below. Once Kalno distracted the other Jackal, Lib struck and stole the Sniper.
"Your job here is done. Go join your brother now," Lib ordered having no more use for the Hunter.

Two immense green lights flashed brightly near rock formations off the East side of the Relic. A Grunt flew through mid air having been hit by Ralna Tebo Laku's fuel rod cannon and orange blood spurted from Ralna. Ralna merely grunted in pain having being hit by the other Grunt's fuel rod cannon.
Once it was safe to come out from hiding behind the large Hunter, Kaskut scurried to the place where the other Grunt had been and picked up its Fuel Rod Cannon with joy.
"Me got big boom stick!" Kaskut squealed.
Kaskut turned towards the Relic, found multiple enemies, and shot multiple green globs towards them. The green plasma like projectile exploded on contact in a messy green massacre. Ralna followed Kaskut's aggressive action and fired off a green beam of energy at the enemy as well.
Kalno joined the two of them momentarily and the three of them turned into a menacing fuel rod platoon as they wiped out all weak and inferior Covenant that tried to counter attack them.

The Warthog rolled alongside various rock formations blocking off a small cliff that lead to the coastline. Covenant opposition was weak and scattered but had slowly become more threatening to the hog.
After examining Betronus' impressive shooting Baxter had to know what weapon he'd be using, "What kind of gun is that?"
"It's called a Brute shot. Specialized Covenant weapon only for Brutes. Why are you interested in it's power human?" Betronus replied feeling a small bit of pride knowing Baxter was interested in his mighty grenade launcher.
Betronus was not the only Brute using the Brute shot, for something hit the back of the Warthog hard and exploded causing Alei to fly from the back of the Warthog and his momentum kept him rolling painfully down the cliff into the sandy coastline. The familiar feeling of his head being covered with rough, irritating sand reminded him of the time he was attacked at Zanzibar by the vile humans. He shook his head in displeasure as he began to curse in his native tongue.
His luck however immediately changed as he found a large familiar human weapon lying next to a dead human. The dreaded Rocket Launcher. He discarded his carbine and heaved the large weapon over his shoulder. He bowed in gratitude to the dead marine, "Your death shall not go unpunished, human."

Baxter slammed his foot against the brake once he realized Alei was no longer manning the turret. In the distance he heard the other Brute cry in agony as Betronus' Brute shot pelted the hairy Covenant in vengeance. Baxter hopped out of the Warthog and looked around to try and find where Alei was.
His concern for his alien friend immediately came to a halt as something green whizzed by his head. He ducked behind the Warthog and glanced quickly to see what it was. In the distance, on top of the Relic structure were four Elites with Covenant Carbines. He took out his Sniper Rifle, loaded it, and peeked out from the side of the hog.
With speed and precision he knocked off one by one the group of Elites. Betronus accompanied Baxter behind the vehicle as he began reloading his favorite weapon as well.
Once both the Sergeant and the Brute had finished loading their weapons they heard a ominous hissing behind them. Both turned to see a blue and white fizzing sphere like object behind the warthog. Both immediately dove forward as the fizzing grenade exploded and sent the warthog flipping through the air and over the cliff.
It landed perfectly on its wheels looking battered and charred from the plasma grenade's blast. Plasma soared at their position as a group of Grunts and a few blue Elites evaded on their position.
The enemy's heated assault was cut off as a familiar Elite entered the fray in glory. Alie 'Limoto stood proudly in front of John and Betronus with the mighty jackhammer. He fired one then two rockets at the enemy. Grunts and Elites were airborne from the explosion.
"You're starting to like those aren't you?" Baxter asked recalling Alei using the Rocket Launcher against the Pelican he was in on Earth.
"I admit, some of your weapons are effective," Alei replied as he put away the Rocket Launcher and took out his energy sword, "But I prefer the Covenant Blade."


Kaskut unloaded his Fuel Rod Cannon on another patch of Covenant opposition and quickly reloaded. Even without the Hunters' protection (whom had went up a ramp to fight the enemy at a better position), he did not fear fighting alone or reloading. Lib proved to be remarkable cover fire for Kaskut. He hadn't taken any hits yet because of Lib's sharp shooting.
Kaskut quickly reloaded and watched the Hunter trample over Covenant opposition on top of the Relic. He noticed however two green Grunts coming from the pillar point of the Relic, mounting plasma cannons. Kaskut took aim and fired a load at them, sending them into oblivion.
After barking and dancing in victory he noticed a tunnel leading to some sort of chamber inside the north part of the Relic. He headed into the chamber and found three Elites guarding a group of unarmed humans. Kaskut figured the humans were those that Baxter was talking to on his communication device and knew that this would be his time to be a hero.
"FREEZE!" Barked Kaskut, whose large cannon was aimed directly at the Elites. The Elites turned towards the puny yet threatening Grunt. "Drop your weapons or you going to get it!" Kaskut warned.
The Elites stood exactly where they were, as they feared the wrath of the Fuel Rod Cannon. Kaskut decided to end the confrontation right then and pulled the trigger. The petite Grunt was disappointed when he saw no green blob of plasma spurt out from the Fuel Rod Cannon. He pulled the trigger some more desperate for it to fire off. Nothing.
The Grunt quivered as the Elite's laughed hysterically at the puny Grunt's gun backfiring on it the moment it was to be feared. They all pulled out their energy swords and slowly closed in on Kaskut.
The puny Grunt trembled more then it ever had in its entire life for this was the end. But when all seemed doomed there was two loud, deafening shots and the sickening noise of an energy sword slicing through its victim. The Grunt stopped trembling as he saw the three Elites fall to the ground, dead. In their wake was Baxter and Alei.
"Me glad to see you guys!" Squeaked Kaskut.
"You had a Fuel Rod Cannon?" Alei said amazed at what Kaskut had found.
"Why didn't you use it against them?" Baxter questioned.
"It run out of ammo," Kaskut said simply, discarding the large cannon.
Stackers, and the other three able Marines collected the dead Elites' weapons, Alei handed over his rocket launcher to one of the Marines whom lucked out on getting pick at the weapons.
Stackers and the other Marines found the scenario awkward that they were getting help from a Grunt and Elite. They shot odd looks at the two other Covenant whom accompanied Baxter. Baxter took note of their confusion and said reassuringly, "Don't worry, they're on our side."
"Hell, as long as they're shooting at the people who're shooting us," Stackers said with a shrug. Joining the group of Marines and Baxter's squad was a humming, floating sphere.
"You even got your own floating light bulb? Now I've seen everything," Stackers said amused by the monitor.
"More reclaimers? How exciting! I wish to meet all of your acquaintances but there is another issue at hand," rambled Remorseful Incentive, "Our two walking tank friends have been successful in wiping out the enemy with the help of the Jackal and the large primate. However reinforcements have arrived outside by a Covenant drop ship. I suggest you go outside and take immediate action to the new come opposition."
"Let's hope this is the last of them. I grow tired of our persistent target," Alei growled.
"My men can help if you'd like," Stackers suggested.
"Appreciated but me, Alei, and the rest of us can handle them. Instead I want you four to patch up and aid your wounded, and if you've got time, try to get a Pelican here on the double," Baxter replied.
Kaskut, Alei 'Limoto, Sergeant John Baxter, and 16807 headed back outside, met the Hunters on top of the Relic base and watched the Phantom slowly come to a stop near the Relic and began pelting them all with the Phantom's plasma turrets.
"Ralna, Kalno, concentrate fire on the turrets. Everyone else take defensive position by the rocks," Alei ordered.
While the Hunter brothers charged up their Fuel Rod Cannons the rest of them headed down to the rocks for a defensive position. Green beams of energy hit the Phantom with immense power while the purple like plasma bursts from the Phantom splashed against the Hunters' powerful armor. Occasional orange blood spurted from the openings in the armor but they didn't seem to mind the plasma that much.
Baxter readied his Sniper Rifle and Alei gripped on tight to his sword. Covenant troops came hovering down the gravity lift of the Phantom and immediately fired upon the rocks. Baxter had taken out four Covenant troops as they came down the gravity lift. He went to grab for some more ammo to reload but he came to the shocking reality that he was out of Sniper Rifle rounds.
Baxter swore under his breath as he switched to his SMG. While Baxter became familiar with his SMG once more, Alei lobbed a plasma grenade through the air and it stuck an Elite right in the chest. It gave a final howl of demise and exploded in a blue frenzy; killing a Jackal and two Grunts who were near the Elite.
The enemy kept on coming out of the Phantom and charged at the rocks. Lib had been a nice contributor to the fight as he supported a good sniping vantage from the Covenant Sniping Tower. Alei charged at the oncoming enemy while taking cover by anything he could after striking with his mighty sword.
Baxter began giving suppressive fire to a white Elite but its shield proved to be remarkably strong. He quickly dove behind the rocks as the white Elite returned with plasma fire at him. Kaskut too was hiding, now holding a puny plasma pistol.
Baxter examined the puny Covenant weapon and remembered something about the plasma pistol's power. While the plasma pistol hardly packed a punch, when it was overcharged it had the capability of taking out a energy shield with ease. "Kaskut I need your help," Baxter said.
Kaskut looked up at Baxter hopefully, "Me? Be help?"
"Yes. I need you overcharge your plasma pistol and take out the nearest Elite's shield, got it?" Kaskut nodded and the both of them jumped out from hiding, the white Elite charging on their position.
In a matter of seconds Kaskut's plasma pistol was pulsating a bright green light. Kaskut released the trigger and the green plasma splashed against and took out the Elite's shielding device. Baxter took aim and fired a sustained burst into the Elite's chest taking it down with ease.
"An Interesting combination," Baxter said pleased by the results.
Then, totally unexpected to Baxter, Kaskut climbed up Baxter's leg, up his back, and swung his arm around Baxter's neck. While ensuring his latch onto Baxter's back with his one arm, he raised his plasma pistol over Baxter's shoulder, ready to fire at the enemy.
"What are you doing?" Baxter asked feeling a bit awkward that Kaskut was riding on his back.
"Me be sidekick! I take out shield, you do rest!" Squeaked the Grunt.
Baxter chuckled at the Grunt's idea but didn't mind having the alien on his back. Who wouldn't want a cute little Grunt on their back as cover fire, he thought.
He proceeded, taking out multiple Elites with the effective combo of an overcharging plasma pistol, followed by a sustained burst from his SMG. The two of them however were met with a challenge of a squad of Jackals charging at them from the front.
Baxter back peddled the best he could while giving off suppressive yet ineffective fire with his SMG. Baxter took a few hits of plasma in the leg, shoulder, and abdomen.
Just as the Jackals thought they had Baxter and Kaskut where they wanted them they were all flattened as Ralna and Kalno came crashing down on the squad of Jackals, from atop of the Relic base. The two Hunters roared in victory but their victory celebration was cut off as the Phantom unloaded the last of its troops.
As they began to charge at Baxter, the Hunters, and Alei, their attack was foiled as Betronus came speeding through with the Warthog, splattering a number of Covenant. Lib and Alei cleaned up the rest of them.
With nowhere else to go and nothing else to do the Phantom cowardly flew off. Alei, the Hunters, and Betronus roared in victory while Lib and Kaskut went over to join them in their moments of celebrating. Baxter couldn't help to smile feeling pride in their victory as well. While Baxter's alien friends celebrated Stackers and his men came out to meet Baxter.
"I told you we could handle it," Baxter said still smiling.
"Never doubted you Baxter," Stackers said urging a smile as well, "By the way we managed to reach another platoon of Marines on our comm. links. We've been reassigned, and by we I mean my able men and yours as well."
"Let's here it," Baxter said interested in what he'd be assigned to.
"A large platoon of Marines are escorting Captain Miranda Keyes to some place called the Library. She's looking for something called the Index, and she could use all the help she can get. Three Pelicans are on their way as we speak. One will be used to distribute ammunition to us and pick up our wounded, the other two are going to be used for our transportation to Miranda's position."
"Sounds easy enough," Baxter replied with a shrug.
"If you think racing a platoon of Covenant, fighting off Sentinels, and protecting your own ass from the Flood is easy," Stackers said, shaking his head and walking off, disbelieving Baxter's confidence now.
Baxter stared blankly out into the tranquil ocean that surrounded the Relic.
"The flood?"
He'd never had experience against this enemy but he heard horrific stories about them. He prayed they'd be nothing different from the Covenant.

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