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Spartan-561 slowly worked his way through the wreckage that filled the streets, followed closely by a young ODST named Emilia. The Spartan grabbed Emilia and pulled her behind the burnt out skeleton of a civilian warthog, just as a squadron of banshees screeched overhead. Gunfire could be heard from down the streets, as the banshees spotted a fleeing squad of Marines. They didn't stand a chance, as the banshees plasma cannons opened fire, ripping the Marines to shreds.

"Poor bastards..." Emilia muttered, before the Spartan shushed her. A phantom hovered overhead, likely filled with Covenant infantry. And, to be completely honest, 561 didn't want to be drawn into a firefight. He was already out ammo for his battle rifle, and only had a few magazines left for his SMG. Thankfully, Emilia gladly gave him a Covenant carbine she relinquished off a dead jackal shortly after he had found her.

"Think we can handle it, Chief?" Emilia asked, rising up slightly to get a view of the Covenant just down the street.

"No. Now stay down." The Spartan ordered silently, pulling her back down to the ground. "See that alley to our right?" The Spartan asked, pointing the alley about three hundred feet away.

"Let me guess, you want me to make a break for it?" Emilia asked.

"Lucky guess. I'll keep you covered." 561 stated, as he rose up from his cover and brought up his carbine to his shoulder. "Go. Now."

Emilia nodded and sprinted across the street as fast as she could, knowing very well that it would mean the death of her if she was spotted. The Spartan trained his carbine on a Jackal sniper, the biggest threat to Emilia and himself at the moment.

"Don't turn around... don't turn around... please for the love of God, don't turn around..." 561 muttered to himself. The sniper sniffed in the air and whirled around, catching a glimpse of Emilia before she escaped into the alley. A nearby brute also caught sight of her.

"It's just a single imp!" The brute bellowed, before pointing at two nearby grunts, clad in white armor. "You two. Go take it out."

"Yes sire!" One of them squeaked, as they started waddling up the street, clumsily climbing over the smoking corpses of what used to be Marines. Spartan-561 activated his armors active camouflage unit and sprinted into the alley, catching up with his companion.

"You were spotted. We have two Grunt Ultra's on the way." 561 stated. "Let's not attract any unnecessary attention."

"What do you mean? We could take those Covenant without breaking a sweat." Emilia pointed out.

The Spartan shook his head. "Sorry, Emilia, but that would be suicide for us. We're outgunned and outnumbered. And despite what you have heard, Spartans aren't invincible." Spartan-561 glanced around the alley and smiled when he laid eyes on a nearby dumpster. "And, sorry to say, but you're going dumpster diving."

"What do you mean?" Emilia asked. Instead of the answer she was expecting, the Spartan casually picked her up and placed her into the dumpster.

"I'll let you know when you can come out." The Spartan stated. Emilia didn't say anything in response, but the finger that she flipped at him said enough. 561 carefully closed the dumpsters lid and reactivated his active camouflage, narrowly avoiding getting spotted by the two grunts as they wobbled into the alley way, plasma rifles at the ready.

"I have dibs on helmet." One of the grunts said to the other.

"We share!" The other one squeaked, as they walked past the dumpster and the camouflage Spartan.

"Kick the helmet?" The first one offered.

"You bet!" The other one said. The two grunts reached the end of the alley, which opened up into a small sides street. They looked around real quick before turning around.

"We lost them..." The first one muttered.

"No kick the helmet?" The other grunt asked. The first grunt shook its head.

"That, and leader will be mad." The first grunt responded.

"Very mad." The other one agreed.

As the two grunts walked around the corner, the Spartan let out a sigh of relief and popped open the dumpsters lid.

"You suck, you know that?" Emilia pointed out. "Don't put me in another one of those things." She tried to jump out of the dumpster, but was too weighed down by her equipment and armor to succeed. "Um... a little help?"

The Spartan chuckled and reached inside the dumpster, gently lifting the ODST out of it. "I'll cut you a deal, how about I make it up to you over a couple beers when we get out of here. Deal?"

"Are you asking me out on a date, Spartan?" Emilia inquired.

"That would depend on your answer." Spartan-561 replied.

"You haven't even told me your name yet. How would I go out with someone if I don't even know his or her name?" Emilia countered.

"Good point... how about this? I'll tell you my name if you say yes." The Spartan offered.

"Alright, fine, but only when we get out of here. A middle of a war zone isn't really the best place to start a relationship, as you know." Emilia pointed out. "Oh... and would you mind putting me down now?"

The Spartan chuckled and nodded, before carefully placing the ODST on her feet. "Alright, good. Now let's focus on getting out of here." Spartan-561 stated, as he started walking away, with Emilia in tow.

"So, what is your name, anyways?" Emilia asked.

"Leonard." Leonard-561 said, as they walked into the side street.

"Pile out! Go, go, go!" Rosenda shouted, as her and the rest of Noble Team jumped out of their falcons. A trio of banshees screeched over head, blowing one of the falcons out of the sky. The hit falcon dropped towards the ground, almost falling right on top of Dinky. William ran up to the falcons crash site, pulling the badly burned and screaming pilot out of its cockpit.

"Medic! We need a medic over here!" William called out. Two Army medics ran up, carrying a stretcher with them. A trio of Army Troopers trailed behind them, each carrying a rocket launcher and a spartan laser.

The trio banshees turned around and went in for another attack run. The Army Troopers brought their rocket launchers up, locking onto the banshees, and fired off two rockets each. The pilots of the banshees didn't even have time to react, as each of the rockets hit their marks, blowing the banshees out of the sky.

"Who's in charge around here?" Rosenda asked one of the Army Troopers, who was working on reloading his rocket launcher.

"That would be Major Sky. He should be on the first floor." He replied. "Corporal," He said, pointing to the Army Trooper next to him, "go escort the Spartans to Major Sky."

"Yes sir!" The Corporal replied, before waving to the Spartans to follow him. "Covenant sent in their Spec Ops types against us. We weren't prepared for them. Until we heard you guys were showing up, we thought we were screwed."

"What type of casualties are we looking at?" Rosenda inquired.

"We had two divisions stationed here originally. We're down to three brigades now." The Corporal responded.

"Shit..." Speed commented.

"The 22nd Air Calvary is on it's way, but we need to soften them up for they can land." The Corporal stated. "I guess that's where you guys come in. Anyways, the Major should be down the hall. Good luck." He said, before turning around a running back the way they came.

"Took you long enough." Scootaloo stated, upon catching sight of Artemis leaving the Index Chamber. Sweetie Belle also noticed this, and waved in Bucks squad of ODST's inside.

"You alright, Artemis?" Sweetie Belle inquired.

"Never been better!" Artemis stated, tossing Justices head up in the air casually. "Got myself a trophy too. Anyone know Arby's address? I think I want to sent this to him."

"I will make sure he gets it, Ari." Widow said.

"Colonel Smith, this is Captain Twilight, do you read me?" Twilight's voice inquired over the COM.

"I read you Captain, what do you need?" Widow replied.

"Did you get a hold of the index?" Twilight asked.

"One sec. Buck?" Widow inquired.

"Sorry ma'am, there is no sign of the index." Bucks voice replied.

"That's a negative, Captain. The Covenant must have gotten their grubby little hands on it before us." Widow stated.

"That's a shame. Alright, prep for evac. We need to wipe out the Covenant presense on this ring as fast as possible. The Covenant are attacking Earth, and the situation is deteriorating fast."

"Roger that. We're on our way out." Widow said.

"Any word on Admiral Luna, Twilight?" Artemis asked.

"She's involved in ship-to-ship combat in Earths orbit. She knows what she is doing, so don't worry about it." Twilight's voice replied. "Your transport is on the way. Head outside and wait for your pick up."