[Authors note - I have BIG MAC drawing up some diagrams on the new weaponry, such as the MA6B, the BR85HB SR, and the M7A1 SMG. I will be releasing them as soon as possible, with a description of each firearm.

Thank you,
~Double M.]

For those who don't know, this is what a Cougar A.F.V. looks like, which will pretty much the only human vehicle involved in this:

Open this on a different tab, then play the video. It will make this chapter much better.

"We are taking heavy fire!" the pilot called out from the cockpit. Backdraft looked out a nearby window to see multiple bolts of blue plasma passing by the pelican.

"LZ is hot! Get ready!" One of the SSEAL's called out. Backdraft chambered a round into his battle rifle and held it at the ready, as the pelican descended to the surface, hovering a few feet above the ground and dropping the Cougar it was carrying.

"Go! Go! Go!" Backdraft shouted as the pelican's bay door lowered. The squad jumped out and sprinted towards the Cougar, taking cover by it as the pelican lifted off.

"Clear the area so we can land." The pilot called out over the radio. A lance of brutes charged out of the nearby forest, their weapons lifted in the air. One of the SSEAL's rose up, shouldered his assault rifle, and fired a long burst at them, killing one of the brutes. Another brute raised its carbine and fired off two quick shots, both of them hitting the SSEAL in the head.

"Man down!" Lyra called out, reaching out and catching the limp body of the SSEAL.

"Lyra, get inside the Cougar and start it up, we'll cover you!" Backdraft ordered. Lyra nodded and started climbing on top of the Cougar. The brutes noticed her and aimed their weapons at her, before Backdraft rounded the corner of the Cougar, his assault rifle at the ready, firing off a plasma grenade from his underbarrel grenade launcher. The plasma grenade stuck onto the head of one of the brutes.

"Get it off! Get it off!" It pleaded, trying to rip off the plasma grenade out of its fur to no avail, before its upper half of its body disappeared in an explosion of blue plasma. The other brutes roared in rage at the ODST.

"Get some!" Backdraft called out, as he shouldered his assault rifle, firing off his entire magazine into the brutes, killing two and injuring a few more. The brutes returned fire, firing off a storm of plasma and spikes at him. Nova pulled Backdraft away and behind the Cougar, narrowly saving him from disintegration. Suddenly, Cougar's engine roared to life, as it's main turret rotated towards the Covenant.

"I've got it from here, boss." Lyra said over the com. "Cover your ears!"

The Cougar rolled forward slightly, firing its dual M909 75mm autocannons at the Covenant, ripping them to shreds. Several other lances charged out from the forest, only to meet a similar fate at the hands of the Cougar.

"All clear!" Lyra reported over the com.

"LZ is clear! You are clear to land, Zulu 3-3." Backdraft said over the com.

"Roger that. I'll be with you shortly." The pilot replied.

"Banshees! Hold on!" Four Seven Niner called out to the Freelancers in the pelicans cabin.

"Great..." Washington grumbled to himself. He looked up to see Agent Tex rising from her seat and picking up a nearby rocket launcher. The pelican bay door lowered as she balanced the rocket launcher on her shoulder.

"Shit! Cover your ears!" Agent California shouted as Tex locked onto the nearest banshee. She fired a single rocket, which launched out of one of the rocket launchers tubes and streaked across the sky, ramming right through the banshee. The crippled banshee shuddered and veered into the other banshee.

"Nice shot!" California called out.

"That's not all! We got more incoming!" Four Seven Niner called out as two more banshees screeched past the pelican, before turning around and firing their plasma cannons at them.

"Close the doors!" Washington ordered.

"You got it!" Four Seven Niner called from the cockpit, as the pelican's bay door closed. A barrage of plasma hit it a split second later, the door seeming to bubble and melt where it was struck by the plasma.

"Shit! We're hit! Thrusters are gone, I can't control it! This is Four Seven Niner, we are going down!" Four Seven Niner called out desperately, as the pelican began it rapid descent towards the ground.

"Brace yourselves!" Agent Carolina shouted, as the pelican crashed into the forest below.

"Sir, I've got something on my motion trackers," Lyra called out from the cobra. "Six- no, seven unknowns coming from our east!"

"Be ready for anything, get ready to fire!" Backdraft shouted, shouldering his battle rifle. Nova and Berry ran up next to him, crouching slightly and holding their firearms at the ready.

"Can you see anything, Octavia?!" Backdraft shouted up to Octavia, who had climbed up a nearby tree earlier.

"That's a negative, Gunny!" Octavia shouted back. Backdraft's attention was drawn back to the east, as he heard some nearby bushes rustling. Before he and the rest of the squad could open fire, Applebloom-83 stumbled out of the bushes, soon followed by the rest of her team. With a sigh of relief, Backdraft lowered his weapon and walked up to the Spartans.

"Damn, it's good to see you guys." Backdraft said, a smile spreading across his face.

"Yeah, our pelican crashed two klicks from here... so we thought we would just trot on over here." Scootaloo said, shrugging. "Any word from the Freelancers?"

"Not a thing." Nova responded, shrugging.

"What about Crimson Team?" Scootaloo asked.

"They landed about fifteen klicks from here, and are on their way."

As if on cue, Crimson Team's Cougar screeched into the open, its main cannon blazing, as five ghost appeared behind it, firing their plasma cannons wildly.

"Shit!" Backdraft called out. Lyra's Cougar lurched forward, opening fire on the ghosts. Isaac Colt galloped up in between the two AFV's, steadied his rocket launcher on his shoulder and quickly fired off two rockets, both hitting and destroying a ghost. The remaining ghosts started fall back, as the Cougar's lurched forward, continuing up their fire and taking out the remaining ghosts.

"Good kill!" Scootaloo called out.

"Gunny, I have eyes on multiple lances of Covenant infantry heading this way!" Octavia shouted from the treetops.

"Alright ponies, let's get ready for them! Find some cover and get your fields of fire set. Let's move!" Backdraft ordered.

Washington's eyes fluttered open, momentarily blinded by the light entering through his visor. He shook his head, clearing his blurry vision and stumbled out of the pelican, where the rest of the team was waiting... or what was left of it. The three Marines on board the pelican were killed in the crash, and the pilot had a broken leg and several broken ribs. Apart from that, everyone seemed okay.

"Bout' time he waked up." Carolina said, before walking up to the pelican and helping Washington out of it.

"You alright, Wash?" California asked.

"Yeah... just a rough landing." Wash stated, cracking a small smile under his helmet.

Tex chuckled to herself. "More like you fainted."

"Alright guys, knock it off. Even though we all know Wash fainted, we still have a bit of a situation." Four Seven Niner stated, before taking off her damaged helmet and tossing it aside. "The Marines are dead, our transport is down, I'm injured, and our Cougar is no where to be seen. Not to mention we're a good... fifteen to twenty klicks away from the rally point. So Wash... what are you orders?"

"We need to get walking. Plain and simple." Washington stated, picking up a battle rifle from one of the dead Marines. "Tex, you got point. California, you take up the rear. Carolina, you have to carry the pilot... don't worry, I got your six."

"Great..." Carolina muttered, scooping up the pilot with a single arm and gripping one of her SMG's with her free arm.

"We both don't like it, so quit your whining." Four Seven Niner stated.

"Alright, let's go. Tex, get moving."

"Yeah, yeah..." Tex muttered, before walking into the dense brush, the rest of the Freelancers right behind her.