Halo_ First Strike - Eric S. Nylund [50]
The Hunter fired.
Fred killed the power, and his Banshee dropped ten meters. There was a flash as the orb of destructive energy split the air where his flier had been a second before.
The Banshee hit the ground, skidding through fist-sized rocks. The battered craft flipped and tossed him to the ground. The Banshee rolled end over end and crashed into the Hunter.
The massive alien brought up its thick, metal shield and shrugged off the wreckage as if it were cardboard. The fuel rod gun began to charge again.
Fred winced and rolled to his feet, ignoring the new pain the crash landing had caused. He needed a weapon. Pain would have to wait.
The Hunter lumbered toward him, then dropped into a crouch and charged ahead at terrifying speed. There was a crackle of static on his COM frequency, and Fred heard one word: "Duck!"
He threw himself onto the ground and rolled to the side.
Kelly's riderless flier soared over him and collided with the Hunter at full speed. The Banshee exploded and showered the area with glittering metal fragments.
The Hunter reeled as fire washed across its armor. It moved in slow, confused circles. Fred could see the bright orange smears of the Hunter's blood staining the rocks.
Kelly landed on her feet next to Fred. She readied a captured plasma grenade and hurled it straight toward the second Hunter's huge gun.
It lodged in the barrel of the weapon and detonated. Tendrils of energy covered the Hunter. The gun crackled and belched smoke.
Fred got to his feet. "Run!"
They weren't going to engage a Hunter in hand-to-hand combat. They might lose—they might win, but in the meantime the rest of the Covenant ground forces would catch up to them.
They sprinted toward a tiny patch of forest ahead, perhaps the last trees standing on Reach. The Hunter, confused with its destroyed weapon—and its flame-wreathed partner—hesitated, not sure what to do.
"Didn't you see while we were airborne?" Kelly said, concern tightening her voice. "There's about half the entire Covenant assault force just ahead."
"Ground troops?" Fred said, boosting his speed to a full sprint. "How far?"
"Haifa klick."
That didn't make sense, either. Why have forces groundside when you were destroying the planet from orbit? "Something's not right," he told her. "Let's see what they're up to."
Kelly's acknowledgment light winked red.
"They're between us and the fallback point," Fred told her. "We have to."
They entered the stand of trees, paused, and looked back. The Hunter shambled after them, but it was a futile pursuit. Despite their occasional bursts of speed, the Hunters were too slow.
They were caught between Covenant forces on the ground and those in the air, and neither Fred nor Kelly voiced the one question foremost on their minds: Was there even a fallback position left? Or had the Covenant between them and the rest of their team found and destroyed them?
The COM crackled."—is Gamma Team, Alpha. Come in."
Fred replied, "Gamma, this is Alpha. Go ahead."
There was a roar of static. "Whitcomb . . . too many. Got— you read?"
"Gamma," Fred shouted. "The fallback is hot. Repeat hot! Acknowledge."
There was only static.
"I hope they heard," he told Kelly.
"Red-21 can take care of his team. Don't worry." She crept forward and waved him to follow. "Take a look at this."
Fred glanced over his shoulder. No Hunter, and nothing on his motion detector. He followed Kelly, and parted a wall of blackberry brambles. Parked in a clearing were Covenant vehicles, lined in three rows of four: mortar tanks. The tanks had two wide lateral fins, beneath which were armored antigrav pods. They were extremely stable and fired the Covenant's most powerful ground weapon: the energy mortar. Fred had seen