The Spartan: part 1

The ground is uneven and rocky, with little patches of snow dotting the landscape. The peak rises ominously in the distance, wreathed in boiling, black clouds illuminated by arcs of red lightning flashing across the sky. On either side of the Spartan steep cliffs rise and nearly block out the sky with their great height and seem to get narrower as he goes on. He can no longer tell the difference between the thunder and distant explosions. Any moment now this valley could become like so many other parts of Reach, a Covenant ship overhead burning everything in its path to ashes. A light begins blinking in his visor, notifying him that his vitals are reaching a critical level. There isn't have much time left. He stops to do a quick equation in his head between the miles left to the objective and the amount of time it will take on foot. If he could run he would almost have enough time.

The Spartan checks his remaining ammunition. He has three .50 caliber rounds left for his sniper rifle and half a clip of shredder rounds in the assault rifle's magazine. His pistol has been empty for hours and his shield generator is long gone. He stops walking and takes a moment to assess the situation. The canyon means limited movement and motion tracking, ammunition is almost depleted and without shields a falling rock from the top of the cliff could be lethal, let alone more conventional weaponry. He's lost too much blood to last long without medical attention and the nearest medic is under four feet of ash along with the rest of the command post. The soldier's frustration builds as he begins to see how hopeless it is. No. He takes a deep breath and steadies himself against the canyon wall as he stills all thoughts and emotions. He then resumes his trek at quicker pace. He will reach the end of this canyon and the Pelican troop transport he saw fall out of the sky thirty minutes ago. He will use their cokpit radio and call for emergency evacuation. If he is so fortunate as to find any Covenant troops at the crash site, the warrior will use what sparse means at his disposal to send every last one of them to the gates of Hell.