"Shit, Mark is down!" Pedro shouted, dropping to a knee with his Spartan Laser readied, the Hunters lurking just out of his visual range behind a thick plate of the ship's bulkhead, meaning if the SPARTAN wanted a clear shot at them he'd be putting himself at risk as well, "Damnit! They're hiding like the cowardly sonsofbitches they are!"

"Or maybe they're finally developing their own combat doctrine which is uninfluenced by the Prophet's," Joshua chimed in, unpinning a pair of fragmation grenades from his belt and tossing them into Pedro's waiting hands, subconsciously knowing the Latinos plan for dealing with the Hunters.

"Alright, we're gonna flush 'em out," Pedro said, holding up the grenades to the assembled squad of ODST's, "Ramirez, I want you on that SPNKr immediately, don't give 'em a chance to shoot back."

Ramirez nodded, switching to the rocket launcher in place of his usual Assault Rifle.

"Soon as these grenades go off, we storm that hangar." Leo added, going over the feed from Pedro's helmet as the other SPARTAN peered around the corner, as the SPARTAN hefted the pair of grenades, "NOW!"

The thunder of nine pairs of boots reverberated through the hallway as the squad and the Hunter pair simultaneously leapt from cover to engage their foes, automatic weapons fire and explosions riddling the hangar.

Leo slid into cover next to the ODST grenadier, O'Brian, the young Corporal popping out of cover to engage targets and occasionally insult his opponents, "How we doing team?"

"Me and Serrow have got the right side covered, sir." Raevynn radioed, dropping another target with her sniper rifle before slamming another magazine into the breach.

"Serrow and I," Joshua corrected before finishing off a wounded Elite with a short controlled burst from his MA5K, whilst the ODST's sprayed away like mad bandits.

"Sergeant Cabera, give me covering fire!" Williamson ordered, racking the bolt on his MA5B, "I'll flank around!"

Cora nodded, popping out of cover with her M7 SMG blazing away at the behemoth alien, trying to draw it's fire from the Gunnery Sergeant. The alien now divided among two targets was easy pickings for the rest of the fire team, especially Ramirez's SPNKr and Pedro's Spartan Laser.

"Position clear," Pedro called out, his smoking M90A hanging by his side as he surveyed the hangar bay and the mounds of alien corpses littering the floor.

"Affirmative," Leo replied, motioning for the demolition expert to take point on the second phase of the operation, "Everyone still intact?"

"Looks like the buggers nicked me," Joshua muttered, limping up to the Senior Chief with a bloodied side which he clutched with his left hand whilst his right held his rifle.

Leo eyed the wound momentarily before saying, "Damn..you still combat effective?"

Joshua shook his head slightly, both an act of shame and admittance of defeat, "No, sir. I can fight, but this isn't a stationary conflict, I'll just be slowing you down."

"Understood," Leo replied, placing a hand on the SPARTAN's shoulder, "Williamson, mind leaving one of your men behind to assist in holding this position?"

Williamson nodded, glancing over at the squad's resident grenadier before more forcefully urging the trooper to move, "Get your ass over there Obi, show 'em how the ODST's do it!"

"Oorah."

"Great, you left the bloody idiot to keep me company," Joshua said through the teams private comm channel, causing a soft chuckle from the Senior Chief, "Oh, and sir? Good luck out there."

"Alright, people. This is it,"

"Time to run the gauntlet, already?" Pedro asked jokingly, though the way he was loading his shotgun emphasized his seriousness, Leo could almost sense it, "Figured we'd be running this once we got the bomb planted."

Leo shook his head, "No time, Admiral wants this op done, now."

"Shit, he's sending us to our damn deaths here," Pedro retorted, kicking one of the Covenant space crates with a heavy booted foot, "Useless bastard!"

"Easy, Pedro. No need to freak out the ODST's before the big finish," Raevynn said softly, racking the slide on her M6D magnum handgun preferring the compact hand cannon for close quarters over her rifle.

"Yeah, you always liked the big finish," Serrow muttered before recieving an elbow to the gut.

"You pervert!"

Leo sighed, "Somethings never change."

"Cabera, you ready for this?" Gunnery Sergeant Williamson asked whilst the team's female member went about prepping her M7 SMG.

"Sir, are you questioning my ability to perform up to par?" she asked, glancing up into the faceless visor.

"Not at all, I'm just-"

"Checking up on me?"

"No, I-"

"Sir, as much as I appreciate the offer, I can handle myself without your help." The redhead taking this as her cue to to break off for the other side of the hangar where the rest of the team were preparing.

"Ya win some, you lose some, Gunny," Ramirez said jokingly, patting the Gunnery Sergeant on the back, the Gunnery Sergeant merely shrugging off the token of friendship and continued on his own, stewing about something the demolitions expert didn't quite understand, "What the hell'd I just miss?"

(Since in hindsight, I realized that merging this and the following chapter into one massive 'ending' block would come off extremely messily and awkward, I have decided instead to deliever it in two parts, with the finale and the 'Charge of The Light Brigade' making up the next chapter.)