Reach’s Punisher

"Lieutenant! Get aboard!" a marine cried from the back of a Pelican. "We gotta get the hell outta here!"

Rising from the dirt, Frank Castle stared back calmly as he came to terms with what had just happened. Sighing, he shook his head in regret, "Negative. I have the gun."

He turned away from his would-be escape and walked towards the last remaining canon in the area as he spoke with finality, "Good luck, sir."

Captain Keyes watched as the resolute figure walked away, clutching the package and knowing he couldn't refuse this brave man's final sacrifice. He'd seen countless men and women do the same throughout his nearly four decades as an officer in the UNSC, but it never got any easier.

"Good luck to you, Spartan," was all he could say before he solemnly turned around and ordered the pilot to get them out of there.

It was unknown if the man heard it, but Frank moved towards his target without another word nonetheless. He was the last member of Noble Team still breathing on Reach, that he knew of, and the Spartan was going to make the Covenant regret that real soon.

•••

"Noble Six, get on that mass driver and clear me a path!" Keyes' voice came in over the comm's as Frank was sprinting towards the gun.

"On it, Sir," he replied, clearing the still-warm corpses of Elites from the weapon's controls. It had taken him longer than he'd expected to make it back there as Covenant reinforcements kept piling in.

'Emile really made them work for it,' he thought in disgust as he took his place in the seat with an audible *squelch*.

As the weapon spun up, he heard Keyes' voice once again, "Cruiser moving into position, I need it dead!"

Sadly, the ship was out of his weapon's range at the moment and Frank was forced to focus on the smaller vessels encroaching on his position. It wouldn't do any good to be dead before he could take the shot and so the Captain would have to perservere.

"I gotcha," Frank whispered to himself as he lined up the sights with a cruel smirk.

With a concussive blast that threw up dust in the surroundings, the canon fired, destroying the ship in a single shot.

However, this was only the beginning and Frank had to reload swiftly as another rose to take its place.

Two down, then three. Five were dispatched soon after which were quickly joined by six more.

"Goddammit! There's no end to these things!" Frank swore as he could now see the air distort around him due to the heat the canon was giving off.

"Shit!" his shields flashed as three Banshee's made a strafing run on his position. He thanked his lucky stars that the canon's reticle was linked to his HUD by this point as smoke completely engulfed the area.

"You got to fire now, Spartan! We won't survive another hit!" Keyes yelled over the comms.

Frank broke his targeting system away from the smaller ships and cursed himself for getting tunnel-vision. It didn't matter if they took him out at this point, he was a dead man walking anyways.

As he swiveled the mass driver up towards the much larger ship overhead, Keyes' orders came in again, "Fire now, Lieutenant! Hit her in the gun!"

The massive glowing weapon was as good a bullseye as he'd ever seen and Frank pointed the canon right at it.

The spin-up took what felt like ages as he watched the cruiser's plasma laser charging for a final shot.

As the mass driver fired, time seemed to freeze and the Spartan held his breath while zoomed in on the point of impact.

The initial collision was small, barely breaking through the vessel's shields but, they didn't call Captain Keyes a genius for nothing. Less than a second after the shot landed, the cruiser's charging plasma canon imploded, nearly cutting the ship in half and sending it crashing into the dirt.

"Good guns, Spartan! All stations brace for cast off," as Keyes' orders came in, Frank finally came out of his trance-like state.

As he looked around the airspace, he sagged in relief and allowed a relieved smile after seeing the rest of the Covenant ships backing off. That lasted less than a minute however, as he watched them land and deploy troops…

Troops that were moving his way.

"This is the Pillar of Autumn. We are away. And the package is with us," Keyes' final call fizzled away into static as the line dropped.

Frank looked up and saw the Autumn breaking through the billowing clouds of smoke and ash, a satisfied smile adorned beneath his helmet. He'd done his job, completed his mission.

Now, it was time to go out with a bang.

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Planet Reach

August 30, 2552 20:00 Hours

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Frank stood atop a platform overlooking fog that lit up with green, blue, and pink plasma every so often. It stretched on for miles in all directions, seemingly only excluding his small island within the grey smoke.

It was an eerie sight to behold, knowing that those blasts would soon be pointed your way. But Frank didn't hide, nor cower under the mounting pressure. He stood out in the open, DMR in hand and Sniper slung across his back.

For some reason, over the past few hours that he awaited his enemies' arrival, an odd sensation hit him and he felt compelled to add some flare to his old armor. What was once pitch black, so much so that he'd become near invisible in the dark after his visor was switched off, now sported a bright white skull of an Elite across the torso.

He didn't know why, but it just felt right to put it there. After all, he wasn't hiding. It was better to send a message, the Covenant will have to earn his head. He wanted them to remember his figure and tremble, every time the ones who did so closed their eyes at night.

As the first Grunts came waddling out of the smoke, Frank shivered. Yet unlike what the xenos would like to believe, it wasn't out of fear, but anticipation.

Reach had been lost, utterly decimated by the Covenant. Now, the last surviving member of Noble Team, was itching to dish out some punishment.