An Elite's Tale
Ludo 'Macdemee sat waiting in the Spectre while his commander, Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadumee, spoke with the Arbiter. The two of them had been doing reconnaissance on a Jiralhanae encampment, where they spotted a Scarab, when they stumbled upon the Arbiter leading a large lance on foot along the coast. His living presence was a shock in and of itself, as he was reported by Tartarus to have been killed in his retrieval of the Icon.
"What is that place?" the Arbiter asked, staring at an old Forerunner structure in the distance.
Rtas was in his Wraith with the hatch open, resting his arms on the hood. He replied, "Where the Councilors were meant to watch the consecration of the icon. The start of the Great Journey."
The Councilors. Ludo was still wrapping his mind around what the Arbiter had told them of the Prophet's betrayal to the High Council, how they ordered the Brutes to kill all of the Elites. Worse yet, the Arbiter had reason to believe the Sacred Ring may actually be a weapon of mass destruction, and there was only a matter of time to stop Tartarus from firing it.
"I must get inside," the Arbiter said with resolve.
"Then mount up, Arbiter. I know a way to break those doors." Rtas replied before disappearing inside the Wraith, closing the hatch behind him. The Wraith hummed to life and hovered about a half a foot off the ground. While the Arbiter lingered on the structure a moment longer, a Zealot that had come with him ordered the others to get in formation, sending two Elites over to Ludo's Spectre. One had on an intimidating, all white armor exclusive only to the Ultras, while the other was wearing the standard blue combat harness. They both got into the passenger seats located on each side, while a Grunt Major that was in attendance manned the plasma turret in Rtas's Wraith. Satisfied, the Arbiter finally came over and knocked on the hull of the Spectre, requesting Ludo's seat.
"At your service, Arbiter," Ludo proclaimed as he got out and climbed into the gunner's position.
The team set out at a steady pace, vehicles in front, ground troops in back, weapons trained on the high walls of the deep, canyon-like valley they were in. There was an immense abundance of boulders and vegetation: the perfect set up for an ambush. As they neared the first turn, two boulders were sitting one in front of the other right in the middle of the pathway, temporarily splitting the trail.
"Keep your wits about you," Rtas said to everyone over the comms. "This could be a trap. Ground forces, move up and clear out the forward area. We will cover you with the turrets."
Ludo and his allies in the Spectre went to the left, while Rtas went with the Zealot and his team of Grunts and Elites on the right. Cautious, Ludo kept the plasma turret trained forward, but slowly adjusted his angles as they advanced past the boulders. They joined back up with the others and were about to make the turn when two Brutes in "Ghost" rapid assault vehicles zoomed from around the bend at top speed.
Rtas hadn't let reuniting take him off alert and fired off a mortar shot of latent plasma, striking the rear Ghost dead on, destroying it and the driver both completely. The lead Ghost however, plowed right through the crowd of foot soldiers, with most diving out of the way for the exception of one of the Grunts, who tried to stand his ground and fire an overcharged plasma burst. The Grunt actually managed to shut down the enemy vehicle, just not in enough time to save his own life as inertia propelled the Ghost forward at a good thirty to forty miles an hour and splattered him against one of the mossy boulders.
Ludo didn't even bother with the Ghost, as the Brute occupying it was promptly yanked from the vehicle and overwhelmed by half a dozen Elites, allowing the last Grunt on the ground, a reputably cowardly Minor by the name of Fliz, to take it for himself. Instead, Ludo focused fire on the next wave of Ghosts that were alot more cautious in their approach, weaving and shooting instead of flying in all berserk. As the Elites in the ground all scrambled for cover, Ludo led his shots in order to hit his crafty target, a Brute Captain telling from the red flag behind the beast's left shoulder. The Brute kept popping in and out of cover and firing in short controlled bursts. Its accuracy was decent, but the tactic was predictable, and Ludo was patiently timing an effective response.
Wait for it, wait for it... There. An opening.
He was just about to fire when the Spectre suddenly lurched forward and rammed into another Ghost, sending it into a spinning cartwheel right into the path of the Wraith tank, which boosted forward with such force that the much smaller vehicle exploded on impact. Ludo swiveled the turret around to finish what he'd started and saw none other than Fliz attempting to combat the Brute Captain in an unexpexted display of skill.
Maybe fighting with the Arbiter took the cowardice right out of him, Ludo thought.
Two of the Elites on the ground, both of Special Operations, rushed in to last Captain was being fired upon from all angles, the Elites on the ground, the ones in the Spectre, the Grunt in the Wraith turret. He caught a few rounds to the head and lost his helmet, then his power shields failed. He finally was no longer able to hold onto the controls and the battered Ghost powered down, leaving him slumped over the hood in his seat. The green armored Spec Ops Elite motioned for Fliz to reverse away while the other, a blue one with white highlights, overhand tossed a plasma grenade at the wreck to finish the job.
The lance made the turn a moment later and saw that the canyon valley opened up into a circular clearing with two sloping boulders in the middle, where the ground was a bit sunken in, and saw three more Brutes in Ghosts approaching, followed by two comandeering a Wraith. The enemy tank launched its own massive blob of plasma, and Rtas and the Arbiter took their vehicles in opposite directions to dodge the blast. The Spectre was barely able to get out of the way, and the shockwave flipped the vehicle and flung Ludo like a catapult through the air and out onto the damp, earthy terrain.
He was on his stomach, crawling to his feet when he heard a distinct loud humming and dropped back down, lying flat against the soil. There was a scalding sensation on his back as a streak of purple blurred over him and missed the two Spec Ops Elites by inches and crashed into a wall. Ludo saw the duo chase after it as he climbed to his feet and drew his carbine, looking around. Ghosts were zipping past left and right, and things were moving too fast for him to track which one Fliz was in. Rtas had pushed forward to engage the enemy Wraith after the Spectre flipped, and was in the heat of the battle with the Grunt Major in his turret keeping the Ghosts at bay.
Seemingly across the battlefield, the Zealot and the Elite Minors under his command were able to flip the Spectre right side up, and he was telling two of them to occupy the empty seats. Ludo saw this and immediately started looking around. The Ultra was able to hang on, but Ludo and that Minor who was sitting on the side closest to the blast were not. After a few moments of concentrated scanning, he found him, face down in the middle of the war zone. One of the Brutes in the Ghosts was shooting his unmoving body. Ludo set the reticle of his green tinted sights over the Brute's eye and pulled the trigger three times as fast as he could. Three lime green, caseless radioactive projectiles shot from the carbine and bored into the Brute's skull at a speed of seven hundred meters per second, and sent the murderous mongrel toppling out of the Ghost.
"I've fought tougher Grunts, you stinking ape!"
"Save your energy, brother. There are more to come."
Ludo turned and saw the blue and white armored Elite walking towards him. He had a standard issue plasma rifle in his hand and an energy sword handle resting on his hip. His buddy in the green was right behind him in the Ghost from the Brute that almost ran him over, and Fliz was beside that Elite in his own.
"I am called Joha. That there is Xepo," he said, motioning to the Ghost behind him.
Ludo didn't have to introduce himself, they already knew he was. Ludo 'Macdemee, the Shipmaster's "Plague". Before the Prophets put him under Vadumee's command, he was singlehandedly responsible for the sudden disappearance dozens of Insurrectionist and UNSC bases on Reach just before all hell broke loose. He'd been able to add not one, but two Spartans to his kill count back on the falling planet. The first was a fluke, a quick, quiet assassination the gray clad demon hadn't seen coming at all. Ludo personally returned the helmet, with the head still inside, to the High Council. The second time wasn't so much of a fluke as it was a fight for his life. A black and pink female demon with one of those infernal jet packs managed to grab onto the wing of his Banshee during a battle at New Alexandria, pull him from the cockpit, and boost-tackle him through the window of a small office. They had a prolonged showdown that ended with him using his final carbine round to deliver the killing blow. If it wasn't for his camouflage and that trusty trigger finger of his...
Enough. He thought, clearing his head of the old memory. You are here. Clear your mind or shoot yourself right now, save the Brutes the trouble. He looked across the battlefield and saw the Zealot, who had a single Elite minor trailing behind him as he charged in after the vehicles.
Ludo pointed over to him and shouted to Joha over the explosions in the background, "Let's regroup on the Zealot!"
Joha nodded and they both jogged after him while the Ghosts sped ahead to join the Arbiter and Rtas 'Vadumee, who had by now cleared out the immediate threat and were further ahead. Ludo got into the Ghost that he'd taken down and offered Joha a ride on the hood. When the noble Elite squinted at him warily, Ludo said, "It's faster. Trust me, I've done it."
Being literally the last ones left, Joha saw no other choice and climbed up onto the hood, crouched and balancing as the Ghost picked up speed.
"Prepare to jump, Elite!" Ludo yelled as they neared the Zealot. "Now!"
Joha dove forward off the right wing of the Ghost as Ludo passed the Elites and jerked to the left. Ludo craned his head back and saw Joha perform a textbook barrel roll a few feet from the Zealot, then sped forward to catch up with the others, back to the open plain where he and Rtas saw the Scarab docked on the ledge. When he finally caught up and got into wedge formation with Fliz and Xepo, he arrived just as Rtas fired a Wraith shot and shellack a highjacked Phantom Troop Carrier that was firing at him. There were two enemy Wraiths, launching plasma mortars as fast as their firing mechanisms allowed, blocking the entrance to a structure similar to the one the Arbiter noticed looming in the distance. Once the Phantom backed off and flew to safety, Ludo saw that the Grunt Major was no longer in the turret, and the Spectre was no where in sight.
"Ludo," the Shipmaster called to him over the comms. His Wraith was maybe fifty feet to their right, directly under the Scarab. "The Arbiter is making his way up the right side of their holdout. Take your Ghosts over to that left side of those rock formations, and force those clumsy beasts out of their hole."
"You heard him," Ludo said to Fliz and Xepo. "Let us make quick work of these Brutes."
Zipping and dodging Wraith shots, the trio zoomed towards the gap in the boulders and infiltrated the holdout in a few quick laps through and around their cover while the Arbiter dealt with the Wraiths by hand.
"You are an inspiration to us all, Arbiter!" Xepo called out after the second tank was destroyed.
The battlefield clear, everyone who survived formed up on the Arbiter, who was standing next to Rtas's Wraith.
"The Brutes control that cruiser Arbiter. On your way. Ludo, you and Joha go with him. Zuvo," Rtas said, directing his attention on the Zealot. "You and your Elites remain here and make sure no reinforcements get in behind them. Xepo, Fliz, follow close behind me. We are going to take the cruiser back!"
