Halo - Cancer
The small Covenant dropship landed near the makeshift facility. Commander Kura 'Rakamee and his loyal squad of Sangheili bounded out of the small dropship and sprinted towards the facility, and some of them were already activating their plasma swords. Kura had a small plasma pistol in a holster at his belt, an energy sword attached next to it, and his active camouflage device was ready to go.
His loyal Sangheili had faced many strong enemies and had always come out victorious. But now, this was different. This was an enemy unlike any they had ever faced. This time, they were facing one of their own.
A Sangheili resided in the facility, which had been destroyed and rebuilt many times now, and this certain Sangheili was a traitorous heretic. He was known as the Heretic, since his real name was unknown, and he had begun a one-Sangheili war against the glorious Covenant. He had killed many good warriors because he believed the Covenant was unholy, and that all the things they said were lies. Kura and his troops were here to make sure the Heretic died horribly.
For heresy, there was only one punishment : death.
Kura and his troops ran towards the facility, and were soon at the front doors. Kura's right-hand man, Vass 'Farlamee, stood next to him. "Sir, do you really think the Heretic is in there?"
Kura nodded. "If he isn't, then our most glorious Hierarchs have indeed misinterpreted their information and visions, which as we both know would be impossible."
Vass readied his plasma rifle. "The whole squad reports they are ready to enter the facility, commander."
Kura nodded. "Proceed, but stay alert. The Heretic is not to be underestimated."
Vass nodded. "Understood." He opened a comm channel to the other Sangheili. "All forces enter the facility and find the Heretic. Our orders are to bring him in, dead or alive. Glory to our brethren!"
The other Sangheili cried out similar battle cries, then ran into the facility. Kura gripped his own plasma sword, and followed his men in.
Inside the facility was dark. There was little lighting inside, and the whole place smelled of burned wood and metal. The Sangheili switched to their night-vision, and proceeded further into the facility. Kura held his plasma sword in front of him, and watched closely for any signs of the Heretic. If he was smart, which he was, he would have his active camouflage activated, which would make their job a lot harder.
Something flickered in Kura's view and he quickly swiveled his head towards the flicker. The other Sangheili aimed their weapons at it, but it was gone before they could get a lock. Kura motioned to the others to keep going, and they soon headed for the center of the facility. Kura's recon data told him this had once been a smelting facility, and some of the smelting equipment was still operational.
"Commander, how are we going to find the Heretic?" A young Sangheili initiate named Irga 'Mantacree asked.
Kura still thought the Hierarchs' idea to send an initiate, someone who was still learning how to kill, along on this mission was foolish, but he never questioned the Hierarchs' orders. "Well, a contingent of Grunts is on their way as 'reinforcements', but I think we will find him before then. We need to split up and look separately, then report back when we find anything." He opened a frequency to all the other Sangheili. "Split into groups of two and spread out, watch your backs, and whoever brings me the Heretic's head will receive the praise of the Hierarchs."
The squad of twelve split up into six groups of two. Kura was partnered with the initiate, Irga. When everyone was in their groups, they split up.
Kura and Irga walked into the main smelting area, where below them was a wide pool of molten metal. A long conveyor belt used to transport metals to the smelter was in front of them, inactive. Kura still held his plasma sword up, and Irga was holding two plasma pistols.
"Commander, why is the Heretic committing heresy against the Covenant?" Irga asked. "What made him turn away from the Hierarchs?"
Even though he thought Irga annoying, Kura couldn't help but wonder himself. "The Heretic is a heretic for his own reasons. Reasons which at this point do not really matter. Our orders are to bring him dead or alive back to High Charity. There, we will dump his corpse at the feet of the three noble Prophets of Truth, Mercy and Regret. Anyone who would seek to sow seeds of dissent in our glorious Covenant deserves nothing less than death."
High Charity was the Covenant Holy City, a great monolithic city that hung in space, where the three Prophets of Truth, Mercy and Regret sat, dictating the will of the gods. Kura had to bring the Heretic to them, and there he would receive great honour and glory for killing him. Soon, he thought, he would be remembered in the annals of the Covenant history.
Vass gripped his plasma rifle tightly. To say he wasn't afraid would be to lie, and Vass hated lying. His partner, Yurna 'Yangavee, held a plasma sword in his hand, ready to strike the first thing that moved. Yurna was a little too trigger happy for Vass's liking.
The two of them moved deeper into the old smelting facility. Vass's night vision revealed big piles of half-smelted metal lying around everywhere. Effectively, a metal jungle. The Heretic could be anywhere. He could be right behind them, already waiting to kill them. The very thought made Vass sweat madly.
Suddenly, Yurna stopped. He held the handle of the sword so tight that Vass thought the grip would break. Something moved in the shadows, and suddenly a green glow flared in a corner of the area. It was too late once he had discerned what it was from.
It was a round from a fuel rod cannon.
Vass ducked in time, but Yurna was hit in the head by the energy round. It vaporized his head, and his decapitated corpse fell to the ground. Purplish-blue blood splashed out from where his neck had been onto the ground. Vass had little time for remorse as the cannon fired again. He leapt to the side and the blast ripped open a hole in the wall behind him. Light flooded into the room, and Vass saw a huge pool of molten metal in the room behind him. The cannon stopped firing, and a transparent form moved towards him. Vass fired his plasma rifle at the form, but his rounds did nothing. The form pulled out a plasma sword, and the blade went straight through Vass's stomach. The camouflage on the form disappeared, and Vass found himself staring at an Sangheili wearing black armour and helmet. It was as if he was staring at death. This Sangheili had to be the Heretic.
The Heretic lifted Vass up high on his sword, then threw him towards the hole in the wall. Vass tumbled down towards the pool, but grabbed onto a piece of metal that was sticking out of the side of the pit. Molten metal steamed below him – it would melt him in seconds.
The Heretic activated his camouflage and stood above Vass looked up and saw nothing, which meant the Heretic was standing perfectly still.
Vass looked up and saw Kura and the initiate Irga nearby. "Please! Commander! Help me!"
Kura looked down to Vass, but was too late to save him. The Heretic fired his plasma rifle twice, and Vass lost his grip on the metal. He fell into the pool of molten metal, and soon his flesh began to melt. Once that was gone, his bones began to become nothing.
Kura saw Vass, but was powerless to do anything to help him. The tall form of a camouflaged Sangheili fired the plasma rifle, and Kura's long time friend and second in command fell into the pool of molten metal. Kura could only stand there, helpless as the Sangheili fell and melted into nothing.
Irga whipped out a plasma pistol and charged it up. The blast that issued from the pistol was strong enough to vaporize a squad of Grunts, but just as it was about to hit the Heretic, a small, portable shield, very similar to the ones used by Jackals, sprang up in front of the camouflaged Heretic. The blast nullified the shield, and in the time it took for Irga's pistol to recharge, the Heretic sprinted away, still camouflaged, through the hole Vass had come through.
"After him!" Irga screamed, and leapt over to the hole in the wall.
"No!" Kura cried, but it was too late.
Silence, except for the quiet bubble of the molten pool, hung in the air. A few seconds later, a scream rang out. The pain in that scream was quite evident. After a few more seconds passed, the scream stopped abruptly. Kura stared at the open hole, but saw nothing. A wet thump sounded behind him, and the bodies of three dead Sangheili dropped to the ground behind him. He couldn't see Irga among them. This wasn't good. Quite a few of his men had died, now.
He went back out the way he'd come, but he saw none of his Sangheili. There were a few splashes of bluish-purple Sangheili blood on the walls and floor, but no more bodies. Kura held onto his plasma rifle, and made sure it was fully charged, ready in case the Heretic came in.
A shriek caught his attention, and the bodies of five more Sangheili were blasted towards him by a plasma grenade. Without waiting to stop and check his fallen comrades, Kura sprinted around the corner, and let off a stream of shots from his plasma rifle. He gave a warrior cry and grabbed another rifle from the ground. Both rifles fired in harmony, blue blasts criss-crossing inside the room. He kept firing until the rifles overheated, then lowered his arms.
The acrid smell of plasma discharge hung in the air, and Kura was sure he could also smell charred flesh. He waited until the rifles had cooled down, then slowly walked into the room. He knew he could very well be about to enter the fight of his life against the Heretic, and had to be prepared. He raised the rifles to shoulder height, and ran into the room ready to fire.
A quick burst of plasma fire streaked out towards Kura, but he was ready. He quickly rolled to the side and fired his own weapons in the direction of the enemy fire, but he hit only walls. The Heretic was quick, Kura would give him that.
"Commander!" a voice cried from the next room. "By the grace of the Hierarchs, help me!"
Kura recognized the voice – it was Irga! Kura ran straight through to the next room, his rifles primed, but he stopped the instant he entered the room. What he saw shocked him.
Several large skeletons, those of Sangheili, adorned the walls of the room. Blue blood covered the floor, some of it fresh and some of it days old. A collection of plasma grenades and carbine cartridges lay on the ground near one of the skeletons, and a spent plasma pistol sat on the floor near Kura's feet. There was still a very faint glow near the weapon's barrel.
And in the center of the room, held at gunpoint by the Heretic, was Irga.
Kura made to move forward, but the Heretic shook his head. "One step further, Elite, and I'll send him to the next world." He tightened his grip on the charged pistol held at Irga's head.
Kura lowered his rifles and laid them on the ground. "If you have any honour left in you, Heretic, you will let him go and come face me yourself."
The Heretic laughed. "If you had any honour you would not disgrace yourself by serving the likes of the Hierarchs."
Anger welling inside him, Kura clenched his fist. "Your words are filth, and I will not hear of them. You deserve to be gutted in front of the Hierarchs themselves."
"You'd like that, would you not?" the Heretic asked mockingly.
Kura, struck by an idea, suddenly bent down and picked up the spent plasma pistol at his feet. He aimed it at the Heretic, who was laughing even harder.
"Fool, that weapon is useless," he said. "You can't expect to defeat me with an exhausted plasma pistol."
"If that's what you think, then you're more foolish than I," Kura told him, gripping the pistol. "Because if it was entirely empty, it would not be glowing even minimally. There is still enough residual energy to do this."
He pulled the trigger, and a green burst spat out and struck the Heretic in the face. It was not powerful enough to kill him, but it burnt his face and disoriented him. The Heretic lost his grip on his own pistol, and Irga quickly jumped to his feet and ran to the pile of weapons in the corner.
Kura lunged forward to the Heretic, pulling out his energy sword. The Heretic raised his hands towards Kura, blocking the oncoming attack. Kura pushed against the upraised hands, forcing the sword towards the Heretic's chest. His burnt face was contorted with rage as he did his best to stave off the attack further.
Suddenly, with a great burst of strength, the Heretic threw Kura off him and over to the other side, where he struck the wall. His sword deactivated, and the Heretic stood up, advancing on him menacingly. As Kura slowly got up, he saw a bright blue ball fly out and latch itself onto the Heretic's torso. It took him a split second to realize what it was, then he got up as fast as he could, made for the doorway, and ran out. He heard a second set of footsteps, but didn't turn to see who it was as he continued running.
A few seconds later, the plasma grenade latched onto the Heretic exploded, taking him with it. Kura turned back for a moment, and saw the blue explosion inside the room he'd just left. As he began to walk back outside, satisfied that the Heretic was dead, he saw another Sangheili ahead of him, already making its way to the dropship. Kura could see that it was Irga.
"Commander," Irga said, waiting for him. "Thank you for saving me. Now I will be known as the one who destroyed the Heretic."
Kura nodded. "You would be, if you weren't dead."
Irga frowned. "I do not under –"
He was cut off as Kura whipped out his plasma pistol and let out a shot. It was a highly-charged shot that went straight through Irga's body shields and into his chest, burning it open. Blue blood began to drip out of his wound, and he fell backwards onto the ground, clutching at his now open chest.
"Why…" he managed to choke out.
"Because," Kura said, aiming the pistol at Irga's head, "I will be known as the killer of the Heretic, and I will ascend to a higher command position. I cannot afford to have that delayed by a lowly soldier."
He pulled the trigger again. Irga's startled face melted away as the plasma burned it. Kura, now even more satisfied, holstered his pistol and headed back to the dropship.
Since he was the only survivor he was now the only one who could pilot it back, leaving no other witnesses. It had all gone according to plan, and now he would inform the Hierarchs of his victory. He may not have the Heretic's corpse or head, but he could give them a detailed account of how he had managed to kill the Heretic single-handedly, after all his squad had been killed. He would be made a Ship Master, or better.
As he began to start up the engines of the dropship, he felt the deck rumble when it shouldn't have been. He turned back to see an explosion racing up towards him from the engine room. Stunned, he used his last few seconds of existence to think about how this could have happened.
And then he figured it out. The Heretic, with his powerful active camouflage device, had somehow been waiting for them, and had put explosives in the engines when they'd arrived, then double-backed to the facility. He'd planned this from the start.
Kura closed his eyes, and felt the explosion burn away all that was left of his physical self.