Red Lightning was many things, a soldier, an engineered weapon of war, an abomination designed to destroy everything, he was brutal, cold, and most of all he was devastating to all those he face in combat. However Lightning didn't like to think himself in those ways, that what he is physically, but he wasn't mindless and defiantly not a murderous psychopath. But as the saying goes, 'treat a man like a monster, and they'll act like a monster' and that statement held true for Lightning.
Just the mere sight of him was alien to humanity, with his body covered in ballistic like metal scales that were a blood red and deep blue in colours. It made it hard to tell what was scale and what was blood in combat. His limbs and everything else about him was distinctively alien, from his short spiky tail, to his clawed hands and spikes running down his back. What terrified people the most was his face, a reasonable long muzzle with a jaw full of venomous razor sharp fangs that could strip flesh from bone.
Spikes ran up his muzzle ending at a tuff of almost human like hair, but his eyes, the way they glowed a poisonous, almost unnatural green could send a shiver through people's souls.
Lightning was no feeble human, his flesh and bone had been fused, altered and enhanced through sciences to make him stronger, smarter, faster and most of all more ferocious compared to his humanoid counter parts. All in the pursuit of a weapon, Lightning held that fact with betterment and pride at the same time.
All this played through Lightning's mind as he sat there amongst the rubble of a building, the sky was overcast and gloomy which matched the atmosphere of the planet almost perfectly. It'd been 3 weeks since the Covenant had laid siege to this world, the name held no importance for Lightning nor did the date.
All he knew was the Covenant was hell bent on wiping out humanity like it was the scourge of the galaxy, humanity had little chances against the multiple alien species that comprised this Covenant war machine. Or the fact that the Covenant possessed technology that was almost 100 years ahead of humanity, cold harden steel was only so tough against the volatile power of energised plasma that liquefied matter upon contact. Lightning had experienced how powerful his enemy arsenal could be first hand, the plasma scorching across his hide spoke highly of the pain and discomfort.
Lightning almost felt sorry for the UNSC, or United Nations Space Command. Which was humanities primary military power in the galaxy, while lethal and powerful there technology may be. A 7.62x51MM armour penetrating projectile was only useful if it could get through energy shields, nearly all frontal or conventional tactics to fight the Covenant resulted in humanity suffering unimaginable casualties to gain the smallest of victories.
In other words, Humanity was losing this war of genocide, which made Lightning feel sympathetic. SARA called him soft but he had his own reasons for the emotion and why he continued to fight for a species that despised his very existence.
Adjusting his grip on a large cylinder like sniper rifle, the drake like creature gently lowered a pair of bulky armoured goggles over his eyes before aiming down the scope of his weapon. From the building he had a good advantage point overlooking a large park or recreational area. Perfect to ambush unexpecting scouts or enemy patrol units.
Sweeping the area with his weapon, Lightning's goggles displayed a highly advance heads up display that made him aware of his surroundings in a more prominent and tactful manner. SARA was of course a big held in this regard, making sure he was subconsciously aware and informed about everything in sight, right down to the gentle breeze and humidity variations that may interfere with his projectiles trajectory.
Movement made SARA alert Lightning to targets, and the drake slowly swivelled his weapon about to lock onto his would be victims.
Through the powerful scope, Lightning watched as several creatures slowly strolled down a street in a calmly manner, as if there was no war taking place at all.
4 of the aliens were what the troopers called 'Grunts' they were fat hunch back looking creatures with great big arms and tiny little legs that hobbled is larger body around in a ridiculous manner. Their faces were small and muzzled with a breather mask so they didn't suffocate in human atmosphere, they were clad in a light orange armour and armed with purple coloured plasma pistols that could be quite dangerous at close range.
Lightning knew that Grunts were the Covenant equivalent to cannon fodder, a species that were only there for numbers to over whelm the enemy. This allowed the taller and far more deadly alien behind the Grunts to be more effective in combat. The tall reptilian creature was clad in dark blue armour, with fins on its helmet that remarkable resembled shark fins. This species were called Elites, a dangerous and strong warrior like race that dwarfed the tallest human in both size, speed and strength.
Even Lightning, who could crush a man's skull with his bare hands couldn't match an Elite in terms of strength. They truly were dangerous adversaries to be wary of, thankfully they were also quite predictable at times during battle.
Adjusting his aim to lead his target and adjust for the forces of gravity, wind and trajectory drop. Lightning squeezed the trigger causing his rifle to rocket back violently into his shoulder, expelling a heavy 14.7mm projectile at supersonic speeds.
Silence followed for a moment, and Lightning watched as his projectile arced through the air until striking a blue orb hanging from a grunts waist. In a blinding flash of blue the blue ball of plasma energy exploded, engulfing the entire unit of hostile infantry within its blast and killing them all on the spot.
Lightning watched on in silence, faintly noticing the faded boom as the sound of the explosion reached him seconds later.
"Good shot considering you only had 87% chance of actually hitting your target" complimented SARA softly into Lightning's ear, the drake didn't move as the female voice spoke and simple kept his sights trained on the scorched body of the elite for signs of movement.
"You know it's polite to reply to a compliment" huffed SARA clearly offended by the drakes' silence, earning the faintest twitch of a smile from the drake himself.
"I know, I just like hearing you talk. Reminds me I have friends" muttered a deep throaty voice from Lightning's jaws, not a heartbeat passed after he said this than his weapon roared with another gun shot and sent a bullet whistling into the air.
SARA watched silently as her companion aim proved true once more and the elite, who was now crawling towards a building. Was suddenly rocked to the side in a shower of purplish blue blood.
"You have more friends than just me Lightning… you know this" pressed SARA with concern, causing the drake to let out a soft growl of irritation.
"Make sure to report this to Colonel Martin, Covenant activity north east of base" Lightning nearly ordered, acting as if he hadn't heard SARA's words. Or possibly he just didn't care.
"He's already been informed…" Muttered SARA bitterly, Lightning made no gesture he heard her and just simple ejected the rifles magazine and refilled its clip without looking away from his rifle scope, SARA had to admit her partner was really something on the battlefield.
So cool, calculative and efficient, almost a perfect piece of combat hardware, almost. However nothing could remove the human element from Lightning's body, the part that held his shattered remains of humanity together.
Movement in the sky caused Lightning to sit upright and hoist his weapon into the air, aiming the barrel towards the sky like an anti-aircraft gun.
The drakes optics caught a flash of two airborne vehicles, they were curved orange craft with two short wings that stuck out the sides.
"Banshees" growled SARA in recognition, the Banshee was the covenant main form of air to ground support.
The vehicle was small, fast and nimble, while also packing a fuel rod. The covenants plasma version of a bazooka that was devastating to all UNSC armoured vehicles, including tanks.
Lightning's form seemed to shimmer, before he disappeared into thin air without a sound.
The drake slowly followed the two banshees with his rifle, watching them glide overhead and out of sight.
"Colonel you got banshees inbound over!" barked SARA into the radio, a moment later the distant echoes of gunfire and explosions riddled the air like music.
Silently Lightning awaited the return of the two aircraft, his hands tightening around the grip of his weapon in anticipation for the shot. SARA played trajectories and advised angles of attack into the drakes HUD system, watching him closely for signs of a reaction. Yet the drake remained stoic, mind focused fully on the task at hand.
After several long minutes of listening to the battle waging on far away, the two banshees returned. This time riddled with small arms damage and one trailing a little smoke into the air, all clear signs that the UNSC got the message and fought back against the covenant little attack.
Following his targets with his rifle, Lightning adjusted his position and took aim at the rear of the fleeing Banshees. His optics were locked on the small gap at the rear of the aircraft where the pilot entered and exited the vehicle, it was a clear opening right into the cockpit of the aircrafts and a clear design fault.
Squeezing the trigger, Lightning watched as the first banshee suddenly plummeted towards the ground below. Disappearing from sight, noticing its down comrade, the second Banshee began to twirl and dart about the air, making it near impossible to get a lock on target.
Disgruntled, Lightning didn't waist his ammunition on the fleeing aircraft and instead returned his focus to the landscape below for more targets. His body flickered into existence once more and be scanned the area for hostiles, possibly any snipers that snuck into position while he wasn't looking.
'BOOM!' roared the sniper rifle as another shot was thrown down range, striking its intended target right through the chest. A Jackal sniper slouched forward and plummeted out of a buildings window, splatting across the pavement below in a gross display of gore. Jackals were strange bird like lizards that stood as tall as a man, they weren't very strong but extremely fast and accurate with a sniper rifle. Making them superb marksman's in combat, thankfully they wore near no armour making them easy to kill.
"You should allocate a new position soon, it's not wise to camp in one place for an extended time while sniping hostile targets" advised SARA bluntly as Lightning adjusted his position so he was more comfortable while firing, he grunted in acknowledgement before focusing on some activity down one of the main roads.
"Shit" spat the drake as he saw what was coming, surrounded by Grunts and Elites, lumbered along the blue curved armour form of a Wraith tank.
A Wraith was the Covenants primary heavy armour, it was immune to small arms fire and could hurtle giant balls of plasma over buildings like a mortar onto targets. Judging by the platoon of ground forces, this was an attack force for sure and only one area in this region was worth attacking.
"Radio base and tell them more hostiles inbound" Muttered Lightning as he slowly drew away from his ledge and into the shadows of the room.
Slowly he inched away until he was out of sight then darted for the stairs. Like a man on a mission, Lightning jumped down the stairs 5 at a time, making inhumane progress towards the ground floor where he became invisible once more as to avoid the Covenant ground forces closing in on his position.
Lightning knew he was within 600 meters from base camp, from the remaining remnants of the UNSC marines and special ops task force that was sent into this region at the start of the siege. They were mostly wounded and running low on ammunition, to make things worse Lightning didn't remember seeing any ordinance powerful enough to wipe out a Wraith tank at base.
"They received the warning, beware friendly units got hit hard by those banshees, I don't think there in any shape to fight off that platoon" Informed SARA almost casually, Lightning skidded to a halt down the center of the street and sat his rifle on the ground.
With a growl he grabbed a damaged civilian vehicle and began pushing it towards the centre of the road, upon his back sprung two mechanical limbs tipped with dagger like claws. These second set of arms slapped into the ground giving the drake extra perchance to push the car.
Working without a break, the drake shoved several vehicles to form a make shift wall down the street, he hoped it would by the UNSC a little more time.
As he stepped back from his handy work and the robotic arms folded neatly against his back, Lightning spotted movement down the street. The Wraith tank slowly came around a corner, flanked by covenant infantry.
With a curse the drake bolted, grabbing his sniper rife along the way by the carry handle as he went.
Without a sign of strain, Lightning ran the full 600 meters all the way back to the base camp, which was basically the local police station fortified for combat.
As he drew closer, he barely cast a second glance at the darken hull of destroyed battle tanks and human combat vehicles.
But he didn't cast a glance at the smoke emitting from the building, obviously from where the banshees had fired there fuel rod cannons.
Lightning darted towards the make shift barricade around the building, ignoring the weapons that were trained on him as he approached.
While he was on their side, Lightning knew the humans didn't trust him because of how alien he was to them. But xenophobia was justified in this war of genocide, it was likely these men lost friends and family to this war and wanted someone to blame.
"Red, good to see you made it back alive" called out a dirty battle worn man as he slowly stepped forward from the barricade, the guy was clad in the damage remains of black ODST armour.
ODST being Orbital Drop shock Troopers, they were dropped from orbit into combat as a quick response units and special elite task force. The fact the man was alive was proof of how tough the ODST was.
"Hostiles inbound Colonel, I tried to hinder there advance but no telling how much time we got" informed Lightning bluntly as he adjusting his rifle so he was now holding it correctly.
"Good work trooper, go find a position and prepare to defend were still alone in this fight" stated Colonel dully as he gestured for Lightning to enter the compound.
Strolling through the make shift gates, Lightning took a moment to gaze out at the men and women scuttling around the area in preparation for battle. Some didn't even have body armour yet still manned battle stations with any weapon they could get their hands on. Including knives and a few covenant weapons scavenged from the battle field.
SARA felt sadden by the sight, by how weak and defeated the humans looked. She just wished she had her own physical form to actually do something to help these people, but Lightning's body wasn't exactly the most caring or friendly face for such a task.
As Lightning walked towards the large battered Police building, someone bellowed a warning and gun fire ripped through the air like a knife. Spinning on the spot Lightning let out a low snarl of anger as he saw the Wraith tank on the other end of the street slowly hovering towards the station.
"Reinforce the wall defence!" called out SARA, prompting the drake to rush back towards the wall of vehicles where marines were using as cover.
Blue and green bolts of plasma whistled through the air, flying past the head of marines as they retaliated with burst of rifle and pistol fire towards the enemy. Lightning himself stood upright and brought his sniper rifle to bare, taking a pot shot at an elite which only shattered against the aliens energy shield but caused no physical damage.
Then the wraith fired its main gun, launching a ball of swirling plasma high into the air.
"Take COVER!" roared a marine as he rushed away from the wall, trying to predict where the plasma would land.
Lightning did likewise and rushed away as well, feeling the heat and blinding flash behind him as the plasma obliterated a section of the wall in a single explosion. A few marines didn't move fast enough and were thrown through the air by the concussive blast wave, landing limply upon the ground in a battered or burn heap of flesh.
Once the explosion disappeared, everyone rushed back to the wall firing there weapons thought the now large opening created by the plasma. Men stumbled and fell as bolts of plasma violently burnt through both armour and flesh in a heartbeat, while others were left screaming in agonizing pain on the ground.
Lightning didn't give these men a passing glance, he was used to seeing such a sight and knew not to deviate from battle.
Firing his sniper rifle, Lightning watched as a grunt was thrown backwards by his bullet, only for another to take its place and resume the fight.
Another ball of plasma was launched into the air, and once more the marines scattered to dodge the attack. This time the projectile landed at the base of the police station, tossing supply crates into the air like they were mere leaves.
Lightning cursed bitterly and fired a shot at the gunner manning the Wraiths plasma turret, the projectile shot true and ripped through energy shields and flesh. Making the elites head explode in a blur of gore across the tanks hull and ceasing the stream of plasma bolts from the tanks secondary weapon.
"Hostiles flanking le..." the marine closet to Lightning didn't have a chance to finish, as his head was suddenly struck with a bright pink crystal that shattered violently. Ripping his head apart in the process.
Despite this Lightning gathered what the marine was trying to say, adjusting his aim Lightning spot several grunts and an elite flanking to the left through some buildings. Before the drake could open fire, an explosion of blue erupted meters behind him showering him in debris and heat.
For a brief moment Lightning was lost in a loud ringing noise and blurred vision, but soon his senses recovered from the blast and he realized he'd been thrown face first into the ground. With a growl he slowly stood to his feet, eyes darting left and right for his sniper rifle.
The weapon was underneath him, the scope crushed against his chest plate making the weapon practically useless in this battle.
Eyes locating another weapon, Lightning grabbed the MA5B assault rifle from a dead marine and loaded a fresh clip of 60 rounds. He gave a brief glance at the digital round counter to ensure a full mag, the drake darted out of the opening in the wall and dived to the ground. Ducking low over the stream of weapon fire from both sides.
A bolt of plasma slapped the ground beside him and his form flickered briefly before he disappeared from sight. Now invisible, Lightning crawled towards a building with rifle in hand, intending to confront the Covenant forces attempting to flank them.
Once inside, Lightning became visible and stood to his feet. His HUD allowing him clear visibility in the dark confines of the building.
Slowly moving forward with rifle at the ready, Lightning advanced onwards into the building's interior.
It wasn't hard to locate the enemy, the grunts were squealing away as they fired upon the human forces. Making a loud ruckus that even the dumbest human would know how to follow to its source. Turning invisible one more, Lightning rounded a corner to find his adversaries moving position to the upper levels of the building. Such a move would give them a better line of fire to attack the marines, making it harder for the marines to defend their base.
"I detect three grunts moving upstairs, the elite and remaining grunt are holding position" informed SARA, indicating the enemies positions on Lightning's HUD.
The drake silently followed the grunts up the stairs, keeping his rifle trained on their backs as they waddled their way to the next floor. When the grunts approached a window, Lightning made his move. Dropping the rifle silently to the floor, Lightning held his right arms at the ready and slowly snuck up behind the closest grunt.
With a quick step and slash of the claws, the grunt collapsed to the ground, green blood oozing from a gash across its throat. The remained grunts heard the thud of their companion's body and turned around with their plasma pistols at the ready, they exchanged words in whatever language they spoke. Suddenly the right grunt was lifted into the air by the throat and hurled through the window, screaming loudly as it plummeted to its death.
The remaining grunt panicked and fired plasma bolts randomly into the room, causing Lightning to grunt with discomfort as a plasma bolt struck him across the cheek liquefying his metal scales. The grunt stepped back as Lightning materialised into thin air, and screamed loudly as he lunged forward with tooth and claw.
Wiping his blood smeared claws on a burnt looking couch, Lightning hastily retried his rifle and one of the grunts plasma pistols before finding a corner to hide behind near the stairs. As predicted the Elite came scrambling up the stairs with the remaining grunts to investigate the commotion, is plasma rifle was held at the ready to attack.
Lightning waited until there were all centred in the room, examining the dead corpses before he struck. Holding the rifle in one hand, he fired short burst into the back of each grunt before rapid firing the pistol at the elite who spun around as soon as the rifle fire split the air.
The elite's shields flared as the plasma burned at it dangerously when suddenly they collapsed completely, allowing a burst from the rifle to finish the elite off before it could effectively retaliate.
Lightning smirked as he lowered his smoking rifle, slowly strolling forward to examine his fallen adversaries.
As he approached, his ears twitched as he heard a noise behind him. Whirling about he saw something flicker into existence and something hard slam into his face. Staggering back from the blow Lightning was dazed, unable to read the data that SARA was throwing before his eyes.
Another blow rocked the drakes muzzle violently to the side, followed by another blow from above. Lightning dropped to his knees, mind still blurred from the bone shattering blows to his face. He stared up one last time to see a fist come down to slam into the tip of his muzzle, directly upon a nerve cluster that knocked the drake unconscious.
To be Continued…