Chapter I
Arcadia, 2549
Several elites were right in front of spartan Kali. She checked her ammo count again. Everything was full. Her shields were half of what they should be, but only because her active camo was running. She pulled out her knife. Signaling Derrick and Blake, Kali moved forward.
Two green lights. Good, they were ready. Pulling the pin, she tossed the grenade into the Covenant camp. Kali ran up to a pillar to take cover. The roars of the elites were suddenly drowned out by the explosion of the grenade. It was louder than usual. The blue and orange explosion meant she probably detonated some of their plasma grenades.
The Field Marshall was in there somewhere. They had to get him before he escaped again. Kali stepped out of cover and ran to the camp. A couple bodies of elites were scattered around the camp. One's skin was horribly melted. It's hand reached for any weapon. Kali pointed her DMR at the monster's mouth and pulled the trigger.
Deactivating her camo, Kali ran to the largest building the Covenant had set up. These elites were pompous freaks; if a higher up would be living somewhere in this place, it would be there.
Jackals formed a phalanx in front of Kali. Grunts pored out of the smaller buildings. She opened a channel to her teammates. "Guys, I need a distraction."
Blake's voice sounded in her helmet. "Don't worry about them, may just have what you want." Kali dodged as the infantry opened fire; green bolts of plasma sizzling past her. The shields sounded an alarm. Dammit. Blake had better hurry. She fired three shots. Three headless grunts fell to the ground.
Falling back behind a building, she activated her camo. It could run indefinatly if she stayed still, but if she ran for more than ten seconds, it would drain all her shields and cause her suit to overheat. Kali looked around cover and fired several shots with her M6G pistol.
"Blake, what was that distraction you were talking about?" As soon as Kaila said that, a plasma grenade dropped at her feet. She rolled away and ran to the other side of the building, facing her enemies.
"Sorry, had to deal with some spec ops. You know how it is." Blake said.
Why would he waste time telling her that? "I could care less what you had to deal with, I need some assistance!"
She heard Blake chuckle. Something whistled past her and landed at the jackle's feet. A grunt walked over and picked it up. It laughed and yelled something Kali couldn't understand. With a small noise, it dosed the entire area in fire.
"Incendiary grenades? Where'd you get those?" Kali asked.
"Come on, we don't exist. ONI will throw anything our way if we say it will get the job done."
Kali grunted. "So, can we call in a MAC strike to kill this bastard?"
"Don't tempt me. I can press the button if you want.
Derrick's voice cut in. "Come on, we can't waste time on this. Let's remember that we need to confirm that the lizard is dead. Besides, this is so we don't have to deal with a bloodthirsty Kali on the way back to earth."
"Oh right, it's sort of like taking a dog for a walk." Blake said.
Kali moved forward and killed several more grunts in her way. "You never had a dog."
"Well, once this is over, I'm gonna get one. Trust me, I'm going to settle down somewhere on earth, maybe on a beach. I'll have some young sweetheart beside me, just staring out onto the ocean for hours. Hey Kali, wanna be that sweet-"
Kali blocked him. He barely had to do anything. She should really give him more to do. That may make him less chatty. An elite ran out of a building nearby. He had half his armor on. A energy sword was in his right hand.
She rushed at him and deactivated her cloak. If he didn't know where she was, he may swing wildly. There was nothing worse than a unpredictable elite. Kali slammed into his chest before he had a chance to raise his weapon. The sword fell feet away from them. They tumbled on the ground, each trying to get the advantage.
Kali kneed the alien in the stomach. It felt like she hit stone, but it worked. The monster hunched over. She punched him in the face, causing the energy shields to flare up and break.
Derrick's voice came in over the radio. "Kal, the big lizard is on the move. Should I take the shot?"
Struggling to get the words out, she reached to her pistol and shoved it into the elite's mouth. "No, you'll scare it." She pulled the trigger. The bullet splattered blue blood on the ground. The elite collapsed. "Where is he?"
"I'd say three hundred meters north of you. He has two hundred meters until he meets a ghost squad. Better hurry."
Kali nodded and picked up the energy sword. She would have to run through a camp of Covenant in order to get to him.
"Blake wants you to know that he has some mortars falling in your area. Watch out." Derrick said.
Looking skyward, she saw shells still airborne. They were high atmosphere. Why would he fire them that high? She heard a growl behind her. Blake was riding on a mongoose in her direction. She opened a channel to Blake. "If you're doing what I think you're doing, you're crazy."
"Of course I am, get ready to hop on. We can't lose a second."
Kali stepped back. Just as Blake rode past her, she grabbed onto the handle and placed her feet onto the platform on the back. Aiming her DMR, she placed it on Blake's shoulder. A Jackel ran in front of them. Without hesitation, she fired. No sooner had it fell when Blake ran it over.
"Hold on, it may get bumpy."
Kali was about to reply, but a pair of hunters came into view and powered up their weapons. "Blake..."
"Yeah, I see them. It should be fine though." The cannons on the hunter's arms glowed green. "Crap. I honestly didn't expect hunters. So, this may worry you, but it's about to get really hot around here." Kali had seen enough hunters to know that the cannons were ready to fire.
She aimed for the rods on the cannon. This had better work. Firing, the bullet flew through the air, and hit the green rod on the hunter's cannon. It exploded in a flash of green, sending the pair flying in opposite directions.
"Speed up!" Kali said.
"Are you really telling me how to drive? Woman are all the same." Kali punched him in the back, but his shields took most of it. "How am I supposed to drive with you causing me physical harm?"
"Shut up and do what I say."
The engine growled louder. Kali could hear the mortars screaming now. Fifteen meters behind them, an explosion erupted. The heat washed over them both, popping both Kali's and Blake's shields.
"Well, that was the worst of it. The camp should be in disarray now. Now for the purple lizard." Blake said.
The two spartans sped past the rest of the camp. The Zealot had made his escape into the forrest. Blake weaved through the trees with no issue. Derrick placed a waypoint at the last place he had seen them.
"Derrick, can you slow down that ghost squad?" Kali asked.
"Working." he said.
They were closing in on the waypoint. Still nothing, but she knew they would catch up. If they were on foot, they had no chance. She turned around and sat, facing the rear. Nothing was following them. The one grunt piloting a ghost could barely steer the thing.
She pulled out the clip from her pistol and slammed a fresh mag in. Kali did one last check of her armor, then turned around. "Anything?"
"Not a sign. Maybe they made it further in."
"Of course they did. It's just a matter of how far." Kali said. She turned back around and readied her pistol. "Derrick, any info?"
"I forgot to tell you, the ghost squad has brute pilots. I was able to take out one ghost before the rest escaped into the forrest. The poor ape is still trying to figure out what happened."
Blake laughed. "Only one? Geez man, you're slipping."
Derrick sighed. "You try to shoot a fast moving target a couple miles out and then criticize me."
There was a clearing in front of them. Kali saw movement, but it wasn't what she expected. The ground was covered in elite blood. One elite in purple armor stood in the center of elite bodies and a circle of brutes. His energy sword was activated, and in the other hand was a plasma rifle. "Derrick, you said the pilots of the ghosts were brutes?"
There was a pause before Derrick answered. "Yeah, what of it?"
"This is an assassination attempt. Blake, get ready."
They zoomed closer. Two brutes turned to them. The rest attacked the field marshall. Kali pulled out her knife and jumped just as Blake swerved. She landed on one brute, making him fall to the ground. It took all her power to jam the knife into it's skull.
The second brute charged at her, but Kali dodged and stabbed it in the back. Her radar showed one brute coming at her from behind. She let go of her knife and raised her pistol. Eight rounds pierced it's chest, but it didn't slow down. She pulled out her DMR and aimed for the head. It moved so strangely, she had a hard time getting a shot. The round exited the chamber and flew through the brute's skull.
The elite stabbed one of the brutes. Another jumped onto the zealot's back and tried to strange him. Kali aimed for the head, avoiding the helmet. She fired. The brute slid off the elites back, twitching. Blake ran in and fired his SMGs into two more brutes.
The field marshall looked around with what Kali could only assume was surprise. He quickly recovered and slashed at another brute. Two more.
She emptied the rest of her clip into a brute while the elite ran at another. Her last round tore through the skull, and the beast fell to the ground. The elite absorbed several spiker rounds before he reached the brute. It didn't matter, the brute lay in two pieces at the elites feet in seconds.
The zealot turned and rushed at Kali with his energy sword. Good, so she would be able to put this bastard down anyway. She pulled out the energy sword and stepped forward. The elite closed the distance faster than Kali had expected. Damn, how did she underestimate it? This wasn't a regular elite.
Kali tried to block. The zealot's sword met hers. But he didn't go in for the kill. Why? His other hand landed on Kali's shoulder and pushed her away. Hitting the ground hard, she tried to see what had happened.
There was the field marshall, his energy sword in the gut of a brute. In the brute's hand was her knife. Had the lizard just saved her?