Author's Notes: Chapter two. Yeah. Blood.
I do warn you that this chapter contains a rather graphic scene revolving around torture, and another revolving around disembowelment.
So, might want to put off lunch for a while.
For a moment, the Brute was silent as he lay, considering the question that 'Xanthtuum had given him. Then, he smiled evilly, spitting a vile string of blood onto the Elite's helmet. The viscous substance slowly oozed downwards, marring the pristine silver and cyan finish of the ornate armour.
'Xanthtuum raised his hand, as though to strike the beast, then hesitated. With a bass growl, he wrenched his Energy Sword free of his foe's chest cavity.The elegant blade slid away with little effort, producing a sound nauseatingly similar to that made by a wet plunger. There was a slight hiss as the blood of the slain Brute cooked upon the blade. A loathsome smell, similar to that of burning flesh, wafted up from the corpse, clogging the air filters on Matthias's helmet. One of the ODSTs took this as the cue to try on his own brand of comedy.
"Mmm-mmm, smell that tenderloin. Sargeant Stacker's going to kick himself for missing this."
The other ODSTs, and a few of the rougher marines, chuckled, but 'Xanthtuum ignored the man entirely. He grunted, then turned to Matthias."We have been baited. We must leave immediately, lest the Brutes succeed in their ploy." He spoke bitterly, as though each of his own words tasted of the very Brute that lay before him. Given the foul scent that now hung about the air, Matthias wouldn't have been surprised if they did.
"Agreed," the Spartan knelt and pillaged the corpse of the Brute. He was well rewarded for his efforts, quickly finding two Spike grenades and a Bubble Shield. These would certainly come in handy. Satisfied, he got to his feet and turned towards the ODST who had previously scooped up his female comrade. The soldier looked up and noticed the armoured behemoth staring at him. Not wanting annoy someone who was, for all intents and purposes, a walking tank, he quickly but gently placed the woman on the floor.
"Are you seriously injured?" Matthias questioned, his voice calm, yet serious. He knelt before the woman, before running his right hand over her body. The other marines shifted uncomfortably as they stood, unaware that he not enjoying what he felt, unlike they would have, but was instead using scanners built into his armour to search for signs of life-threatening injury.
"Ah…," the marine grunted, before sitting up. She reeled, and for a moment he thought she would fall back. Soon enough, however, she regained her balance and extended her arm towards the Spartan, who hesitated momentarily before helping her up. "I'm fine. Just pissed off, is all."
"Well, now is the time to vent." Matthias had just noticed red spots on his motion tracker.
Green spots were safe. Green spots meant other UNSC personal with functional neural implants. Red dots, on the other hand, meant anything without a neural implant, or those who had fallen host to the Flood, an abomination he hoped never to encounter again in his lifetime.
He reloaded his battle rifle, then jammed it into the woman's hands. She took up position behind a cement column, weapon at the ready. Matthias crouched, SMG in hand, before motioning to the closes Elite. The sleek warrior nodded, quickly handed him two Plasma grenades, and slunk away to take up position.
Anticipation built up within him as the red dots on his motion tracker grew closer and more numerous, before…
"Cockroaches, coming in up high; Let's have us a fry up!" A marine called just before a deadly hail of plasma bolts and purple crystals rained down upon the group. Matthias ducked into cover, taking with him a marine who already had a dangerous number of needler quills sticking out of his leg, a testament to the danger posed by the insectoid warriors.
The soldier roared with pain as the Spartan tore a handful of the sickly purple crystals out of his calf, but still nodded gratefully. He had seen what happened when more than seven of those little bastards got in you, and it wasn't pretty.Matthias primed a Plasma grenade, then ducked out of cover just long enough to tag a passing Drone with the blue ball of explosive fury. The insect, complete unaware that anything was wrong, flew back into the midst of its comrades for safely whilst it reloaded.
Time seemed to stand still as the other beetles noticed the unwanted gift they had received. There was a frenzied scramble for shelter, just before the grenade exploded in a shower of ionised particles.All but two of the drones were torn to shreds by the blast, these stragglers were knocked out of the air by another explosion, this one caused by an ODST who had paused to collect a needler from one of the fallen insects.
Shreds of raw flesh fluttered to the ground, an eerie, ghastly tickertape parade in honour of their victory. A nearby marine whooped loudly as he found the dismembered arm of what had once been a drone.
"Whoo-boy, I've got me a backscratcher"
"Put it down you idiot. Don't you know those things are cursed?" An ODST with a radio pack slapped the limb out of his hand.
Comedy king took the opportunity to crack another joke.
"Help, he's been disarmed!"
Matthias sighed wearily, a brief respite before he addressed his men firmly. Fun was fine, but they were beginning to lose focus.
"I want a casualty report." He checked his motion tracker again, to make sure that there weren't more Drones hiding in the air vents. He was answered by the woman he had given his Battle Rifle to.
"Two Marines with broken limbs, and one of your Elites has lost his gauntlet." She pointed to a nearby Assault trooper, who was gingerly, but vainly, trying to slip a broken piece of armour back onto his forearm."Who are you anyway, soldier?" Matthias queried, before scavenging a needler and ammunition from the corpses of nearby Drones. He hoped that his men would do the same. Lead by example.
"Corporal Anya Jamieson, sir." She answered, withholding her salute. Matthias nodded. After all, he was the commanding officer, and as such would have been a prime target for snipers.
If the red colouration of his pauldrons didn't give him away as a medic, that is.
"Where are the others? What is the most direct route to their position?" He asked again. This time, the ODST with the radio pack stepped forwards, a gaunt, tired-looking face visible beneath his broken visor."The others are sealed off in the detainment centre; it's got thick skin and blast doors, so there isn't anything short of a plasma torpedo that's going to get in. Even if a Baby-Kong did get in there, we've got three chain guns, a gauss 'Hog and a flamethrower that say he's going to get turned into a sunburnt pincushion real quick. As for the most direct way there, that'd be through the-"
"Armoury." Matthias finished the communication officer's sentence for him as Loki uploaded the schematics of the outpost onto his HUD."Correct. We refill on the way there, then once we get them, we go to the Motor Pool; there's still seven Mongooses, three chain gun 'Hogs and two carrier variants, along with a whole bunch of trucks. We load the injured into them, we get a convoy going through the part of the Tsavo Highway that runs under here, and then we get to the Hanger Bay. There aren't going to be any Bravo Kilo's down there, heck, they've got the Tsavo shut down tighter than we've got this place. There's a small fleet locked down in there too, I'm talking four Pelicans, an Albatross, and five Hornets. Huh, what's-"
"What is it?" The Spartan interrupted.
"There are still ten Longswords down there. It's basically a goldmine; if we can get there, we'll have all the transport and support we need to get every man, woman and," he focused momentarily on a nearby Elite, "lizard, out of this place with every vehicle we've got, and still have room for souvenirs." He looked to Matthias, who nodded, before adding his own stipulation.
"We clean out the armory before we go, and we take the dead with us."
"Sorry sir, can't do that. Bravo Kilo's got hungry." This man, an ODST, was struggling to hold back tears, and Matthias felt raw, festering hatred jolt through him. These petulant monkeys made him so sick. He hated them as much as he hated her. No. She would always have a place in the deepest bowels of Hell."We cut these bastards a new hole, and then we drive our motorcade right through on through it. Once we get to the Hanger Bay, we set the place to go up, and then we get out of here. We meet up with USNC Chrono Mirage, Aurora Storm or Forward Unto Dawn, and we get access to a hospital. Then we prepare for what comes next. Op- Our Victory."
Matthias kicked himself then, and made a mental note to keep his emotions under control. He had nearly let them get the better of him, had nearly let all of the Office of Naval Intelligence's careful preparation get flushed down the toilet.Lord Hood and Commander Keyes were the only people outside of ONI who knew about Operation Sonic Razor, and that was the way it would stay. Until the time was right.
"Alright marines, keep your eyes open, and let's move out." Matthias reloaded his Battle Rifle, then made his way over to a damaged door. After Loki verified that it led to the Armoury access hall, he knocked it over with a brutal punch that would have killed any person, even a Brute with power armour.Once he had checked his motion tracker and performed a quick visual examination, Matthias was satisfied that the area was free of hostiles; he gestured once, and his soldiers, human and Elite, followed him into the hallway, weapons at the ready.
There was no sudden onslaught of murderous Brutes, so they advanced a further fifty meters up the hall, stopping immediately as they picked up motion.Matthias peeked around the corner, and spotted a Brute Chieftain interrogating a marine, using a spiker carbine's wickedly cruel blades as a form of persuasion. The man's face was already badly cut and bleeding, but he was still resisting his torture valiantly.
"Tell me," the Brute grabbed the man by the throat "where is the demon?" The marine didn't respond, drawing the ire of the monstrous creature. "Tell me, you pathetic sack of meat! Or I will feast on your entrails." The last sentence was drawn out, as though the Brute relished every one of its own words. The marine wheezed heavily, then stared at his captor through the bloody fog that his vision had become.
"I don't know who the demon is, or why you want him. But leave your number, and if I see him, I'll be sure to call."Matthias noted the defiant look on the face of the soldier. He had seen that look countless times before, on the faces of thousands of marines, right before they had died. So apparently, had the Brute. He grunted angrily, then turned away from his stricken prey."Foolish creature, I know the demon is here; he murdered my pack-mate outside this very room! Had you told me where he hides, your death would have been painless. But now…" Another two Brutes walked into view, carrying a Gravity Hammer. They bowed before their superior, a token of respect necessary to ensure he didn't deck them with it, before placing the weapon into his hands.
The Chieftain raised his arms slowly, savoring each moment, knowing that soon this worthless human would be begging for death. And he would be only too happy to oblige, once the marine had given him what he wanted.
"Matthias; Do something…" Loki whispered desperately. Despite appearances, this AI had once been human, or part of one. And he didn't like seeing other people get hurt.But Matthias was doing something, something dangerous, unexpected. Unwanted. The illegal augmentation drugs that Kurt-051 had injected into him and every other member of Gamma company had changed them, and not just into Spartans.
Under extremely stressful battlefield conditions, something took a hold of them, as it was doing to him right now.
He could feel it coming on, but he was powerless to hold it back. His pupils dilated, lights danced before his eyes, blood vessels expanded, hair stood on end and he began to sweat profusely, his heart racing at a speed which was quickly becoming unsafe. He lunged around the corner, sprinting toward the Brutes, an arrow on the wind. He was upon them before the Chieftain had even begun to bring his Gravity Hammer down on the marine. One of the bodyguards spotted him, barked a warning. The Chieftain adjusted his swing, so he would hit the Spartan instead.
It would make a fine trophy.
But unlike a berserking Brute, Gamma Company Spartans experiencing what Loki called a Chrysanthemum Attack remained as agile as they normally were – Matthias rolled over the hammer just before it made contact with his spine, then wrenched it from the Chieftain's grasp. Time stood still as he swung about, then drove the handle of the weapon – normally blunt, but in this case, sharpen - straight through the heart of the closest bodyguard.
The Chieftain made a grab for him, but Matthias simply slid between his legs, although not before taking the time to jam a Spike Grenade into the Alpha Male's face.
As it detonated, he kicked off the wall and catapulted over the Chieftain's body, into the chest of the final bodyguard, riding him into the ground.The Brute's shoulder blades disintegrated with an excruciating snap, crushed by the huge weight of the MJOLNIR armour that Matthias wore. A single, bone-crunching blow to the head killed the Brute instantly, but he didn't stop there. He couldn't, he didn't want to.
Blood.
That was what they had taken, and that was what they owed him.
The Spartan clasped his hands together and bought them down on the creature's chest, again and again and again, until, finally, its ribs gave way and caved in, blood splattering his visor as a pair of alien lungs burst with a loud pop.
Handfuls of organs were torn from the Brute, flung over the roof supports like Halloween tinsel.
Then when there was nothing left to grab, he jammed his fingers into its eye sockets and pulled with all his might. He was rewarded when, with a ghoulish slurp, he succeeded in crushing its skull, brain matter and sticky fluid pouring out of where a cruel face had once been.Someone behind Matthias vomited. The sound of acidic fluid hitting the floor, so similar to one of the tranquil waterfalls back on Onyx, bought him back to his senses. Or perhaps it was the cocktail of anti-psychosis drugs that Loki had just released into his air supply.
"Oh. My. God…" Anya choked in disgust as Matthias rose warily, chunks of what had once been a spleen or a liver, even a sliver of flayed skin, sliding off his energy shields. She wanted the Brutes to die just as much as the Elites did, and just as painfully, too.
But what had just happened… she had never, ever seen a human being do anything so revoltingly animalistic. This Spartan was… like one of them.Even the wise-guy ODST couldn't find a joke to lighten the mood. Matthias didn't even try to explain himself; he knew they wouldn't understand what had happened, that it wasn't really him who had eviscerated the Brute. Instead, he chose to focus his attention on the marine the Chieftain had been torturing. A couple of squirts of bio-foam, a few sterile dressings and some morphine were all it took to get him back on his feet, although the Spartan doubted he could fight at all. He stood, shoulders bowed, then turned back to his men.
None of the marines met his eyes, so disgusted were they. Even the Elites, who had personally torn through thousands in their lifetimes, were shocked. They had known that humans were strong and brave and resilient, but had never had any idea that they were capable of this… 'Xanthtuum had seen the best of his troops vanquished by a single rank-and-file Brute, but this Spartan had ripped through a Chieftain and his bodyguards, in under seven seconds, no less.Elites trained their whole lives to achieve such power and skill; but at the same time 'Xanthtuum could tell that the MJOLNIR-clad warrior was ashamed of himself for showing such lack of control. But this could not be dwelt on. The battlefield was no place for meditation.
"Come," the Elite placed his hand on the Spartan's shoulder, "we must move on - should the Brutes catch us, their retribution will not bear description."
Matthias sighed softly, then checked his weapons. Still in good condition. A message from Loki appeared on his HUD.
It's not your fault.
"It never is." He responded tersely.
I never was good with words.
"What is it?"
ONI just pinged me.
We need to get out, now. Loyalist cruiser, the Undying Passion, moving in on us, deploying it's weapons. We're going to get glassed.
That was all that Loki needed to say to rouse Matthias's interest.
"How long?"
At it's current speed, I'd say about an hour. We're going to need to move quickly.
Matthias turned to the ODST with the radio pack; Lieutenant Anderton."We need to get out of here now. Abandon all caution, we're going for speed. Stay in cover where you can, and do not engage the enemy if they are unaware of your presence, unless you can be certain of a quick kill ."
'Xanthtuum took an immediate interest in this change of attitude. Their orders had been to bring back Brigadier Zenglehart, along with his men and any working equipment.
"Do not engage these vile beasts? What is the cause of this sudden bout of charity?"
"There's a Loyalist cruiser moving in on our position; the Undying Passion. We've got under an hour to get out of here before we get glassed."
This statement got the attention of the Marines. It would take at least ten minutes to get into the detainment centre, and from there it would take at least thirty minutes to get into the hanger, and that was if they left the trucks at the motor pool - getting them down the elevator would take an extra forty minutes. But abandoning them would mean leaving at least a hundred and fifty people behind, something that the Spartan did not plan on.
"Loki, how wide is the Tsavo Highway as it passes beneath us?"
"Well, let's take a looksee, here" The AI drawled in a Kentucky accent. After several moments, a plan of the Tsavo highway appeared on Matthias's HUD. "We've got forty meters of height, forty in width, and exactly ten kilometres from here to the hanger. Wait, why did you want to know?" He enquired suspiciously."Do we have any pilots here?" Matthias asked Lieutenant Anderton.
"Uh, yes sir, about thirty, as a matter of fact; they got stuck here when Baby Kong decided to blow Hanger A." The ODST answered surreptitiously. "In fact, Private Jamieson and myself are both pilots."
"Good. We get your men, get the vehicles from the Motor Pool, then we take the elevator down onto the Tsavo-"
"Sir, I thought that was already the plan?" Anderton interrupted nervously. Every minute they wasted talking bought them a minute closer to being vaporised.Matthias ignored the interruption, continuing like nothing had happened.
"-Highway. Then we send six of your pilots ahead in the troop carriers, along with a bodyguard of four of your best troops. Once they get to the hanger bay they are to attach Type-17 payload extension trays onto each Pelican, and equip the Hornets with assault stands. Then, they bring them back to us."Anderson smiled and nodded; he was fast catching Matthias's drift. Type-17 trays extended the internal cargo capacity of a Pelican to a maximum of fifty persons, whilst assault stands bolted onto a Hornet's landing skids, providing extra firepower in the form of two chain-gun turrets, along with jump seats for seven people. They should be able to maneuver in the tunnel.
Heck, they would be able to rotate fully.
As a bonus, the aircraft would take no more than ten minutes to equip, and would shave twenty minutes from their trip; they would easily make it back to the hanger with enough time to transfer the most badly injured into the Albatross, which at least had life-support equipment.Matthias would also be able to load nuclear ordinance onto the Longswords, always a plus.
"Alright," Anderson raised his Battle Rifle above his head, "the Covenant came here to stop us from sending out air missions. But now, the tables have turned. We're going to fly an air mission right up Baby Kong's backside, and cut him a hole that he can't stuff banana into! Are you ready, marines?" For a second Matthias thought there would be silence, that what he had done before was still fresh in the minds of the gathered marines. But if there was one thing that these marines truly shared, then it was the desire for revenge; each and every man and woman present in the crowd raised their own weapons, simultaneously letting out a deafening roar.
"Hoo-rah!"
My mind presents...
Journey of an Apostle
A Halo story
Written by Kieren P. McGovern (AKA Untractable Evocation, or Loki, or Fedaykin Guard).
With thanks to Corey W. Smith (Cylor), The Phiend, and Shawn L. Phillips for their help.
The Halo universe and all characters depicted therein, apart from those of my own creation, are the intellectual property of Bungie Studios, with special license to Microsoft. The (original) characters and situations depicted within this fanfiction are MY intellectual property, and use of these characters without my expressed permission will result in serious action.
