Chapter 1
A dark mass of clouds was forming over Africa, I had never seen such a horrific storm in my life. The bridge was a hive of activity, the communication screens were all filled from the captains of the other ships in the fleet. There was a large blockade of Elite ships around Africa. Luckily my ship ID was still registered as Elite owned even though it was given to me by a Prophet. We slowly edged through the barricade and into earths atmosphere only to witness something amazing. The storm that we saw from space had turned into a full blown hurricane. As the ships broke through the clouds the lightning was hitting the bulks so frequently the shields were overloaded and quickly disappeared. This, of course, just added to the chaos of the bridge as signals were blaring throughout the ship.
As the ship hovered over a small forest on the edge of New Mombassa, a MAC round tore through the trees and set the forest ablaze. The rain was covering up the windows so it was hard to tell where the blast came from. The pilots soon switched to night vision and the window instantly revealed what had launched it. A small human cruiser was hovering over the forest and sending entire logs around it. I gave a shake of the hand and instantly sent a wave of plasma sending to the ship. The communication screen flipped on and it showed a marine.
"I wondered how long it would take for the elites to break their promise," the captain said with a small sneer. I was puzzled but I kept my face looking calm.
"What is this madness you speak of, my noble race swore to never speak of your kind in nothing but the strongest curses," I said as I banged my fist on the chair, the marine let out a laugh.
"You're a little behind, the humans and elites have a shaky alliance established," the marine said, he was pointing directions to the pilot but I didn't understand them.
"Humans and elites do not belong on the same battlefield unless they are killing each other," I said as I stood up, it was only to make myself look taller. The marine laughed once again.
"We're only allied because individually we don't stand a chance against the brutes, let alone the flood," the marine seemed to say this while examining his hands.
"Don't worry about the abomination, that's why I'm here," I said while holding up my plasma rifle. The marine had the slightest snicker on his face but it quickly faded. It wasn't until the slightest amount of worry showed on the marines face that I saw the lines on his face that showed he was either middle-aged or very miserable.
"Well, if your as good as you gloat you should probably follow me. I'm not saying there's flood but there is a small brute base," the marine nodded at me and I slowly returned it.
"Very well, my men have been sitting down awhile and I'm sure they're ready for war," I said as I waved at the pilot beside me. The human frigate started to glide along the trees in front of me. The pilot beside me punched some numbers into the computer and the whole fleet started to follow. After a short ride that was strangely uneventful with only the sound of the incredibly strong storm to wither the time away we came across the goal of the day. A small temple could partially be seen through the rain. I stared hungrily at it and only snapped out of my trance when I saw small ships leaving the human frigate in front of me.
"Send ten phantoms full of elites to that temple, I will give them orders at landfall," I said as I walked through the halls to the ground commander. He saluted me then ran down to the barracks. I walked to the armory and took so long to find my weapon that the first phantom had already left by the time I got to the hangar. I walked into the gravity lift that sent me into the phantom and clutched my new sword and my beam rifle. I soon hoisted the rifle onto my back and held the small shaft of silvery metal, it glittered in the purple lights of the phantom. I was stunned by how this insignificant piece of metal could turn into one of the deadliest weapons in the covenants arsenal at the lightest of my squeezes.
As I slid down the lift and onto the muddy ground I realized how strong the storm was. The wind nearly blew the sword out of my hand but luckily I was able to hang onto it. The downside was that the shock of the whole thing made me accidentally squeeze it a little too hard and the blade shot out and cut my leg. The gash instantly released a bluish liquid. The medic wrapped it up and I started out towards the temple. I was stopped in my path by the marines who had already got some action, there were three brute bodies and one marine that had a bandage over his leg.
"We were ambushed upon landing, Frank was hit by a spike. We just got it off when it blew up," the marine I talked to on the ship was saying this to my obvious confusion at the hurt marine. I nodded and walked down the trail, the marine whispered a few things to the soldiers and they all split up. The marine was following my elites with two soldiers of his own.
"I think formal introductions are needed, my name is Jester. Commander Jester," said the marine as he looked at one of my soldiers who was growling at soldier standing beside him. I shook my head and continued walking the trail was getting thinner and soon I was stomping over grass and tangled branches, the marines seemed to be having problems and were quickly falling behind. It wasn't until a loud crack filled the air that all the elites stopped in their tracks. I unleashed the menacing weapon that was the energy sword and listened. Unfortunately, all I could hear was the hushed breathing of the humans who had just caught up and were pointing there guns in every direction.
After I failed to locate the noise I continued down the path, I could clearly see the temple now and there was a doorway leading into the ground a little ways down the muddy path. After a short walk I was at the edge of the dark tunnel that, from what I could see, had no end. Commander Jester came up behind me and through a flare down the hole. After it rolled down the slope for a few seconds it came to a stop.
"Looks like a thirty meter walk sir," said a marine who came up beside Jester. I started down the tunnel and kept my sword out. The marines were behind me with the elites bringing up the rear. As I rounded the corner I heard a yell and turned to see the marines shooting at a brute that had just popped out of a secret tunnel in the wall. It had wild gray hair that was covering its entire body except for its face which had leathery skin. Its dark green eyes looked right at me and seemed to awaken something inside me. I ran at it and prepared for the impact. As I ran into I felt as if I ran into a brick wall, the shock made me drop the sword and quiver a little.
The brute took the chance and put its muscular hands around my throat. I felt its iron grip start to contract and I fell to the ground in pain. I looked around for the sword through my watery eyes. I soon gripped it and I barely had enough energy to thrust it into the gut of the thing. It screamed but still kept its hold on my neck I tried to pull the sword out but my limited strength wouldn't allow it. I could feel my lungs start to break from lack of air. I could barely see the brute get mauled by the elites, the sudden attack made the brute forget about me and I was able to wrestle free.
I was so busy trying to stay conscious I didn't see the next battle but it was apparently noisy. As I was being helped up by another Elite I saw the brute lying dead with half the right side of the top of his head missing. The shotgun that did it was lying down beside a dead marine.
"He gave his life to save you, when he was stuck with a spike grenade he picked up the shotgun and opened fire," the commander said as he slung the body over his shoulder and walked out of the temple.
"Tell the elites outside to clear out the rest of the temple, I'm done in here," I said as I turned to leave the temple too. The elite nodded and ran outside. I sat on the ground and watched the pack of elites run into the temple with their guns ready before I turned to the humans. They were digging a hole to bury the soldier. The commander looked up at me with a solemn look, I stood up and grabbed a shovel. I started to dig but stopped before I got more than one load out of the ground.
"Why bury this soldier on the ground he was murdered?" I asked but the look the commander gave me told me not to pursue the answer. I went back to digging.
"It's a marine tradition to take the dead back to their country, but this was supposed to be our trip home. I wanted to pursue the base and strive for glory. So I'm not following the tradition of something we aren't. He always told us to leave him if he fell, but everyone needs a funeral," the commander said this as the hole was finally dug. I lifted up the body and gently placed it in the hole. It was only a few feet deep but he still fit nicely in.
"We always joked around about every soldiers fate being a shallow grave in the middle of a battlefield. We've seen a lot of guys suffer that fate but you seemed so tough, so invincible. I can't stand thinking about what were going to have to do in battle to make up for your absence. Plus you were the one who always trained the rooks and now we have to train one to replace you. Goodbye, old friend," the commander had talked rather strongly but the last few words ended up in a whisper that I could barely hear. One of the marines took off a necklace and put it on the ground. Another marine took out a dagger and carved some words into the ground.
After the soldiers stepped away I looked down at the grave. The mud read, "Here Lies Lank Reece The Best Shot Yet". I turned around and looked at the temple, the elites were slowly making their way out. One was being supported by the others and I quickly realized why. His right leg had been cut in half.
"A brute with a large hammer attacked us, when more brutes ambushed us they held him against the wall. When he was pinned the brute swung the hammer and…well…you can imagine the rest," the elite gulped and looked at his hurt friend. His breath was slow and painful, he coughed up blood and passed out. I looked at him and felt a wave of pity hit me. I nodded and walked away, not wanting to show my true emotions. The storm was about to start again so I got in the phantom and left. As I was leaving I saw the other phantoms take off with the other elites. On the way back to the ship I wondered what the Covenant tradition for death is.