Chapter 2: Limping Away
Shipmaster 'Zadumee stood at the command console of the Fist of Judgement, staring at the now darkened viewscreen.
"Communications?" He asked.
"Functioning, but barely," replied the Comm officer. "External communications are gone- all external viewing cameras are destroyed. The Human fleet did quite a number on our ship, Honor."
"Curse the Human filth!" growled "Zadumee. He began to pace angrily. "We can still move… We will not take part in the destruction of their planet, for that will use too much of our limited power." He marched over to the engineering station. "Our slipspace engines are still online." He pressed a button on the console, activating the ship's internal communications. "All Huragok, focus on repairing external communications. We need them immediately." He deactivated the comms and sighed. He took another look around the early empty and somewhat damaged command console, and sighed again.
"Move up to join with the nearest exit group. We can join with them for support until we can make the repairs. I am going to greet the Spec Ops team we picked up, perhaps they can be of some use." He nodded at the Sangheili in charge of navigation, and left the console.
***
Noka 'Tamamee slammed his fist on the table and roared at the Huragok examining the Human.
"Why is it so difficult to remove this Human's armour?"
The Human captive lay on the metal table, secured by energy shackles. The Huragok was attempting to remove the Human's helmet. Naturally, the soldier was resisting.
"Give me one minute with this vermin, I will do it myself!"
The Huragok squealed angrily, and its tentacles worked furiously over the Human's helmet. Suddenly, with a loud hiss and a pop, the helmet came off.
Noka jumped to his feet, and growled.
"Ha ha! A face to the mask!" He stepped over to the Human and glared into his eyes. Smiling, Noka promptly backhanded him across the face.
The Human yelled out in pain, blood dripping from his nose and mouth. He spoke quietly in his own language:
"This is not the first time I have been captured. If you bastards want information from me, you will never get it!"
As he spoke, the door to the small dark room slid open, and Shipmaster 'Zadumee strode in.
"I was told I would find you in here. I also understand that you have taken a Human prisoner, which is ridiculous. We do not need prisoners of a race that we can eradicate!"
It was just then that 'Zadumee got a good look at the captive, in his shining greenish body armour.
"By the Prophets!"
"Yes," growled Noka. "One of my soldiers found him on our mission to the Human installation. The mission was not a complete failure. We have just begun to remove his armour. Not only does this Human appear to be physically advantageous over the rest of them, but his armour is also more advanced. It has shields, similar to our own.
"I see. However, this will remain our little secret. Our external communications were destroyed in the battle with the Human fleet. We have no way to speak to anyone outside this ship."
"So where does that leave us, then?"
The Shipmaster lowered his head and paced-something he did when he was tense.
"We can still move, and we are linking up with a group of ships on an exit vector from this system. We will tandem jump with them, however, I have no idea where we are headed… The coordinates are unknown to me."
"Well, with your permission, we are going to pry information from him," Noka said, gesturing to the Human still lying on the table. His armour was nearly all off now, all that remained were the parts from the waist down.
"Also, we can examine his shield technology, and adapt it to our own principles, if necessary."
"Careful, Commander. What you speak of is blasphemy. Our technology is, and always will be far superior to the Humans. It is a gift from the Forerunners, after all. A gift from the gods!"
"Accept my apologies, Excellency. I shall not think in that way again, or it will be my head on a stake."
"Indeed. Get what you can from this Human, but do not examine the armour. I'll decide what to do with it when I get back. I'm going to check on our repairs."
"You have my word, Shipmaster."
"And think about what you just said Commander. I do not wish to lose an experienced soldier such as yourself."
Noka bowed, and the Shipmaster left.
***
James lay on the cold, purple metal table. The Engineer was hovering over him, and it had removed all of his armour and stacked it neatly in the corner. Frankly, he wasn't surprised at what the alien had accomplished. After seeing them on Sigma Octanus disassembling and reassembling vehicles, he was actually impressed at their capabilities. If the UNSC had these creatures, who knows where they would be technologically.
He stole another look at the Elite in the room. From what he had just witnessed, the one in the gold armour that just left must have been of some importance, perhaps captain of the ship?
The one in the black armour was lesser in rank, but still higher in the chain of command, to warrant such casual conversation.
James looked down at himself, naked now. He was pale, even in the dim light. The amount of time in his armour was already taking a toll on his pigmentation. He wondered if John and the rest of the Spartans had accomplished their respective missions. He knew they must have, Spartans never fail.
"No, that's false," he thought. He had failed. He left his own teammates because if his own stubbornness, and failure to comply with orders. His anger began to rise. Not only had he failed his team, but also himself, for getting captured by these Covenant assholes.
A sound startled him, rousing him from his thoughts. The single door to the room opened, and second black-clad Elite walked in.
"Great…" he thought, and weighed his options. Two armed Elites versus him. They were armed with plasma rifles, attached to their thighs. On the other leg, they had some sort of glowing bar that he had never seen before. It must be some new weapon. ONI would have a heyday.
These Elites must have been part of the team that captured him in the first place, therefore extremely well trained. He wondered if he could take them, even without his MJOLNIR armour.
Suddenly, realization hit him in the face, literally. The slightly taller of the two, the one originally in the room struck him again, sending blood spraying across the room. The Engineer whistled angrily, as blood spattered on its skin. His nose was surely broken now.
He glared angrily at the Elite, and bared his teeth, in anger and in pain. The Elite appeared to smile, which was something, because Elites had two sets of mandibles rather than a mouth with lips.
Due to their extensive training, and the black armour, James figured these two must be part of some sort of crack Special Ops team, meaning that his chances of an even fight were minimal.
He decided he would bide his time for now, and see what happens. There would be another chance for escape. He was sure of it.