Disclaimer: I own nothing except my characters. Other canon characters are owned by their respective companies.
Exclaimer: To people who don't like the story, just don't read it.
Chapter 3
The three headed down the hallways of Cairo and eventually made it back to their post. They sat at the floor since they were still half bored. Rick stared out the window. He could see the space stations and some ships that flew by. He looked at Earth and sighed. He missed Earth. He always felt homesick each and every time he looked at Earth from the windows of the Cairo.
"Do you miss Earth?" he asked Jaime. He looked at him and said,
"Yeah, sometimes…" he answered. "I miss the trees, the sun, the soil… and not to mention the hotdogs." Rachelle laughed.
"Of all the things you miss, you miss hotdogs?" she asked.
"I miss the sweet, tender, juicy and meaty properties of it; the feel of dipping it in ketchup and placing it in a bun. The food they serve here taste bad…. What about you?" Jaime asked.
"Well, I miss my life back at home. How I usually went to work like a normal person, socialized with my friends." answered Rachelle.
"Then why did you join the army?" Rick asked. Rachelle just shrugged.
"I guessed that I thought that if I were to join the army, I could somehow end the war. Look where it got me now." said Rachelle. Jaime shrugged.
"You, I, everyone who is in the Corps are trying to end the war." Rachelle nodded.
"You're right. What about you Rick, what do you miss about Earth?" she asked. Rick scratched his head.
"That's a tough one to answer since I miss everything. But if I were to choose, I most likely miss my house." he answered. Jaime stared at him.
"You miss you're house?" he asked.
"Don't look at me like that, you miss hotdogs. Besides I miss my comfortable bed. The bunks here are nice but my bed is still the best." answered Rick.
"We all miss something…" said Rachelle.
"Yeah… I hope this war ends soon." said Jaime.
"So you can eat hotdogs?" asked Rick.
"Yes. The first thing I'm going to do when I get back to Earth when the war is over is eat a hotdog." answered Jaime. Rachelle sighed.
"You'd think the Covenant would give up on fighting us since we are such a pest." she said.
"If only they think that way." said Rick.
"Sometimes, I feel like I just want to walk to up to an elite and say 'Hey! Why are we fighting when we could be friends?'." said Rachelle. Jaime chuckled.
"I like to see you try. Before you even get to the guy, he'd killed you with his plasma rifle." Rachelle rolled her eyes.
"Yeah you're right… do you think they know what does Halo do?" she asked.
"I don't think they exactly know what it does." answered Rick.
"If they did and understood its danger, we won't be fighting this war would we?" asked Jaime.
"Yeah… I think they really got pissed off when the Master Chief blew up Halo." said Rachelle.
* * * * *
Back at High Charity, Thel walked down the halls followed by Tartarus. He was heading to the platform where he was going to be branded. The door opened and the two honor guards in front of it stood aside. He could hear the Covenant crowd jeering and chanting,
"He-re-tic! He-re-tic!"
He came to the edge of the platform and he gazed upon the jeering crowd. Amongst the hundreds of grunts and jackals he could see a white armored elite looking up at him. Rtas was here to give him moral support. Tartarus smirked at Thel. He pushed Thel to the floor which made him knelt; as Thel was chained to several energy restraints Tartarus' smirk broadened.
He smirked. "You've drawn quite a crowd."
"If they came to hear me beg they will be disappointed." he said calmly.
"Are you sure?" he asked maliciously.
Suddenly pain lanced from Thel's arms as fire leapt from the restrains. He gritted his teeth in pain. The crowd roared in approval.
"There can be no greater heresy! Let him be an example to all who would break our Covenant!" shouted Tartarus. The crowd roared in approval they loved this. He looked at his subordinates who were on either side of Thel.
"Now!" he ordered. The brutes ripped of Thel chest plate.
Rtas watched in horror as his friend was stripped of his armor. He felt angry at himself as he, a close friend, didn't even try to get him out of trouble. He felt he wasn't worthy of being a friend. He despised himself. He looked only to see Thel's jumpsuit was removed. He was buck naked. The crowd jeered even louder. Next was Thel's helmet.
Thel's helmet clattered to the ground. His body ached as it was continually subjected to pain. He wanted to shout as the pain was becoming unbearable but that would only give Tartarus what he wants. So he just closed his eyes and gritted his mandibles. In his mind he declared himself nearly dead but he knew he was already dead to everyone there.
He was hanging from his manacles, his skin scorched. His naked body was out in the open which only made the crowd jeer more. He tried his best to drone them out it just wouldn't. Then he noticed that the crowd suddenly went quiet. He opened his eyes and saw out of the ground, came a long brand. On its blazing tip was the mark all warriors feared.
It was the 'Mark of Shame'. Tartarus picked it up, grinning to the now deathly silent crowd. Thel squeezed his eyes and locked his mandibles as he prepared to take the greatest pain he would ever feel.
Tartarus slammed it into Thel's chest, right over where the heart would be.
Thel's eyes shot open! The pain was beyond anything he had yet experienced or prepared for. His eyes watered. He lifted his head up into the air and loosed a terrible agonized wail of pain as the cruel brand burned the symbol into his skin.
Rtas looked away as he saw Tartarus slammed the symbol into his chest. He tried all his might to drone out the wail of pain his friend cried out. To him it felt like being slapped right in the face. Deep down he knew he could have prevented this if he defended Thel back at court but he didn't.
Thel tried his best to make the pain go away but it just wouldn't. He could hear his skin being cooked under the immense heat. He could even smell his skin as it smoldered. He just wanted to die, right there and there. His prayers were answered as his mind shut down. He lost consciousness as his body was overwhelmed by the amount of pain it had received.
Rtas saw Thel's body fell limp and fall to the ground with a thud. The crowd roared with approval as they enjoyed the show. Rtas suddenly felt a sudden urge of hatred at the prophets for they have caused his close friend pain unimaginable. He wanted to murder them for they were too much on the punishment. He stormed off, shaking, as he tried to control his anger. He knew if he lashed out here, he'll say…things, about the prophets which would lead to complications for himself.
* * * * *
Alarms blared all over the Cairo, signaling that they were under attack.
"What's going on?" asked Rachelle to a marine who was running down the hall.
"We've just received reports of slip space ruptures not far from here." then the marine run off.
"Do you think we're under attack?" asked Jaime. Then Lord Hood's voice came over the speaker system.
"We are under attack. Marines, defend this station!" he ordered. Rick cocked his SMGs.
"Rock and Roll." then the entire station shook.
"What the hell was that!?" asked Jaime. Rachelle looked through the glass.
"It's the Covenant. They've latched on to the Cairo. They're getting through the space port!" said Rachelle. Rick ran to the nearest intercom and pressed the button.
"Report, Covenant troops had been spotted at the Cairo space sport. I repeat Covenant forces had been spotted at the Cairo space sport." then he turned to Rachelle and Jaime.
"Time to move." he ordered.
The three of them headed down the hallway passing a few technicians and soldiers who were also heading there to repel the enemy; the door hissed open and they all piled in. There it was, a Covenant phantom ship, dispersing troops into the port station.
The Covenant forces spotted them and an elite cried out a battle cry.
The firefight quickly began. Rachelle, Jaime and Rick took cover as plasma rained down on them. Rick ran up the stairs as it allowed him a better vantage point. Jaime primed a grenade and lobbed it at the nearest group of grunt. It detonated, sending the buggers flying to the air.
Rachelle ran from cover to cover. She fired off her battle rifle and killed two grunts with a head shot. She ducked as a plasma shot flew over head. An elite major cried a battle cry and began to rush her. She opened up on him. But the elites shield absorbed most of her bullets and allowed him to keep running to her. The moment her rifle ran out of ammo, the elites shield failed. She didn't have enough time to either reload or take her side arm out and the elite was just a few feet from her.
The elite was about to fired his plasma rifle when he fell to the ground in a headshot. Rachelle looked to where the shot came from and saw that it was from Rick's SMGs. He smiled at her and continued firing his weapon.
Jaime ducked as an elite tried to club him with his plasma rifle. He quickly fired off his battle rifle and filled the elite with lead. The elite gave its gurgling sound of death as his shields failed and his brain was destroyed by the bullets. Jaime threw his rifle away since he was out of ammo and picked up a plasma rifle and dual wielded.
It felt like the Covenant forces seemed infinite. Bodies dropped dead and blood was splattered. Around Rachelle, other humans that tried to defend the port were dropping dead. There was now only about 5 of them and one of them was wounded. It was starting to look quite grim and she was about to yell retreat when the doors open.
She turned her head and saw a man wearing green armor walk in. It was the Master Chief. As soon as he walked in, the elites noticed him and pointed. It now seemed like an even fight. The elites mostly handled the chief while the 5 of them took out the grunts.
Jaime fired off his SMGs then noticed something odd. The Covenant seemed to be schlepping something big. It was in oval shape and had spikes. They left it at a corner and ran in to join the firefight. Then he looked up as he saw Malta out in space explode. He felt his heart sink completely. Adrian Hawk, their sergeant, along with two marines was on board. He was filled with grief but immediately placed it aside as he was still in battle.
Rick and Rachelle looked up just in time to see the explosion of Malta. Then another explosion, it was the Athens. Like Jaime they felt the same but disregarded it for now. Rachelle cocked her magnum and fired at the grunts. They piled down dead with headshots. The Master Chief, along with Jaime, Rick and Rachelle took out the elites. Then the Chief ran up to the weird device that the Jaime saw earlier and he placed his hand on it. There came a quiet beep and the bomb shut down.
"How much time was left?" he asked Cortana.
"You don't want to know." she answered.
The comm channels came alive again with Miranda's voice.
"Cairo this is In Amber Clad the carriers shield is down and we're ready for an immediate assault!" said Miranda.
"Negative commander not against a ship that size. Not on your own." said Lord Hood.
The Master Chief then had an idea.
"Sir, Permission to leave the station?" he asked.
"For what purpose Master Chief?" asked Lord Hood.
"To give the Covenant back their bomb." answered the Chief.
Lord Hood smirked.
"Permission granted." said Lord Hood:
The Master Chief turned around and called Jaime, Rachelle and Rick who were resting at the side.
"I need help. Can you push this to the elevator?" he asked. Jaime, Rachelle and Rick went up to him and helped him.
"Nice job marines." he said then the lift hissed shut.
"C'mon you two, we need to defend other areas!" shouted Jaime. And so the three ran out of the port and headed for the next area to defend.
Please take some time to R&R.
