Chapter Three: Fog Walker
May 26, 2549 18:45 Hours
Yonik Grasslands
It was a dreary day as the small task force continued to slowly make its way across the grasslands.
During the night, a thick fog had rolled over the land, covering most of Yonik. The mountains were high above the mist acting like a beacon of hope. It was difficult to travel, but Task Force 17 was forced to travel onwards through it.
The weather had declined too so the Falcons couldn't fly. A trailer had been hitched up to the Scorpion and the three Falcons were tied down.
There wasn't a whole lot of room in the few vehicles, so most of the troopers were piled on the Scorpion or the trailer the Falcons were strapped too. Some even filled the Falcons to allow more space on the trailer. Thankfully, everyone had been able to find a spot. Some of the Spartans had given up their seats and walked beside the convoy.
Blue Team was in a transport Warthog at the head of the convoy. Delilah was driving and Albert was talking on the comms in the passenger seat. Taylor and Ivan were sleeping next to each other. Grey was sitting between Amad and Nick. He was going over his weapon while Nick sat with a bored expression and Amad was sitting happily with a rifle.
Grey stopped working with his DMR and peeked over at Delilah. He soon became lost in his own thoughts as he stared at her.
"Whatcha lookin' at?" Nick asked teasingly. He already knew. Grey quickly looked forwards again. "How're things going with her?"
"Good. I mean, we worry about each other's safety constantly…especially now, but besides that everything's perfect." Grey looked back at Delilah then got closer to Nick and started to speak in a whisper. "I never thought it could happen. I mean, we're super soldiers, bred to kill. And yet…I found her and she found me. And I mean, I never thought were capable of these kind of emotions." Nick put an arm around Grey.
"Listen up, partner. You may wear a big suit of armor, have some weird blue gunk in your veins and can do some pretty amazing stuff…but you're still human." He poked Grey's chest plate. "You probably already know this, but you're in love, my man. No matter what people say, love is a thunder in our hearts that we all seek to share with someone else in this galaxy."
Nick slowly motioned with his arm to the cloudy sky for effect. Grey smirked and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. For someone who thought it was enjoyable to crush grunts with his boots, Nick could say things Grey would expect from an old wise man.
"That sure is a nice way of putting it. But I didn't think some like you would be able to say it." Nick snorted.
"I know about it cus' I have a family. I gotta wife an' three kids! Can you believe that?" Grey shook his head. Nick pulled out a holo-still of his family. A beautiful woman stood next to Nick. Two small children stood in front of them with toothy smiles and the third, smallest one was on Nick's shoulders. "This here is my wife, Teresa. These are my sons, Fredrick and Theodore and that's my daughter Katrina." He began telling Grey all about them.
Grey was focused more on Nick than the holo. The usual cocky look was gone and now replaced by one of care and thought. His eyes were filled with happiness as he went over the names and a soft smile had grown on his face. This indeed was a very rare sight. "Say, what're you gonna do after the war?" Nick asked.
Grey snapped from his thoughts and blinked a few times. It was a good question. He had no idea what was going to happen to him or any of the Spartans after the war. Would they be allowed to leave? Would they be forced to stay with the UNSC? Would the war even end?
"I don't know." Grey voiced his concern about what would happen to him.
"Ah, no worries my friend." Amad joined in. "I'm sure they'll give you the choice to leave. Now, what do you want to do?" Grey thought hard.
He remembered that when he went to Reach for the Sabre Program he volunteered for there were dozens upon dozens of farms dotting the countryside.
"Farming…"
"What?" both Nick and Amad blurted.
"I'd like to become a farmer. It's quiet, peaceful, honest, hard work. Having my own farm is kinda appealing." Nick and Amad looked at each other and burst out laughing. Grey crossed his arms and frowned. "What? You asked so I answered."
"No, there's nothing wrong with farming." Nick said in between chuckles. "But I mean you, farming? Pfft! That's something I would like to see."
"I think from now on I will call you the Grainstalk." Amad stated and Nick roared with laughter. Grey really didn't see any humor in it…at all.
"Yeah, and I'll call you nothing." Grey seethed.
"Aw…don't be like that!"
Their laughter was cut short as the Warthog grinded to a halt. They looked to the front and gazed at the sight. The fog had barely lifted, but they could see the picture strewn about before them.
Destroyed UNSC vehicles and aircraft littered the land in front of them. Some were burning, creating eerie orange glows in the distant fog. Other wreckage was all over the place. To make matters worse, bodies were everywhere. They had obviously been here for a while, as some were bloated and others had already started decaying.
The smell was horrible. The mix of rotting flesh and burning fuel filled Grey's nostrils. He grimaced and put his helmet on. Nick did the same as Amad and Ivan covered their faces with bandannas. Albert quickly assessed their situation.
"Alright, everyone be on alert. This could be a possible ambush sight. All Spartan teams, move to the head of the convoy; Yankee team take the left flank, Renegade take the right, Blue Team we have the front. Let's move through this area slowly." Blue Team hopped out, except for Nick who took the wheel.
Everyone quickly moved to their assigned positions and the convoy began rumbling forward again. Everything was silent excepting for the steady humming of the vehicles' engines. Grey was standing close to Delilah, who was loading her shotgun. They gave each other a nod.
Grey decided to reload his DMR since the clip was half empty. Wish I didn't leave the sniper rifle in the Warthog…
"My grandfather once told me that if I was bad, I would go to a place such as this." Amad said over the comms.
"I do not like this place. If given choice, I would rather live in reactor." Ivan joked. There were a few nervous chuckles over the comms.
"Noise discipline..." Albert growled.
"Yes, my Führer!" Nick joked. Grey watched as Albert slowly looked over his shoulder.
"Nick…shut the fuck up." There were a few snickers but Nick fell silent.
The convoy continued on. Grey passed a burning Warthog; blackened, scorched bodies were all over it. He was glad his helmet was on. As if on cue, the sound of someone vomiting caught his attention. He turned to see a trooper hunched over, spitting the remnants of his lunch into the ground.
Grey gave the trooper a reassuring pat on the back and kept moving. Someone murmured and pointed to a crashed Pelican. It was on its side, the bottom ripped out from under it. Almost twenty bodies were strewn around and within it. Blood stained the grass and the metal.
Grey stepped on something, and heard a familiar cracking noise. Looking down, he realized that he had stepped on a dead skirmisher's neck. Soon a few voices informed the others that there was a large amount of dead skirmishers mixed in with the UNSC graves. Everyone assumed that they were the dead from the Covenant's ambush on this battle group. Of course, they were wrong.
A trooper decided to fire a round into a dead skirmisher, a normal custom among the UNSC. To his shock, almost every one of the skirmishers that had been lying dead a moment ago, sprang to their feet and began firing.
The 'Ambush' cry went out but it was too late. Screams filled the air and troopers began to fall on the ground. Bullets whizzed by and plasma flew everywhere. Grey took down several skirmishers and took cover behind a wrecked Warthog. Ivan slid up next to him, reloading his weapon.
"I know these skirmishers!" he yelled over the noise. "They're a regiment of skilled ambushers called Zombies. They often play dead to get the best drop on us. I should've realized this."
"Who cares what they're called? Let's take'em out." Ivan nodded in agreement and tossed a frag grenade over their cover. He then disappeared into a group of skirmishers and troopers who were locked in hand-to-hand combat.
Grey ran forwards, using up the rest of the ammo in his clip on a few skirmishers that were charging him. Slamming another clip into his DMR, Grey quickly snapped off three headshots before dodging a charged plasma pistol round. The EMP blast hit the ground near Grey, and his shields went down halfway.
A skirmisher jumped on top of Grey, firing his plasma pistol as fast as it could. Grey grabbed the alien by its throat and dug his fingers into until blood started to seep over his fingers.
Grey tossed the skirmisher aside and fired a round into another one that was scampering by. Another jumped onto his back. Grey simply grabbed his pistol and fired over his shoulder. He felt the slight weight on his back slide off.
"Help me!" A voice cried. Grey turned to see a young trooper on his back trying to fight off a skirmisher. Grey sprinted over and kicked the skirmisher in its gut and then fired two shots into it. He grabbed the trooper and tossed him into cover.
Grey groaned as he felt a plasma overcharge round hit his back. The plasma burned through his shields and he felt it sizzle on its back. He turned and was ready to kill the skirmisher. But instead he saw Delilah driving her knife through its neck.
"Are you alright?" She called.
"I'm fine!" Grey fired a round past her to kill another skirmisher. "We have to fallback; I don't have a visual on the convoy." Delilah started to lead Grey back to the convoy. On their way back, Grey saw most of the skirmishers were dead for real and those that were alive were being finished off by the troopers. "Are we clear?"
"No, there are still some skirmishers out there. Some troopers are still unaccounted for too." Taylor informed them.
"I'll find'em." Delilah started loading fresh shells into the shotgun.
"No, you stay here and tend to the wounded." Delilah started to protest but Grey cut her off. "We need all the security on the convoy. I'm the fastest so I'll go. Where should I start looking?" Albert tapped his tacpad.
"The group of troopers said they saw four Elites moving to the northeast of the convoy about two hundred meters." Without a word, Grey immediately started sprinting to the marker on his HUD.
There was less wreckage and bodies this way, except for the occasional dead trooper or skirmisher. Grey could hear gunfire and yelling. And a minute later he slammed into a skirmisher, breaking it instantly.
Grey saw the location of the troopers on his motion tracker and went to their front.
"Head back to the convoy! I'll give you cover! Go, go, go!" the troopers took off running as Grey started firing into the skirmishers that were rushing at him. After they were dealt with, Grey started reloading when a gray armored Elite slammed into him.
He stumbled back, dropping his DMR. The Elite fired its plasma repeater and Grey rolled out of the way. The alien growled in anger as the repeater overheated. Grey took the opportunity and charged the Elite. He tackled it and they both fell to the ground.
Grey raised his fist to hit the Elite but it grabbed his wrist and kicked him off. Grey slid into the ground a few feet and the Elite drew its energy sword. It swung at him and Grey again rolled out of the way, scrambling to his feet. But the Elite was fast and slashed his sword against Grey's back. His shields took the brunt of the damage but he felt the tips gouge into his back. He let out a cry of pain and fell to his knee.
Reaching for his pistol, Grey turned to fire at the Elite. The Elite smacked the weapon from his hand. But before the alien could finish Grey, a hail of buckshot hit it. The Elite's shields flared as Delilah roared and smashed the Elite with the butt of the shotgun.
During the frenzy, Delilah lost her shotgun but the Elite still had a firm grip on its energy sword. Delilah swung her first at it but the Elite grabbed her wrist and slashed upwards with the energy sword. Delilah fell back, her shields depleted and pieces of her armor fell off from the hit.
She fell down, groaning in pain. Delilah attempted to pick herself up but she failed and fell back down. The Elite, thinking it had won, walked towards her.
"Stay away from her!" Grey cried and jumped onto the Elite's back, jamming his knife into its back repeatedly. The Elite roared in fury and threw Grey off his back.
Grey landed on his hands and feet like a cat and raised himself to a crouch, holding his knife out in front of him. The Elite had lost its sword and it was right in front of Grey. It curled its hands into fists and an energy blade on either wrist appeared.
The Elite charged Grey and jabbed at him with the wrist blades. Grey sidestepped out of the way and slashed the Elite with his knife. The Elite grabbed its side, stunned for a moment. Grey took the opportunity. He grabbed the right arm and slashed at its wrist. After a few hits the device that produced the wrist blade popped off. Grey took the device and strapped it to his right wrist. He made a fist and the blade appeared.
Grey got into a fighting stance, waiting for the Elite to strike. Instead, the Elite turned and started to run.
Two Elites were crouched behind a large rock formation. They looked on at the fog where their brother had run into the fray to help the skirmishers. They could hear shouting and the sound of their brother in a fight.
There was no sign of him until he started running out of the fog. But just as he was in view, a burst of gunfire ripped into his legs. The two Elites watched in horror as their brother dropped down.
"We have to help him!" one whispered and stood up.
"No, get down!" the other hissed, pulling him back behind the rocks.
Their brother started to crawl towards them. But something else caught their attention. A shadowy figure in the shape of a human was slowly making its way to their brother. Their eyes widened as one of the UNSC demons appeared. They were surprised to see an energy dagger deployed on his wrist.
The two brothers wanted to look away but they couldn't. Their brother rolled onto his back, raising its hands up to the demon. The demon stood over the Elite for a moment, staring down at it. He bent over and said something to him. Then the demon started stabbing their brother with the wrist blade multiple times until their brother's chest was obliterated.
The demon stood over his kill for another moment before turning and slowly disappearing back into the fog.
"Why did you hold us back!" the first Elite growled.
"Our brother was the strongest and the most skilled out of the three of us. If he was defeated by that demon, that it means it has skill that greatly surpasses our own." He looked back towards their deceased brother. "This is now ordinary demon…"
Grey dropped down to his knees next to Delilah.
"Delilah?" he whispered. He reached down and placed a hand on her armor. He shook her a little and there was no response. "Delilah…" Grey reached over and pulled off her helmet. It revealed Delilah with a smirk on her face staring up at Grey.
"Boo…"
Grey was too relieved to be angry. He threw off his helmet and brought Delilah into a hug. Delilah tucked her head under his chin.
"I thought you…"
"Well I didn't. I'm fine Grey." She pulled back a little and kissed him. "Honestly, you worry too much." Grey smiled and rubbed her cheek before helping Delilah to her feet. "Let's head back now." The two Spartans put on their helmets and collected their weapons.
At the convoy, Grey was greeted by the troopers he had rescued. They crowded around him, patting his back and laughing.
"Thanks for saving us!"
"Yeah, we woulda been toast if you hadn't shown up."
"You deserve a medal."
"I don't think that's necessary. Just knowing that you're safe and your appreciation is reward enough." The troopers laughed and continued to congratulate him until Albert shooed them away. The task force climbed back into their vehicles and the convoy continued on.