CHAPTER 6: Let the Chaos Begin
"NO!" Noka exclaimed as he slammed his fist on the escape pod door. He turned to Ruka and growled, "You made an error, brother. You let the Human take advantage of your secondary weapon. You should have started with the blade... You let the Human escape!"
Noka dove forward and caught his brother with a sharp uppercut punch that hit him in the lower mandibles. Blood and saliva splattered onto Noka's fist.
Ruka yelled in pain. "We can go after him Noka; just use one of the other pods!"
Noka stepped back from his brother, and let him spit out the blood and broken teeth from his mouth. "It is too late for that. We no longer get the glory of this kill, as I am certain that our fleet will destroy his capsule when I inform them of the Human. Collect yourself Ruka, we must get to the launch bay; our squad is waiting."
Ruka glared at his brother as he strode off towards the launch bay. Angry thoughts filled his mind, but he pushed them away. He was Sangheili, and Sangheili took punishment without pause when it was deserved, and he most definitely deserved it.
Within minutes, both of them had arrived at the launch bay. In its condition, it was remarkable that it was still even intact. The Fist of Judgement was only a destroyer, meaning that it had large amounts of weaponry, but most of the space on the ship was used either for the weapons, or to supply them. Therefore, it only had one small launch bay.
Inside the bay, was wreckage from the hits the ship took: two Spirit drop ships were crumpled along the wall, and Banshee flier pieces lay strewn about, with only three still intact. There were only three Spirits functioning, and two were being loaded with the ship's limited crew and warriors. The third was clearly reserved for the 'Sword of Vigilance'.
Falo 'Tsarumee, the squad's heavy weapons expert strode towards the brothers.
"The two Spirits are nearly fully loaded with the command crew, and the few other crew members that had survived the attack. What are your orders?"
We launch immediately. This ship will not last much longer, and is drifting slowly towards the Sacred Ring. It needs to be destroyed now, or else it will crash into the ring. I cannot even fathom the punishment we will receive."
"Yes leader, it shall be done." 'Tsarumee then sped off and gave the order to depart.
"If that Human somehow survives and links up with its downed attack ship, then your punishment will be extreme." Noka said quietly to Ruka.
Ruka remained silent, knowing that what his brother said was true. However, he preferred to leave that at the back of his mind for now, and focus on the task at hand.
"I understand, Noka. However we must focus on getting off this ship, and seeing to it's destruction. Leave the incident behind us for the time being."
"Agreed, but I cannot drop this from my mind. When we can link up with another ship, I will order it to scan for the escape pod. If it cannot be found, I can only assume that the Human is alive. Obviously he has enough skill to defeat you."
With that, Noka left his brother's side and walked towards the drop ship.
**
After a small amount of confusion upon takeoff, the three Spirits sped away from the doomed Fist of Judgement.
"This is 'Sword of Vigilance' squad leader Noka 'Tamamee requesting pick up from destroyer Fist of Judgement, and requesting the destroyer be destroyed as it is a threat to the Relic. Is there any ship available to do so?" Noka stood in the cockpit, glaring at the comm panel. A voice cut through the silence with heavy static:
"This is... and Reconciliation... orders for destruction of... commence immediately. We read the ship to be on collision... Relay pickup location."
"Get us clear of the ship, or we will get caught in the blast. Move towards the ship closest to the Ring." Noka ordered.
Ingo 'Kul Zikinee, the pilot, but also the squad's expert marksman ran his hand over the Spirit's controls, and it burst forward accordingly. Seconds later, several plasma torpedoes flashed across the view screen, and connected with the Fist of Judgement. It seemed to balloon from the inside, plasma washing over and through the severely cratered and gutted ship. Not even three seconds passed before the ship exploded, its plasma reserves igniting and detonating.
The little drop ship was pushed forward from the blast, but stayed clear of the debris. There would be no threat to the Ring from the destroyer; that was certain.
The static shrouded voice came through the comm once more:
"Target destroyed as... cannot comply with retrieval....too damaged...Inside atmosphere of the Sacr... Suggest alternative option...." The voice then cut out for the last time. The words 'cannot comply with retrieval' hung heavily in the air.
"Turn on all available external cameras. See if there are any other ships in the area." Noka commanded.
The view screens all divided into several images; all of which showed empty space, save the one with the view of the Sacred Ring. No ships remained. Noka was about to order the three Spirits to move towards the damaged cruiser, but a thought struck him.
"Do an active scan on the space nearest the ring, look for signatures from any escape pods that may have been launched."
"May I ask why, Commander?" 'Kul Zikinee had already begun the scan, but was still curious. Noka saw no reason to hold back any information from his trusted squadmate.
"The Human with the special armour whom we captured outside the Human installation; he escaped the Fist of Judgement in an escape pod. Ruka and I attempted to stop him, but my brother made an error, which resulted in the Human's escape."
'Kul Zikinee remained wisely silent. He glanced at the view screen, showing the results of the scan. The words flashed, and an image popped on the screen beside them; a single escape pod, powering through the empty space heading towards the ring. "There, Commander. An escape pod!"
Noka looked up, surprised that the scans had actually picked up the pod. New plans quickly formulated in his mind. He activated the comm.
"Spirit drop ships from the Fist of Judgement, change course to the damaged cruiser near the Ring. We shall link up with you there at a later time. 'Sword of Vigilance' unlinking from communications." He then spoke to the pilot; "Keep your vectors in line with that escape pod. We cannot lose it. We shall get our glory after all."
**
The massive ring installation loomed before James in the view screen. He had quickly learned the escape pods controls, and was making his way towards the ring. As the pod streamed through space as fast as it could go, James became transfixed on the view screen. Debris from various ships littered the area, and they looked familiar. It took a second before the he recognized the wing of a Longsword fighter spinning past. Not long after that, a half melted Pelican floated by. If these debris were from Human craft, then there must be a Human presence here somewhere. From what he could see, there were no traces of a UNSC ship anywhere, but if there were Longswords dispatched, then there was one here, and if Pelicans were also released, then it must have been used as an insertion to the Ring.
As a darkened UNSC escape pod floated past James' pod, he made his decision. If there were any more Humans in this area, then they would be on the ring. He had no way of knowing where exactly, but maybe once he got there, he could try to link up communications.
He powered the tiny pod even faster towards the closest part of the ring. In his mind he knew that the ring was really his only hope. There would be no chance of him commandeering any Covenant craft while all he had was an unarmed escape pod. The ring promised salvation, hope, and rescue. To James, the ring was now his lifeline. He only hoped that the enemy was not there to greet him when he landed.
