Hello again! Sorry for the long break in chapters; school has decided that it is time for homework! Hurray... Anyways, I appreciate the reviews, and would like to give thanks to Dawn Searcher and Cortanas-7hrd-L0v3r for being my first reviewers. But that's enough of me! Let's get back to the action!
And now, we return to our feature presentation...
Tyf woke, rubbing her forehead with the palm of her hand, her eyes closed. "Alright, how much did I drink last night and whose bed am I in?" she groaned, feeling like she had a horrible hangover. Suddenly, she remembered the events of the disastrous mission. She tried to get up, but collapsed back to the ground with a cry of pain. She clutched her leg in agony, gritting her teeth with the pain. She panted deeply, and opened her eyes again. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of something brown skittering back behind the rubble. She drew a plasma pistol from her belt, glimpsing around nervously, dragging herself closer to the wreck. "Hello?" she called out nervously, waving the gun around. She heard a skittering sound, and saw a fleck of brown vanish behind a piece of rubble. "Who's there?!" shouted Tyf, her heart pounding in her breast. She backed up against a piece of metal, sliding her back up the flat surface. Suddenly, a brown insect leaped out from behind a pile of wreckage and charged at her: a Flood infection form. Tyf screamed in surprise and blasted it to pieces with her pistol, sending pieces of rotting flesh flying over the landscape.
"What's wrong?!" shouted Zek, jumping over the metal plate and landing next to Tyf. Tyf yelped in surprise as he landed next to her, and pointed at the smoking pile of rotted flesh. "What? I don't see any—Oh, damn," said R'vek, and several brown forms began to peer out from behind piles of rubble and large rocks. It was the Flood. As the Flood began to charge, Zek grabbed Tyf and pushed her over the top of the metal plate, grunting as his muscles strained against Sanghelian gravity. He pulled out both of his needlers, and began sending needles flying into the masses of Flood, bursting apart infection forms with each shot. He kept firing until, to his horror, he began to hear loud clicks from his guns. He was out of ammo. Zek grabbed at his belt for a clip of ammo, but to his horror, he had none. Zek turned, and jumped up onto the metal plate just as a Flood infection form jumped at him, smashing into the metal plate where Zek once was. Zek lobbed a grenade into the mass of creatures, and jumped behind the metal plate, landing next to Tyf. Their hearts pounded as they heard the Flood on the other side smashing against the metal barrier, and suddenly, a plasma sword sliced through the metal wall. Zek and Tyf both leaped out of the way as the sword yanked upwards, rending the metal plating in two, and a Flood Sangheili stalked through the rift, its twisted and deformed body moving unnaturally. Tyf leaned against a pile of shredded metal, shaking, her gun pointed straight at the zombified Sangheili, charging a bolt. Her eyes were wide in fear, and the corrupted Sangheili slowly raised its blade over its head, ready to bring it down with all of its might. Tyf screamed, and fired.
The glowing green ball of plasma tore through the creature's face, blasting its mandibles apart. The creature's head exploded in a violent display of pyrotechnics, clouds of green plasma dissipating in the air while bits and pieces of flaming flesh, bone, and brain matter rained to the ground around the body. The Flood Sangheili stood for a moment, and fell, its huge body toppling to the ground.
"Let's go!" shouted Zek, grabbing Tyf by the arm and pulling her to her feet. Tyf cried out in pain as she put pressure on her wounded leg, but adrenaline allowed her to stand, and the two ran back, closer to the more defendable central wreck where the body of the Phantom was. Once Tyf was inside the wrecked Phantom, Zek grabbed Q'tari and Jyn and dragged them inside before sealing the doors. Flood pounded on the doors of the wreck, screeching and howling as they tried to get in. Suddenly, Zek heard a low moan. He pulled the sword out of Jyn's belt and snapped around, ready to slice apart any Flood that had gotten inside, but all he saw was Q'tari slowly getting up, putting the palms of her hands against the metal floor, lifting herself up off of it.
"What happened?" she asked, bewildered.
"You saved Jyn, and passed out," replied Zek, pulling a plasma rifle out of a storage unit. "During your nap, the Flood attacked." Q'tari nodded, and walked over to the doors, prying her claws between the plates of metal. "What are you doing?" asked Zek, and his eyes went wide as Q'tari began to pull out to the sides, trying to slide the door open. "Stop that!" he shouted, but he was too late. The doors flew open at the female Sangheili's surprising strength, and Flood began to pour in. Zek raised his shield and prepared to die, but nothing happened. He opened his eyes, and saw Q'tari, her hand against the chest of a Flood corrupted Brute. The creature was dead.
A ring of dead Flood surrounded Q'tari, their bodies bearing no wounds. The Jiralhanae toppled over, and more Flood tried to rush in, only to die as they brushed against Q'tari's legs. Q'tari slowly walked out of the downed ship, her pace a leisurely stroll. Flood attacked her at all sides, blackening and falling dead to the ground as they touched her. Slowly, the Flood began to part before her, giving her body a wide berth. One by one, the Flood turned and left, galloping and skittering back across the planet's surface, abandoning the wreck. Zek stared in amazement; just what in Forerunner's names was she?! Suddenly, a huge spear shot from the sky. It was an inch in diameter, and was barbed along its length. It stabbed through Q'tari's back, just below her collarbone, and rammed through her body and into the ground. Q'tari screamed in pain, and slowly, a Jiralhanae dropship lowered to the ground. Zek ran out of the wreck, shield up, blasting away with his rifle as Jiralhanae began to climb out of the ship. The first one he hit in the face, sending the Jiralhanae soldier to the dusty ground and on his so called "great journey". Another jumped out, and fired a shot from his spiker at Zek. Zek raised his shield… and the bolt tore straight through it.
A vast field of rubble coated acres of Sangheili farmland where the remnants of the defense fleet had fallen from orbit. Charred husks of ships lay scattered around the area, and corpses burned beyond recognition littered the wrecked field of metal. A four-fingered hand burst from beneath a metal plate, sending the piece of scrap flying. R'tas 'Vadum pulled himself from the rubble, yanking his body from the prison of twisted metal. He crawled out of the rubble, and looked around him at his destroyed fleet in anguish. He threw his arms back, and howled to the sky in loss of his brothers-in-arms, mourning the destruction of those whom had trusted him with their lives. R'tas jumped to his feet, calling out to the wreckage. He got no response. That day, R'tas 'Vadum swore revenge on those who had killed his brothers. He drew his energy sword, stalking silently across the wrecked field. He had people to kill.
R'vek sat up with a jolt, jumping to his feet. Almost immediately, he regretted it. He sank to his knees, clutching the wound in his chest. He winced, tears in his eyes, but forced himself to his feet, his sheer force of will overpowering his sense of pain. He took one slow step at a time, staggering through the broken streets of the Temple-City of the Guardians, blue blood beginning to trickle from his wound. R'vek stumbled, tripping to the ground, and coughed, flecks of blood flying from his mouth. His vision went blurry, and R'vek forced himself once more to stand, panting heavily. He stumbled through the road, paying no heed to the shattered buildings. R'vek felt himself going light-headed, and he fell one more time. R'vek toppled to the ground, his broad chest slamming against the pavement with a resounding thud. He felt something tugging at his legs and grabbing his waist. Sure it was the Flood, R'vek reached out in front of him, feeling himself slipping into unconsciousness. "Tira…" he whispered in an agonized, hopeless voice as he felt himself being lifted off the ground on slipped into the void.
Thel watched as his Guardians lifted R'vek off the ground, his face grim. As R'vek's body left the ground, his body went limp, his breathing shallow. "Hurry, my Brothers," said Thel 'Vadum urgently, "if we do not make haste, then our Brother's life will slip from between our fingers." The brightly armored Guardians placed R'vek on a stretcher, and loaded him aboard Thel's cruiser, a magnificent ship reserved for the use of the Guardians. The ship sat in front of a group of four Phantoms and three Civilian Transport Units, or CTUs, arranged so that the CTUs sat surrounded by the combat-capable craft. Suddenly, Thel's wrist communicator began to buzz. He slapped the answer button, raising the device to his face. "Hello?" he said, holding back anger. "Who are you and why do you call on this accursed day?"
"My friend…. It has been a long time," answered a familiar voice. Instantly, Thel 'Vadam recognized it: it was R'tas, his old friend from the War!
"R'tas, my Brother!" exclaimed Thel, surprised. "I thought you had died when the Brutes destroyed our fleet! How did you survive?"
"I was, as far as I know, the only one to survive," said R'tas grimly. "I need transportation; with the loss of our planet, our home is with our people." Thel nodded grimly, realizing that with the coming of the Flood, Sanghelios would never again be their home.
"I'll be right there, my Brother," replied Thel, and he cut the transmission. He walked into his ship grimly, his brow furrowed: he still had some few last things to take care of on this forsaken planet.
The bolt buried itself into Zek's shoulder, and Zek spun to the ground, clutching his wounded limb. He heard the clomping boots of the Brute, and closed his eyes, waiting for death's black void to envelop him, but it never came. He opened his eyed, and saw the Brute's head lying next to him on the ground, its eyes wide open in surprise. The body toppled to the ground with a loud thud, and Zek saw Jyn reaching down to him, her sword clasped in her left hand. Zek took her hand and rose to his feet, his right arm hanging limp. Three more Brutes jumped out of the dropship, opening fire on their position. Zek and Jyn jumped out of the way, the metal rods from the Jiralhanae guns slamming into the soil. A full pack of Jiralhanae poured out of the doors, jumping to the ground with heavy thuds. There were about 30 in all, and ten of them looked like they had fuel-rod cannons. Zek swore under his breath, and readied his plasma rifle. He fired around the corner of his and Jyn's cover, and the bolt of plasma tore through the air towards a Jiralhanae, sizzling as it passed through the moist atmosphere. The bolt hit the Brute… and bounced off. Zek's eyes widened, and the Jiralhanae turned towards where he was, beginning to charge. Suddenly, the Brute's head exploded as a pink beam of energy shot through it, bits of flesh flying everywhere.
"Looks like a beam rifle still works!" shouted Tyf, who was crouching on the top of the downed Phantom. Zek smiled, but suddenly, he heard Q'tari's scream. He looked over to where she was pinned, and saw two Brutes yanking the spike out of her body before grabbing her and beginning to drag her towards their ship. Abandoning logic, Zek jumped out from behind cover, a plasma grenade in each hand. He released the feral cry of the Kig-Yar, a horrible, ear-piercing screech that sounded like an entire flock of vultures, and lobbed the two grenades. Each grenade stuck to one of the Jiralhanae that were carrying Q'tari, and the two Brutes yelled in surprise, dropping their hostage. Q'tari crawled out of the way, and the grenades went off. Plasma burst around the two Brutes, blasting their armor from their bodies, and sending them crashing to the ground. Suddenly, they got back up. Zek watched as Q'tari turned around, and stabbed her claws through one of their chests, grabbing the Jiralhanae's heart and wrenching it out of his body. The Brute howled in agony as he died, and Q'tari let out a feral cry of rage, her mandibles flared wide and her eyes tiny slits. Still holding the heart of the slain Jiralhanae, she charged the other, who raised his gravity hammer and rushed at her, yelling a war cry in a guttural voice. Q'tari smashed the heart of his comrade into his face, blinding him. The Jiralhanae stepped back as hot blood entered his eyes. By the time he had opened them, Q'tari had smashed her hand through his skull, her wrist poking out the back of his head. She pulled her hand back out, and the Brute's body toppled lifeless to the ground.
Zek watched the macabre display with a kind of horrified fascination, and he noticed that Q'tari's eyes were pure red. The Jiralhanae on the field stopped in surprise at the sheer display of brutality that rivaled even their own torture chambers, stunned at how swift this Sangheili freak was able to dispatch two of their own. It cost them dearly. Huge bolts of plasma rained from the sky, smashing into the Jiralhanae force. They were incinerated where they stood, screaming in agony, and four Phantoms followed by three Civilian Transport Units, or CTUs, flew down to the ground. Sangheili poured from the vessels, howling in rage, most of them civilians. They swarmed over the brutes, crying out in rage and sorrow for the destruction of their homes and the murder of their friends and family, many of them simply mobbing and beating the Jiralhanae to death with their bare hands. A few of the Jiralhanae were able to make it back to their ship, and jumped in, abandoning their heavy weapons in favor of escaping from the mob of Sangheili. The anguished Elites jumped into their ship behind them, and the dying screams of the Jiralhanae could be heard even through the thick plating of the ship. The ship swerved out of control as the pilot was killed, and suddenly landed safely on the ground, a Sangheili sitting in the cockpit. Q'tari watched the whole spectacle with wide, clear eyes. She looked at her bloody hands, and collapsed to the ground in a faint. Suddenly, an eighth ship landed: the extravagant ship belonging to the Guardians. It settled on the ground, and Zek and Jyn waved their arms, signaling that they were there. The ship's bay doors opened, and the Arbiter and the famed fleet-master R'tas 'Vadum, otherwise known as Half-Jaw, stepped out.
Zek and Jyn hoisted Q'tari off of the ground, dragging her to where the Arbiter stood. The Arbiter looked down at them quizzically. "Where are the rest of your troops?" he asked, his voice calm. Zek shook his head.
"All dead, except for R'vek and the pilot of our Phantom. She's sustained heavy wounds, and will need medical attention," he explained, pointing to where Tyf sat with her beam rifle atop the Phantom. Tyf waved, happy to be alive. R'tas stepped forward, his eyes cross.
"Then who is this, Kig-Yar?" he asked, pointing to Q'tari. "Where did you find this female?" Zek shook his head, his expression of disbelief.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he said, shaking his head at the memory. "I still have trouble believing it myself." R'tas just looked at him, and his hand twitched near the handle of his blade.
"Kig-Yar," Half-Jaw whispered menacingly, "my Brothers are dead. I am not in a patient mood! Now tell me where you found her!" Zek sighed, shaking his head.
"R'vek found her aboard the downed fragment. Apparently, there was a large central room littered with the corpses of civilian members of every Alliance race. Hers was chained in a crucified position to two control panels from spikes stabbed through her hands, and had sustained two impalement wounds in her chest as well as a large gash in her back," Zek said.
"Then how is she still alive?!" shouted R'tas, angrily. "She doesn't seem to have a scratch!"
"I don't know!" said Zek, frustrated. "All I know is that after we crashed, her wounds were gone." Zek sighed, not believing himself, "She can heal others, too, and has a surprising affect on the Flood." R'tas' eyes widened.
"She made contact with the Flood?!" he shouted, furious.
"Yeah," Jyn replied calmly, "they died." Jyn smiled. "Look, all we know is that she heals incredibly fast, she has claws, she can heal others, and that she kills the Flood." R'tas looked like he was going to crush the two Kig-Yar beneath his fist, but Thel pushed his way in between them.
"Enough!" he shouted, his face stern. "Our survival depends on our escape from this planet! As much as it pains me to say it… we must leave!" Thel turned and walked into his ship, a pair of Guardian lifting Tyf onto a stretcher and carrying her in as well. Another pair of Guardians took Q'tari from Zek and Jyn, lifting her emotionlessly onto a stretcher. The two Kig-Yar followed the group into the ship, and the ship took off. Zek shifted nervously; something was wrong. Suddenly, it hit him. They were flying into a trap!
Zek ran to the bridge of the ship, his feet pounding on the metal floor. "ARBITER!" he shouted, as he entered the cockpit. Thel 'Vadum turned, his eyes stern.
"What is it?" he asked, his voice quiet with rage.
"You have to stop the ship!" said Zek urgently. "We're flying into a trap! Think about it; if the other Sangheili ships made it, don't you think we would have been hailed by now?!" Thel's eyes widened in realization of what must have happened, and he shoved the pilot out of his chair, taking the controls. He typed furiously on the control panel, stopping the ship and preparing a message.
"By the souls of our fathers, protect the last sons and daughters of Sanghelios," he whispered in desperate prayer as he hit the broadcast button and jettisoned his ship's bomb supply. If this didn't work… the Sangheili may be added to the long list of extinct species.
Innocence smiled maliciously as he watched the destruction from his quarters aboard the Scepter, almost feeling the ending of the lives of millions of Sangheili. He had routed the transmissions to his room, and he reveled in the screams and cries for mercy that came from the Sanghelian ships. His eyes were narrowed, and his mouth was curved into a vicious crescent. As he watched, a couple heavily damaged Sanghelian ships made a break for the planet's atmosphere. That was fine; they would never get back out. Suddenly, he heard a transmission from the Forefather's Blade, the ship of the treacherous 21st Arbiter. An SOS signaled from the ship; apparently, they and a group of CTUs were going down. A huge explosion could be seen in the atmosphere, and Innocence smiled. As the last of the Sanghelian ships exploded in space, the screams and pleading died out, and he was left in silence. "All ships pull out," Innocence said into the intercom, smiling. "We return to The Ring."
Mark sat slouched over in his seat aboard the Soaring Hope space station at his post in communications, playing solitaire on his laptop. He was a young human, about 21, and he had tan skin, slanted brown eyes, and straight, short black hair. His Alliance Marine uniform hung about his thin, tall form, and he wore a pair of dark sunglasses. He heard the doors open behind him, and heavy footsteps clomped in. "Hey, Jack," he said with a smirk as his friend leaned on the table next to him. Jack was a light skinned human with red hair, blue eyes, and a cigarette dangling from his mouth. His uniform was messy and wrinkled, and his hair stood up wildly.
"Hey, Mark," said Jack, his mouth in a crooked smile, his heavy Brooklyn accent apparent in his voice, "picked anything up?" Mark chuckled.
"No," he said, rolling his eyes behind his glasses.
"Of course you haven't!" shouted Jack, laughing. "There's nothing to pick up!" Jack stood up straight, stiff, with a mock expression of pride on his face. "Protect the Earth!" he said, imitating their commanding officer. "A new threat could appear at any moment!" both young men laughed.
"Yeah, right," said Mark. "The only thing out there is – wait a minute, I've got something," said Mark, his voice suddenly serious as his radar began to beep. "Unidentified vessels," he said into his headset in an official voice, "please state your name and business. If you do not respond, we will not hesitate to open fire!" A voice responded over the radio, and Mark instantly recognized it as the Arbiter.
"This is the Forefather's Blade and military vessels escorting a group of Sanghelian refugees," said the Arbiter, his voice calm, but strained. "Requesting permission to dock." Jack shoved past Mark, putting a headset on.
"Elites?" he said incredulously. "You guys are freakin' gods on the battlefield! What in hell could you be taking refuge fro – oh my god," Jack's eyes widened as he said this. The ships had come into visible range. There was the Forefather's Blade, four phantoms, and five CTUs, two of them nearly destroyed.
"Where are the rest of you?" asked Mark, his glasses hiding his widened eyes. The Arbiter sighed.
"We are all that is left," he said, his voice sad. "Requesting permission to dock."
"Jack," said Mark, leaning over to his friend, "go and tell the guys in docking bay 07 that we're having company." Mark began to type rapidly on his keyboard, clearing Dock 07 for landing. "Arbiter, you and your people have permission to land," he said calmly his fingers flying across the keyboard. "Proceed to docking bay 07." Mark paused, hesitant. "If you don't mind my asking, sir, but what could do this to the Sangheili? You were a very powerful race." The Arbiter responded, his voice stern.
"You do not want to know. Only pray that it has not followed us here."
R'vek walked down the halls of the Brute ship, a broken sword at his belt, a bloody spike of torn metal in his hand. Blood ran down his body from multiple wounds, dripping in blue puddles to the floor, mingling with the blood of the Jiralhanae he had slain, and his armor was utterly destroyed, the remaining scraps of it hanging from his bare chest. His left arm hung limp at his side, and he walked with a limp, nearly blinded by his own blood. R'vek didn't care. He walked forward like one possessed, his shuffling gait scraping on the metal floor. He pressed his hand on the metal door, pouring all of his strength into it. Slowly, the door began to crumple inwards. Blood exploded from his wounds as his muscles strained, but R'vek was no longer able to feel pain. Finally, the door gave way, and R'vek stumbled into the dark room, lights shining on a single spot. The light shone on Tira. She sat in a chair in the center of the room, her arms strapped to the armrests, blood trickling from various wounds, bruises marring her flesh. R'vek stumbled towards her, and she looked up. Instantly, her eyes brightened, but just as she was about to say something, her eyes went wide, her mandibles hanging open. She looked down, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her head hung limp on her neck. A huge steel spike had impaled her through the chest, its barbs covered in shreds of flesh and dripping with blood. R'vek's eyes widened, and he dropped to the floor, tears running down his face. Tentacles began to wrap around his body, and he turned, watching as the Flood Gravemind slowly embraced him. He got up, and began walking towards it, submitting to its presence. A huge, sharp toothed maw opened in front of him, and R'vek's eyes widened in terror as the tentacles began to drag him in. The toothy gate closed around him, and
R'vek sat bolt upright, panting, his eyes wide in terror. "Tira!" he screamed, before collapsing back into the bed with a laugh. "Just a dream," he whispered to himself, laughing. "It was all just another nightmare." Suddenly, R'vek began to get the feeling that something was wrong. He looked down… and saw needles in his arms, and that his chest was wrapped in bandages. R'vek looked next to him, and his fears were realized: Tira wasn't there. R'vek tore the needles and sensors from his body, jumping out of bed. He ran to the cupboards, searching for his armor, the bedsheets falling from his naked body. He trashed the medical cabinets and cupboards, but couldn't find his armor. R'vek smashed through the door, startling a pair of humans outside. Wait… humans?! Where was he? R'vek ran down the white halls of the medical ward, panting heavily, terrified. "Tira! Zek! Jyn! Somebody, answer me!" he shouted in Covenant Common, his feet pounding on the cold floor. R'vek rounded a corner, only to see a group of humans coming his way. R'vek stopped, facing the startled humans, and turned around, growling as he did. Humans were coming the other way, as well, and R'vek's eyes closed into slits.
"Has the old war begun again, Humans?!" he shouted, challenging the Marines. R'vek roared, and leaped at the Marines with the speed and agility of a jungle cat, flying into the group. The humans shouted and dove out of the way as 200 pounds of pure muscle came crashing to the ground amidst them, scattering. R'vek heard them saying something, but could not understand their harsh tongue in his current state. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, and his vision blurred. He looked down, and saw a large piece of metal imbedded in his arm. R'vek tore the metal out, and blood poured from the wound.
"Come back, Humans!" he shouted, in rage. "Are you in alliance with the Jiralhanae?! Will none of you fight and die with honor?!" R'vek fell to his knees, and he saw that he had taken more damage than he had thought. His right leg was wrapped in bandages, and his chest had a large, soft pad in its center. Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him. R'vek rose to his feet slowly and turned around. It was the Arbiter. The Arbiter walked slowly towards him, his step military.
"Be still, my Brother," said the Arbiter, his voice calm. "We are among friends. Here, clothe yourself," he said as he reached R'vek, handing the confused Sangheili a blanket. R'vek took the sheet of cloth, wrapping it around his body.
"Grand Arbiter," he said, bowing his head in shame, "I have failed you. I led my Brothers to their demise, and failed to contain the Parasite." R'vek fell to one knee, ready for whatever punishment the Arbiter had prepared, but all he felt was a hand on his shoulder. "Arbiter?" he said quietly, confused.
"My Brother, you have not failed," said the Arbiter, his face grim. "You escaped alive with three other soldiers and managed to rescue a tortured civilian. You stood firm facing vast concentrations of the Parasite. You suffered a firearm wound from what was assumed to be a Jiralhanae gun." The Arbiter paused, helping R'vek to his feet. "R'vek Kehrim, you are a hero, not a failure." R'vek looked around in awe, unable to process all that had just happened.
"Grand Arbiter," he said in a whisper, "this is a great honor, but where are we? Why are we not back on Sanghelios, but are instead in a hospital infested with Humans?" The Arbiter sighed, and looked at R'vek.
"Follow me," he said, and turned, walking back the way he came. The two Sangheili walked along the halls, until they came to a large door. They walked in, and the Arbiter motioned to a huge window. R'vek looked through, and his eyes widened. Five CTUs sat in the middle of an enormous clearing, Sangheili milling about around them. There were a few hundred in the room, and the most that could be there was 5000, and that was if each CTU had been filled to maximum capacity.
"Arbiter, what am I looking at?" R'vek asked in fear.
"R'vek," said the Arbiter, looking him in the eyes, "you are looking at the last of the Sangheili. Welcome to the list of endangered species."
Alright! So, looks like only 5000 Sangheili out of billions made it out alive at most. What will happen now? Will they be victorious? Or will R'vek's haunting nightmare become a reality? Only time may tell...
The winds of time blow on, shifting the sands of reality into ever-changing patterns...
- Baeowulf
