A/N: Well, here we are with another chapter. It hasn't been too long since the last one, but I still apologize for the wait. I've kinda-sorta been grounded, so chapters may actually flow out more often for a bit since I have nothing better to do with my free time but explore the depths of my muse and try to write. However, posting them may not necessarily be possible, so don't be surprised if a burst of a few chapters shows up at some point. Anyway, I got a single guest review last time, and a kinda review from Weasel.
Weasel: Thanks, I aim to please
Guest: Because, a Covenant Armada has several really big problems. For one, they are more likely to burn the planet than help her, which is bad for Demons since they're whole Market would collapse if the planet was destroyed. Two, they likely wouldn't even listen to Hild since they are so firmly entrenched in their own beliefs. Three, a Covenant armada is much more conspicuous than a few ODSTs, and would draw WAAYYY too much attention from the world's governments, and would likely end with a massive amount of nukes being shot at the covenant, likely doing irrevocable damage to Earth's atmosphere and it's people which is bad for the Market.
Anyway, please enjoy and please review!
Chapter 9: Fearless Men
1 Month later
Keiichi's training was progressing very nicely. Jason had taught him the basics of firearms and now Keiichi was actually a decent shot, especially with rifles. Jason and Keiichi had, by combining their spare money for awhile, recently managed to buy Keiichi a rifle, a 30-6, smuggled in from the U.S. Of course, this caused Keiichi no end of stress since owning a Rifle was heavily illegal, especially a decent calibre one like a 30-6. However, Jason had persuaded him that it couldn't possibly be more illegal than Jason's own 12.7mm anti-material rifle, so Keiichi had yielded. However, as of late, a problem had emerged in the household.
3 days ago, Jason had gone to work and never returned. At first, they'd thought that perhaps Mara had returned early and kidnapped him in revenge for shooting her, but they couldn't find his presence anywhere in the city. Then they'd wondered if he'd run off and left them, but that didn't make much sense since he left behind all he owned. Sure, his weapons were now bound to him, and ammunition was literally no longer a factor, but he'd still left behind various personal items. So, for now, the denizens of Tariki Hongan temple, now including Lind, waited for an answer.
That answer came in the form of a visit by another Valkyrie, who came bearing grave news. Lind was outside, practicing with her axe to relieve the strange sense of worry that so often infested her heart and mind as of late. The Valkyrie, a seasoned warrior if the markings on her combat suits were to be trusted, landed in front of her and immediately began "Commander, we have a problem. Several minutes ago, Heaven Time, we received a message from Hild." Lind stopped her routine immediately, her eyebrow furrowing in worry, and replied "What was it?" The Valkyrie produced a message cube and tossed it to Lind, who immediately opened it.
What waited inside drew a short gasp form the usually stoic warrior, horrifying her for a brief moment before she reigned her emotions in. She sawJason, in the tattered remains of his work clothing, shacked to a wall. His body was covered in bruises and cuts, many of which were still leaking blood. Some seemed to be infected, oozing green pus, and sweat could be seen glistening on the ODST's body. A large tattoo on his chest, the ODST logo, had several marks that seemed to be whip marks covering it.
Then, however, she realized something, Jason was moving minutely, not much and anyone else would've missed it, but Lind didn't. That meant this must be a live feed, which was confirmed when a Demon strode into the room. Lind couldn't interact with what lay on the other side, so she was powerless to stop what she saw, and instead stood quietly, not wanting to watch but unable to pull her eyes away
UNKNOWN LOCATION
15OO HOURS, MILITARY CLOCK
Jason Deyario released another hacking cough, blood flying from his mouth. He was barely concious, and every fibre of his being pulsed in agony. A spell had been placed on him however, he wouldn't lose conciousness or his ability to speak, so there would be no respite from his pain, and no choice but to scream. Now, he watched as his torturer approached again, again demanding "Now, have you changed your mind about doing as we asked?"
Jason looked up at his torturer, which took a good deal of his strength, and mumbled "Bring it, you can't crack a Helljumper." The Torturer smirked, this seemed to be what he wanted to hear, and replied "Oh, but I can. The physical may not've worked, but I'm willing to bet this will." With that, the demon turned around and bellowed into the building that housed Jason "Come on out then, come see your friend!"
A figure strode from the shadows, and Jason's eyes widened in shock and horror. The figure was clad in ODST armor, or rather what at one point had been. Like Jason's own armor, it was different, the plating was a dark red and the bodysuit now seemed to absorb light, it was darker than black. The figure's helmet now had a completely black visor, as opposed to Jason's own mirrored visor.
The figure stopped in front of Jason and looked him over, the helmet betraying no emotion. Jason felt his eyes misting up as he looked over the ODST, however it only got worse when he heard it's voice...no, HER voice. "Hello Jason, I told you we'd regroup, didn't I?" The ODST removed the armor's helmet, revealing Sergeant Allie Keller. She smiled, a smile that twisted the knife of betrayal in Jason's stomach. It only got worse when she turned and shouted "Everyone, come on out and see the rookie!" It wasn't that more ODSTs emerged that deepened Jason's shock, no, it was that THREE ODSTs emerged.
None of them wore a helmet, and that only made it easier to identify his former squadmates. Private Renae Keller, a slim young woman holding an M90 shotgun. Her armor now a dark purple all around, and her red hair had grown out way past regulation length. Her visor was a purple, just like her armor, and she smirked as she eyed Jason. She said mockingly "Well well, if it isn't the little ODST wannabe, I knew you weren't up to this."
Private James Slim, a heavyset man despite his name, stood next to her. His buzz-cut blonde hair had grown out, but it was done up High and Tight, stilll military it seemed. An M19 SSR Rocket Launcher on his back, and an MA5B Assault Rifle in his hands. His armor's coloration actually wasn't any different, but it was covered in dark red runes, unlike the others who only had crests on their shoulder plates. His visor was now a moderate shade of silver, and as he looked Jason over, shaking his head saying "So you joined the enemy Corporal? I can't believe they got to you, I thought ODSTs had to be smarter than that."
It was the last one that hurt the most, the last ODST. Jason stared at the man, tears now flowing from his eyes, and he choked out "Thats impossible! Your dead, I know you are!" Standing before him, was Andy Stone, back from the grave. His armor was the most warped, with spikes coming from the shoulder pads, his helmet now slimmed down into a design resembling a standard MJONLIR helmet, and all his armor now seemed to have an almost chitinous texture, as if it was no longer metal, but a shell. The helmet, clipped to his chestplate, was midnight black and it's visor was the color of blood.
Andy Stone stood there, pure hatred burning in his eyes, and he spat out "Long time no see 'Buddy'. Looks like I get to get my payback now, don't I? You didn't save me from that ocean, but Hild did, so now she has my loyalty, not that corrupt cesspool called the UNSC and not those hypocritical goddesses!" Stone unsheated his combat knife, now longer and pulsing with a dark aura, and began to stalk menacingly forward.
Apparently, however, Sergeant Keller's word was still absolute, as he stopped when she barked "Private, stand down! You'll get your chance later!" She then turn to Jason and stared for a moment before saying "Keller, Slim, unshackle him and keep him standing." She turned to the demon and demanded "Juro, out, this is Helljumper business." The demon gave a mock salute and left the room, leaving the ODSTs alone in the room.
That done, the two privates obeyed their Sergeant's orders and unshackled Jason, supporting him like they would if they were still on the battlefield, with one of his arms looped around each of them for support as they held him between themselves. Allie then stepped forward, commenting "Y'know Jason, this room has a block on heavenly magic, but I'm gonna take you outside. I want to see what your armor looks like, and so does Unwavering Ferocity, my little devil. I'd like to see your angel too, I'm sure she's gorgeous."
Jason wanted to bellow his defiance, to proclaim that old loyalties meant nothing now. He wanted to resist, he wanted to tell them that he wouldn't show them anything. However, all he could do was hang there, motionless in shock, his emotions running rampant. Sadness, Betrayal, Anger, depression, all of these and more raced through the ODST as he was drug outside of the building. When he was outside, Allie looked at him expectantly, clearly waiting for him to manifest his armor. However, a plan sprang into Jason's mind as he recalled a lesson from Lind.
Two weeks earlier
Jason lay on the ground, exhausted from his latest round of magical training, while Lind sat beside him. Now was the more easy part of training, where she simply explained magic to him. So, he listened intently while Lind waited a moment for Jason's breathing to return to normal before beginning. "Jason, Magic is just like any other energy, when you use it it has a signature that magical beings can feel. Now, how far away and how strongly it can be felt depends on how much power you pour into it, and how attuned others are to your magic. So, the longer others have been around you and lived with you, the more they'll feel it. For example, Belldandy can feel your magic more than I can, and I can feel it more than some random God off the street, alright?" Jason had nodded, committing this lesson to memory, before being pulled back to his feet by Lind, who had a tiny, almost imperceptible grin on her face as she said "Come, it's time to eat."
Present Time
Jason only had one shot at this, so he had to do it right. He reached into himself, recalling every lesson he'd ever learned about magic. He summoned every ounce of power he could, releasing Ardent so she could help. Her armor had long ago been torn away, leaving only some robse that were heavily torn. She was covered in bruises and seemed to be suffering from some form of disease, but she knew her host's plan. She poured all of her own power into it as well, giving Jason as much support as she could. So, Jason poured every ounce of his collected power into manifesting his armor. An explosion of bright light blinded all who were present, and Jason felt himself become swathed in his ornate armor. So shocked were the gathered ODSTs that James and Renae dropped him, and Jason grunted in pain as he hit the ground, his armor taking the impact but his body still shook, exacerbating his already considerable wounds.
His weapons didn't manifest as he didn't call them, but he knew that he'd accomplished his goal. Ardent retreated back into Jason, too exhausted to stay outside, and Jason mumbled "There ya go, you saw her." The gathered Helljumpers observed their former comrade's armor and Allie said with a grin "Fancy entrance Jason, guess heavenly magic is big on that, isn't it? Your armor's pretty fancy too, nice color scheme, and it's got such a shine to it, we should fix that. Keller, Slim, get to it." The two smirked and descended upon their defenseless squadmate, beating him with the butts of their weapons. However, they didn't know what had been done. Even now, Lind and the Norns were racing to rescue their friend, with Keiichi along for the ride.
Goddesses POV
It didn't take long for them to arrive, as Belldandy had been so attuned to Jason's Aura, and his magical burst so strong, that she'd been able to get a very accurate read on his location. The Goddesses, using their various Dimensional Slides, all emerged within .25 miles of Jason, with Keiichi dragged along with Belldandy. Soon, Jason was in sight, however, they needed a plan of attack. After 5 minutes, the plan of attack was crafted.
Belldandy would open up with a strong gust of wind, while Urd raced straight for Jason. There was no doubt in their minds that the weapons used to strike Jason had been poisoned, so Urd had grabbed any potion with purifying and curing properties she had laying around. Skuld, meanwhile, would be throwing Skuld Bombs to throw the ODSTs off balance, while Lind charged into battle. She'd be going for disabling injuries, as though the ODSTs weren't part of the doublet system, there was still a deeply ingrained taboo against killing in the minds of the Goddesses.
The plan was set into motion quickly, and it went off surprisingly well. Belldandy's gale force winds slapped the standing ODSTs backward about 50 feet, while Jason was laying on the ground and therfore un-affected since he didn't catch much of the wind. Urd raced forward, kneeling next to Jason and removing his helmet. She reached into her bag and began giving Jason as many potions as she could force down his throat, starting with the strongest. Skuld began to bracket the area with Skuld Bombs, while Lind charged the disoriented ODSTs and engaged in CQC. They tried to fight back, to their credit, however it was no use. Just like Jason, they were no match for the Valkyrie, and were forced to retreat under the cover of a hail of bullets from Keller and Slim.
Urd shouted out "I think he's stable enough to transport, but we'll need some pretty intense healing magic!" Belldandy unhesitantly scooped him and began to fly away along with Lind and Skuld. Urd was about to scoop up Keiichi, who was holding his rifle, when all of a sudden Keiichi let a bullet fly. Turning her head, she found an ODST staggering back from the force of a round hitting the faceplate of it's helmet. Clearly, one of the squad had come back out to take shots at the retreating Bell and Jason. Since their armor was still mostly mortal, like their bodies, it was just as effected by the bullet as it would've been before, except the visor didn't crack like it would have before.
Urd gave a thumbs up to Keiichi before scooping him up and fleeing with the others. They fled for 10 minutes before they felt safe enough to use their dimensional slides to return to the temple. They all arrived at various points in the temple and on the grounds, but they all quickly convened outside. Jason was already out of his armor and spread across the ground, while Belldandy had called forth Holy Bell. The two were already drawing a magic circle on the ground, a complicated and powerful circle that very few were authorized to use, but Belldandy was one of them. Urd couldn't help them draw it, but they finished it in 10 minutes anyway. Then, Belldandy turned and said "Urd, Lind, Skuld, I'll need all of your help. I'll need you to follow my melody and lend me your power, I don't have enough power on my own to heal him without removing my limiters, and I don't want to do that unless there isn't another choice."
So, the goddesses all stood in the circle and began to sing, following the melody that Belldandy set. The circle glowed with the immense power being poured into it, and Jason's body glowed as well. However, Lind's every note was wavering, as were Skulds, while Urd wasn't faring much better. None of them sang very often, and they could barely keep up with the melody, and they were certain that they must be making mistakes. So, all they could do was pray that what they were doing was enough to save their friend. However, right now, they had no way of knowing if it would be enough.
