Raid
January 20th, 2558
General Caine had spent much of last night piecing together information he had received through several reports from different sources, hoping to unlock the truth behind a particular aspect that he felt would have some impact on the mission. It had not been too difficult for him to go back through the records of Lev'Kanar, the Skirmisher that was practically at the top of the terrorist organization, piecing together his other appearances and learning much about him. It was like a puzzle and Caine had always liked that sort of thing, as he believed that it gave the brain a good workout.
It was not worth complicating matters by letting Kal'Shayar know his son was alive and well and stirring up trouble on frontier worlds. Instead, Caine had taken it upon himself to find out the whole story, curious to find one of the major players was right here on the base: Sergeant Valerie Nevas. She had been a more recent transfer here and had been suggested to him to be a member of the team, quite capable of leading a squad of marines. Her paperwork had come through suddenly when she had been transferred, as if the whole thing had been organized on short notice. Caine was not too concerned about this and was more curious about what role she had played in the younger Skirmisher's past.
There were reports from a variety of sources, ranging from ONI documents to Kig-Yar government records. Lev'Kanar had made a name for himself as a pirate and smuggler, moving Covenant weapons through human, Sangheili and Kig-Yar space and selling them for a variety of things, from rare metal elements to hiring more mercenaries. If these sources were anything to go by, Lev'Kanar had acquired quite the following, most of these followers being Kig-Yar and many of them being ex-soldiers. Caine had uncovered a few differing reports concerning an attack on one of the Skirmisher's hideouts five years previously, where Lev'Kanar had apparently 'died', only to turn up again in recent months. There were conflicting viewpoints on these reports, with one of them being written by Sergeant Nevas herself.
Caine had called the Sergeant to his office. She would be on her way by now, being more or less in good shape despite having spent the last six months in hospital after suffering through an incendiary grenade explosion, a consequence of taking on insurgents on an Outer Colony world. Reconstructive procedures were very sophisticated in this day and age, so Nevas would be looking relatively intact despite the burns she had received many months before, with only minor scarring here and there left by the surgery. Caine sat back in the chair at his desk, awaiting the arrival of the Sergeant, having perused her detailed report. Even so, he wanted to hear it from the mouth of the Sergeant herself, as reports often lacked feeling behind their words, being written in a very dry, expository style.
As for the mission, the UNSC destroyer Vanguard had arrived in orbit. The team would be leaving for Paradise Falls soon, though this gave them all a few hours of time remaining on Reach. Caine was considering going on the trip himself, leaving one of his subordinates in charge here. He had the fine excuse of wanting to oversee the operation himself and it would probably be all the excuse he needed. He had not been off of Reach for a few years now and the prospect of going on what one might call an "adventure" was too good to pass up, in his eyes anyway. He had even packed a case of spare clothing and a few personal effects, but was still waiting for his second-in-command here to get back to him on the matter of running the base while he was away. The trip to Paradise Falls would take well over a week in slip-space and that was using the more advanced slip-space drives that had been constructed as a result of reverse-engineering Covenant and Forerunner technology. If anything, humanity had not wasted any time ensuring it got a technological edge over its rivals within the galaxy.
Caine got the impression, going through the reports Colonel Green had forwarded to him, that they were on the tip of something far greater. Terrorists were one thing, but there was something about Lev'Kanar's actions that implied he was working towards something far more than mere terrorism. There was no way of knowing what exactly, nor if he was the leader of the terrorist group itself, but there was no doubt that he was a major player in it. Kal'Shayar did not need to know this, nor did the rest of the team. Right now it was still mostly supposition as to his involvement in the matter concerning the stolen AI, so Caine did not wish to put the team after someone who might not even have a direct involvement. Telling Kal'Shayar his son was a terrorist would probably complicate matters even further. From what he could gather, Kal'Shayar was aware that his son was involved in some criminal activities anyway.
Oddly enough, he liked the Skirmisher. Kal'Shayar seemed a reasonable sort for a Kig-Yar, acting more civilized than some of the others Caine had encountered. They were both veterans of bloody wars and experienced soldiers and had even been on opposing sides for a time. Even so, there was no getting past the fact that Kal'Shayar was an alien from a very different culture. It always felt a bit odd, talking with an alien, as the whole thing had an almost surreal-like quality to it. The war had gone on for far too long, so forming any friendships with aliens would probably take some doing considering the animosity that still existed between the species.
There was the familiar ring at the door of the office, causing the General to look up, his train of thought broken.
"Come." He watched as the door opened and Valerie Nevas, dressed in a grey and blue Marines uniform, walked in. Her dark hair was of moderate length, some scarring visible at the side of her neck. Her bright blue eyes scanned the room eagerly. She seemed a bit uneasy, as being called to the General's office was probably something she had not been expecting. The door slid shut behind her and the Sergeant stepped inside, standing to and saluting.
"Reporting as ordered, sir," she said.
"Take a seat," Caine said, gesturing to one of the vacant seats in front of his desk. Valerie relaxed and dropped the salute, sitting down in the vacant chair and directing her gaze towards the General.
"You don't need to look so nervous," Caine said reassuringly. "You're not in trouble. I just want to talk to you about something." He brought up her record on his computer terminal, skimming through the details. Sergeant Nevas sat in her chair quite still, relaxing noticeably when it was clear she was not here to be chewed out for anything she might have done wrong.
"You have quite a record," Caine said, shifting his gaze back towards her. "You fought in the war, was on the ground in East Africa when the Covenant landed in Mombasa. You've been through a lot. You have the scars to show it."
"Don't remind me, sir," Nevas said, shaking her head. "I was lucky to survive that explosion."
"That's another thing: many have commented on your 'luck', according to your record. You've survived things most others wouldn't have."
Nevas frowned, but was silent. She clearly did not like being reminded of past wounds, particularly the ones that had left her disfigured for months.
"I'm curious about one mission in particular," Caine said. "The one to Noya IV. You do remember that one, don't you?"
Nevas looked at him, raising an eyebrow. She was clearly surprised to hear that planet mentioned. Caine had looked up the planet through curiosity: it was the fourth planet in the Noya system (that much had been obvious), a system that sat on the edge of UNSC-chartered space, a region that had been claimed by the Kig-Yar. The name 'Noya' apparently stemmed from a Kig-Yar word, meaning 'tranquillity'. The planet was a 'terran' class world, much like Earth though it had far more thick jungle regions.
"You want to know about that mess-up?" She asked. "Haven't you got the reports?"
"I've been through them. But I want to hear what happened, straight from the mouth of someone who was there. As I understand, it was the first mission in Operation Devil Hammer." Unlike most military operations, Caine had chosen not to give the new team an official name in the style of 'Devil Hammer'. He personally hated names like that, as they often trivialized the missions contained within the operation in question. Even so, that did not stop other higher-ups from labelling military operations with peculiar names.
"Devil Hammer? Shit, I remember that, sir," Nevas said disapprovingly, shaking her head. "Nothing went right in that one."
"I want to hear about the mission to Noya IV," Caine said, leaning forwards slightly from where he sat, curious. "Reports can only say so much."
Nevas paused, thinking about this for a moment.
"My memory is a bit patchy in places," she said, "But if you really want to hear about what happened, I suppose I can try to piece things together."
August 27th, 2553
There had been a storm only the night before, leaving the ground muddy and the air thick with the smell of moisture. Exotic alien birds called from the jungle that ran around the perimeter of the compound and the sound of alien ground vehicles, transports that hovered on pulsating blue lights, echoed throughout the valley. The skies of Noya IV were blue, with the once overcast skies clearing up, leaving thin wispy clouds that splayed out across the blue above. Corporal Valerie Nevas was one of six marines camped out on a ridge overlooking the compound, with the squad leader, a grey-haired and well-built Sergeant Major by the name of Charles Okama, used a set of binoculars to survey the compound. He was tall, towering over Valerie, middle-aged with weathered features and bushy eyebrows. He had a cap on, his uniform short-sleeved and lacking the armour plating the other marines were wearing. There was an M6 pistol in a holster at his waist, a customized variant that had a chrome finish. Lowering the binoculars, Okama looked over to the Kig-Yar standing a short distance away.
The Kig-Yar in question was named Kelak, an opportunist if there ever was one. Kelak had revealed to the UNSC the existence of several Covenant military bases scattered across the frontier in exchange for assistance in overthrowing the Covenant-influenced governing body on his home-world. Relations with his species were still tumultuous, but they had at the very least accepted the falsehoods of the Covenant religion without as much upheaval as the Sangheili had gone through. They wanted to be friends with humanity, probably through fear of how powerful they still were even after the war while the destruction of the Covenant had left his species at a very noticeable disadvantage. There were still Covenant loyalists oppressing the colony world he was from, backed up by Sangheili warriors. Kelak was also not adverse to accepting material items as payment either, including weapons to help arm the people on his home colony in order to overthrow the oppressive regime. Loyalists would continue being a problem for years, this much was clear.
"That don't look like a Covenant base to me," Okama said, putting away his binoculars. He eyed the Kig-Yar with a doubtful gaze. "They've got some sort of estate set up amongst those old ruins. I see crates of weapons on those trucks, but there are only Jackals and none are in Covenant armour. You better not be fucking us around, bird-man."
"I assure you, Sergeant Major," Kelak said, his voice raspy, "This place has been used as a hub for arms smuggling, supplying not only Covenant loyalists but rebels as well. The people who run this operation are profiting by playing both sides against the middle."
Okama frowned. He put a finger to the radio ear-piece in his left ear.
"Bravo Team, this is the boss. You're cleared to move in. Hostiles are heavily armed, so shoot to kill. Don't take any chances. If possible, seize as many of the weapon shipments as possible." They had a large squad of marines on stand-by, hiding in the jungle around the estate.
The compound consisted of a set of brown-stone ruins, overgrown with vines and weeds. A large set of metal and wooden structures had been built amongst the ruins, with the main building being a three storey tall 'estate'. There were Covenant-built transport vehicles parked out the front, with purple metal crates stacked in a yard to the estate's side. There were Kig-Yar in mostly rag-tag jungle-coloured outfits moving crates around and otherwise patrolling the compound. They were all armed, mostly with Covenant weapons, but they did not look like an official Covenant force.
"So, we take this place out and we cut-off a weapon supply line?" Okama nodded approvingly, but did not smile. Valerie had never seen him smile. "I suppose that's worthwhile. What do you think, Corporal?" He looked expectantly at her, waiting for an answer.
"I think it's worthwhile too, sir," she said after a pause, as the question took a moment to register in her head.
"Very good. We'll move in once Bravo Team starts the fireworks."
Inside the estate, the atmosphere was a calm one. No one there knew of the trouble that would start once the humans marched into view, brandishing weapons. Instead, Lev'Kanar had only just awoken, beads of sweat running down his dark skin, the sheets of the nest-shaped bedding having since been kicked well away from him during sleep. As usual, his mate had woken up far earlier, leaving him alone in the bed. Sun streamed through the open shutters on the windows, causing him to close his eyes momentarily as they adjusted. Rising out of the bed, he glimpsed himself in the mirror at the wall: he was reminded of his father every time he looked at himself, as the resemblance was very prominent. He cared little for the family he had left back on Sauem and instead was far more concerned with the one he had developed here on Noya IV, as he had three children, each three years old, to look after. His mate, Ve'lae, had been someone whom he had chanced upon meeting during his time in the military. Their children had been somewhat 'accidental', although he sometimes thought that Ve'lae had let it happen if only so they would end up together. Now they worked on Noya in a very profitable arms smuggling business, selling weapons to whoever was willing to pay highest. Sometimes that meant selling them to both sides, Covenant loyalists and Kig-Yar reformists alike.
Kig-Yar children developed fairly quickly and his three three-year olds were already capable of walking, though their language skills were still lacking. His son, the one who bore a rather striking resemblance to him save for the eyes, (which were blue like his mother's) came running into the room. He was somewhat tall for a three year old and a bit unsteady on his legs, but he was the one child that Lev'Kanar had very high hopes for.
Lev'Kanar quickly changed into his usual set of beige coloured robes, padded with armour plating. His son, Devnar, had started running around the room before finally bumping into his father's left leg, looking up with a worried expression. Lev'Kanar just smiled down at him, bending over to pick up the youngster.
"Where is your mother?" He asked.
Devnar pointed down, indicating that she was downstairs. Lev'Kanar slipped into a pair of well-worn boots that fit snugly on his clawed feet before heading out of the room and down the stairs. He had chosen to set up a home here on Noya IV, having liked the peaceful atmosphere of the world. The ancient ruins here added to this feeling, relics leftover by some civilization that had destroyed itself long ago, a constant reminder of the history of the world. One of his colleagues, a male Kig-Yar who spent his spare time studying history, had studied the ruins in question and theorized that the civilization had engaged in a nuclear war. The background radiation to prove this theory was there, but was nowhere near dangerous levels after so many thousands of years, certainly not in this region anyway. Such radiation in the upper atmosphere also scrambled orbital scans, ensuring no passing ship would be able to detect them very easily.
Downstairs, on the ground floor, was a large living area. His two daughters were here, sitting on the floor, playing with their toys. They seemed pleased to see their father out of bed and Lev'Kanar plonked his son down on one of the chairs, leaving him with his siblings while the Skirmisher went into an adjoining room. Ve'Lae was here, dressed in her usual set of casual blue robes, staring out of the window in front of her, looking out across the compound. She turned around when she saw Lev'Kanar enter.
"You are awake far later than usual," Ve'Lae said.
"I had troubling dreams," Lev'Kanar replied, walking over to the tap at the far wall and switching it on, ducking his head down so he could lap up the water that poured out. After a moment, he switched off the tap, wiping away the water that dripped from his snout with one sleeve.
"A new shipment has arrived," Ve'Lae said, stepping towards him, slowly working an arm around him. Lev'Kanar would have been lying to himself if he thought their bonding was perfect. She liked him far more than he liked her, it was the children that he cared most about. "If we continue this, we shall be set for life. We could spend our entire lives living here. It is so peaceful."
"As appealing as that sounds," he said, stepping towards the window, removing himself from her grasp, "I do wish to explore the galaxy some more. It will be nowhere near as dangerous as it used to be, with the war being over. If you wish, you can remain here."
"Why would I not accompany you?" She asked, frowning. "Once the children are old enough, we can buy a ship of our own and leave, if that is what you wish."
Lev'Kanar only nodded in reply. Their conversation was interrupted by the distant rattle of kinetic weapons fire and shouting. Something exploded outside, sending a brief flash of light through the window as one of the transports blossomed into blue flame, smouldering metal fragments raining down. Immediately, Lev'Kanar grabbed Ve'Lae and ran into the living area. One of the guards from outside barged in through the front door as the sounds of fighting outside intensified.
"Humans! They're storming the compound!" The guard shouted.
Lev'Kanar looked to Ve'Lae, noticing the worried expression on her face. There was no time to waste, as it was clear that they had been found out. How the humans had discovered this hide-out was not important, as it was obvious they were here for one reason only.
"Take the children," Lev'Kanar said sternly, grabbing his mate by the sides and making her look him straight in the eyes.
"I can fight..." She began, but Lev'Kanar interrupted her.
"Take the children. They need you." Already the three kids had gathered around. One of them was mewling in distress and Ve'Lae grabbed her. Lev'Kanar picked up his son again and thrust her into his mate's arms. As much as he would have liked to go with them, he much preferred to fight. He had an entire operation set up here, a very successful one that had supplied him with the wealth necessary to come to this world and build his home. He was also determined to protect his family, despite what he felt for his mate.
"What about you? We can both leave." Ve'Lae looked angry, but it was clear that she knew it was for the best that she escaped with the children.
"I will follow, but until then I will cover your escape," Lev'Kanar replied. He watched as Ve'Lae nodded while she carried their son in one arm and one of their daughters in the other. The other one held the back of her mother's robe as they hurried out of the room.
Once they were out of the room, Lev'Kanar turned to the guard. Outside, the sounds of fighting had gotten very close and the smell of smoke was thick in the air. Lev'Kanar walked over to a locked cabinet at the wall, keying in the appropriate code in order to unlock it. He pulled it open and revealed the Type-31 'needle' rifle contained within. Taking the weapon into his hands he loaded it quickly, being sure to shove a few spare magazines into the pockets in his outfit before turning around to face the guard again.
"Where are they attacking from?" He asked the guard.
"All directions," the guard replied. "They caught us completely by surprise. They were probably watching us for hours, mapping out our movements and determining our numbers."
Lev'Kanar started for the door but stopped in his tracks when automatic weapons fire erupted from somewhere outside, ripping through the wall around the flimsy wooden door. The guard was caught in the hail of bullets, twitching and convulsing from each impact, dark purple blood erupting as the rounds punched through his flesh. He fell to the floor, riddled with large bloody holes.
The Skirmisher backed away from the door, seeing through the windows that human marines had started to fight their way through the courtyard out the front. There was a loud crashing sound from his left and he turned around, watching as a pair of marines came running out of the other room, having come in through the window. Lev'Kanar raised his rifle and fired, the pink crystalline shards punching through the armour one of the marines was wearing. A few of them exploded, splattering dark red blood across the walls near them. Both marines fell, but this distraction had cost Lev'Kanar as someone was now behind him. He could hear them, their footfalls on the carpeted floor quite audible to his sensitive Kig-Yar hearing.
Lev'Kanar was about to snap around, but the person behind him delivered a rather painful blow to the back of his head with the butt-end of his weapon, causing the Skirmisher to stumble before falling into an unconscious daze.
Lev'Kanar awoke outside, lying in the mud while some distance away, smoke billowed from his burning house. The sounds of weapons fire continued from out in the distance, with the occasional explosion to top things off. Rising to his feet, Lev'Kanar found himself looking straight at Kelak, a common Kig-Yar and an old associate of his. Kelak grinned at him mischievously, holding an old fashioned Kig-Yar blade in one hand while the Type-31 needle rifle lay in the mud nearby, but well out of Lev'Kanar's reach.
"The humans would have been very glad to get a hold of you," Kelak said. He twirled the knife around in his right hand while Lev'Kanar simply looked him in the eyes, unimpressed. "But you would implicate me in this whole business and then the humans would know that I have been using them to eliminate my rivals, rather than actually help their fight against the loyalists. You have undercut me far too many times..."
Lev'Kanar had heard enough and so brought his hands to Kelak's knife-wielding hand before trying to grab the blade, carrying this out in one quick and fluid motion. A grappling fight ensued as both Kig-Yar attempted to overpower each other, with Kelak gripping his blade tightly while Lev'Kanar attempted to wrestle it from his grip. Knowing Kelak, it was likely he had been hoping to personally gut his rival with that blade which was fortunate for Lev'Kanar, as that gave him an opportunity to fight back.
Kelak moved the blade closer and closer to his face, one of its sharp edges scraping down the left side of the Skirmisher's face, narrowly missing his eye. It drew blood and left a gash, but the stinging pain was nothing compared to the rage building in Lev'Kanar as he lashed out with a powerful kick, hitting Kelak in the groin. He stumbled and lost his grip on the blade, grunting in pain. Lev'Kanar grabbed the knife and held it tightly in his right hand while he grabbed Kelak by the back of the neck with his free-hand. He brought the blade to the Kig-Yar's throat.
There was a look of terror in Kelak's eyes as he realized what was about to happen but Lev'Kanar did not allow him any reprieve. He sliced the blade across Kelak's throat, purple blood gushing out before he let go of the Kig-Yar and let him fall into the mud, choking on his own blood. Stowing the knife under his belt, Lev'Kanar stepped over to where his needle rifle lay and picked it up. He did not give his former rival any further thought as he focused on the scene of chaos ahead. The entire compound was filled with smoke as fires raged from burning vehicles, small arms fire being exchanged amongst the chaos as his guards fought against the human Marines.
Lev'Kanar began to run, his mind shifting to thoughts of his family. His three terrified children and Ve'Lae, who would be caught up in the middle of this attack. He remained silent, the rage building within him kept under tight control. There were marines ahead, three of them firing from the undergrowth at a few Kig-Yar guards who were pinned behind cover. Lev'Kanar ran up from behind them, stopping about ten metres away and opening fire with his needle rifle. He cut the three of them down within seconds, with one of them exploding when a few of the crystalline shards detonated in his back, erupting with pink flame and shearing his body into two, blood splattering across Lev'Kanar's front. Running by them without further thought, Lev'Kanar felt a sudden stinging pain that caused him to stumble momentarily, a bullet having caught him in the stomach, probably causing untold internal damage. The adrenaline surging through him was intense enough for the pain to be rather subdued and he swivelled around where he stood, locating the marine who had shot him before sending a pink needle rifle shard into the human's throat. The marine fell backwards as the explosion of the shard caused his head to fly clean off his shoulders.
There was shouting from the rear of the main building and Lev'Kanar immediately recognized the voice as belonging to Ve'Lae. Ignoring everything else, even as two of his guards were cut down by automatic rifle fire near him, he charged into the now burning house and started on his way through to the back.
Valerie had been fighting her way through the Kig-Yar guards, keeping up with Sergeant Major Okama and a few of the other marines. The entire mission had turned ugly, as they had underestimated the hardiness of the Kig-Yar soldiers stationed here. A few poorly-placed grenades had started fires all around the compound, causing smoke to fill the air and obscure vision. Nonetheless, the squad had made their way through, taking a casualties in the process and losing track of Kelak, who had presumably run for safety. The main house was already on fire by this point but nonetheless they made their way inside, with Okama taking the lead, his pistol gripped tightly in his right hand as they worked their way through the smoke-filled corridors.
A Kig-Yar jumped out of one of the doorways further down the corridor, opening fire with a plasma pistol. Green bolts of energy zipped by Valerie, with one hitting the marine on her right in the face, the searing bolt of energy burning through his skull and boiling most of his brain. He fell to the floor while Okama and Valerie returned fire, cutting the Kig-Yar down, dark purple blood splattering the wall behind it.
The group, now reduced to three, arrived at the end of the corridor. Part of the wall behind them fell in, flames erupting forth. A staircase ahead took them down into another wing of the house, so with little other choice they started down, making their way to what was undoubtedly a basement area.
Valerie felt a mixture of fear and excitement, a common occurrence for her in the middle of combat. She knew there was a very good chance she might get killed, but she knew it was best if she kept her wits about her and concentrated on the mission. There was a better chance of surviving this mess if she just kept focussed. Okama would have been sure to tell her that if he thought she looked too shaken up.
The basement dark and empty, mostly free of smoke and had numerous metal crates lined up along the wall. There was an open door at the far end that went through a brief tunnel that appeared to open out to the rear of the house. Okama approached this doorway, peering through it before signalling Valerie and the young Private with her to follow him. It was clearly some sort of escape tunnel taking them out to the open fields behind the house where a number of transports were parked. Valerie was first out, with Okama following closely behind. Three Kig-Yar guards were up ahead, while another one was making their way to one of the transports, followed by three smaller ones.
Okama opened fire on the three guards, bringing one down with a few well-placed shots from his pistol. Valerie hosed the others down with assault rifle fire, watching in her peripheral vision as the other Kig-Yar hurriedly packed into the vehicle. The vehicle was fairly well-armoured, somewhat larger than a Ghost and fully-enclosed, operating in much the same way as that Covenant scout-craft. With her training very much controlling her actions, she pulled a grenade from where it was clipped to her armour and yanked out its pin. Throwing it, the grenade landed close to the vehicle, detonating seconds later with a deafeningly loud crash, the explosion tearing through the metal like paper and igniting the engine.
Lev'Kanar saw the whole thing as he came running up a short rise before arriving in the open field behind the house. There were three humans there, gunning down some more of his guards while Ve'Lae fled into one of the transports with the children. He was too slow to react when one of the humans, a female, threw a grenade towards the vehicle his family had climbed into, one that exploded in spectacular fashion and ignited the plasma that fuelled the transport.
The entire vehicle exploded into a blue-white ball of flame, pieces of it flying everywhere, raining down upon the field, trailing blue flame and starting more fires. Lev'Kanar froze where he stood, the reality of what had just occurred taking a moment to sink in.
"NO!"
The rage that had been boiling up in him exploded and he snarled, running towards the human marines, raising his needle rifle. He opened fire, catching one of them in the side with his first few shots. One of the others, wielding a pistol, swivelled around quickly and fired at him, shooting him three times, each shot blasting through his torso and slowing him down, his strength draining away suddenly as he stumbled and fell to the ground. He lay there for a while, still conscious, watching the burning transport which was all that was left of the children he had loved so dearly. He could barely move, his rage instead pulsing through him with no means of releasing it. Unconsciousness came soon afterwards and it would be days before he found himself awake again.
January 20th, 2558
Caine had sat listening to Sergeant Nevas' account of the mission while he skimmed reports from other sources that confirmed what he had been lead to believe: Lev'Kanar had lost his family during that raid and, oblivious to the Sergeant, she had unwittingly been the one to kill them. Lev'Kanar had been an arms smuggler to begin with, but now he had good reason to hate humans, particularly the UNSC. Caine considered telling her what he knew, having pieced it together from all the reports that Green had forwarded him concerning the matter, but decided against it.
"The Kig-Yar informant, Kelak, turned out to be an arms smuggler as well," Nevas said. "We found him dead, his throat slashed, not too far from the compound. I get the impression he had tricked us into attacking a rival of his, rather than a proper Covenant outpost."
Caine nodded. The Kig-Yar were renowned for their sneaky, cunning nature. It seemed unsurprising that one of them had gone as far as to trick a human force of Marines into carrying out his dirty work and get paid for it.
"Well, it corroborates with the reports I've read," Caine said, after a pause. "Operation Devil Hammer was considered a failure shortly afterwards, and I can see why. Little was achieved, other than antagonizing alien criminal elements."
"Why did you want to know about all of this, sir?" Nevas asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.
"I was curious," Caine answered. This was true: ever since finding out Nevas had some kind of connection to Lev'Kanar, he had wanted to know the extent of it. "And I think it may have something to do with a current operation. The terrorists that have been causing trouble on the frontier are very likely the same sort of ones you fought that day, on Noya IV." He paused again, pondering the next matter. "As for you, Sergeant, how fit are you? Can you return to duty?"
Nevas looked surprised to hear this, but was quick to compose herself, clearly pleased. She had been in hospital for a long time, so getting out of there was a very welcome prospect.
"I'm in perfect working order, sir," she said.
"I'm sure you are," Caine replied. "I'll get the doctors over at the clinic to clear you officially. I could use you on the new mixed species anti-terrorist team. This might be a surprising offer, but you were recommended by those in High Command and I think you'd do well leading a squad of marines."
Nevas smiled. Caine returned the smile.
"Are you serious, General?" She asked.
"Of course. I've no reason to lie. You do have only two hours to pack your bags and report to landing pad seven, but as of now I'm officially putting you on the team. Don't worry about the doctors, as I said, I'll convince them to release you."
Nevas rose out of her chair and saluted. Caine felt like he had just done a good deed today. Nevas had experience against these alien terrorist types, something that would definitely be useful on the team. It only made sense to put her on the job,
"I'll be ready by then, sir," she said.
"Good. You're dismissed, Sergeant. It was very interesting, hearing about that raid. Maybe your future missions will be somewhat less chaotic."
With that, Nevas nodded, dropped the salute and then turned around, leaving the room. Caine was left mulling over whether he had made the right decision or not, as it seemed very likely that Lev'Kanar was the terrorist leader. He had the motivation and the influence, according to the reports. If he recognized Nevas...well, it would certainly make for an interesting mission. All the more reason for him to leave here and accompany the team to Paradise Falls.