Chapter 10: Scum and Villianly
Unknown MRS class stealth cruiser, Somewhere nearby the hideout asteroid, February 10th, 2553.
"Uh... Chieftain, you may want to see this." A voice came through the speakers from the bridge.
Brute Chieftain Kursnow was in the middle of a vigorous training session with several of his best fighters. His new gravity hammer felt lighter than his ancestral one that that younger brute had stolen. The younger one would pay for his insolence. He growled and keyed the mic in his power armor.
"What is it, Bridge? I'm a bit busy here." He muttered, gesturing for the others to stop.
"The human ship just rendezvoused with another ship and left." The brute at the bridge replied.
"So? Follow it! We have the tracker, don't we?" He shouted back.
Even through the suits receivers, he felt the brute on the bridge jerk back involuntarily.
"It's not that we don't know where they are, it's just... Chieftain, they're at Arann. That's almost a hundred light years away. They got there in less than a minute." He finally replied.
"What?!" Kursnow yelled. "That's not..."
"-possible, I know, but somehow... The tracker doesn't lie. They're there. "
"The question is, why and how..." Kursnow grumbled, turning to leave the training room. "Come on boys, we've got work to do!"
The other Jiralhanae followed him. He reached the door out headed out for the bridge. There was no elevators on the cruiser, so the Jiralhanae had to use several sets of stairs to get to the bridge. Kursnow didn't mind; the walk was good exercise.
They walked down the central corridor and ascended a flight of stairs. Unlike most Covenant cruisers, the MRS class stealth cruiser did not have the usual purple lighting throughout the ship. The lights were simple; white and grey. The corridor was mostly grey and actually looked very similar to a UNSC ship corridor, due to the somewhat incomplete nature of the cruiser.
The bridge opened out from the doors in a semicircle, with consoles arrayed along the "curve" which was where the monitors were located. The bridge had an elevated platform in the centre, with a command chair sitting upon it. The bridge was quiet excluding a few taps from the crew that could be heard.
Kursnow's brutes took their positions.
"Status?" The Chieftain asked.
"About ten minutes ago, a small human transport jumped in and rendezvoused with the human ship we were following. They didn't notice us, but they left immediately. The other ship is still here and charging for a slipspace jump. We haven't revealed ourselves yet, Cheiftain." The helmsman replied.
"The human transport. Do we know it's slipspace charge?" He growled, grinning at the possible opportunity of combat.
"Scanning in burst form. Give me a minute. We have to do this quietly or they'll notice us." The Jiralhanae on sensors growled.
Kursnow clasped his hands together and leaned forward in his seat and watched as they scanned the human transport, which was slowly accelerating away.
"Rating charge. 12 percent. Distance factored, we will catch them before they jump." Sensors announced.
"20 percent engines! Heat plasma coils and go to attack protocol." Kursnow roared.
There was a rumble as the cruiser ignited its engines and dethatched from the asteroid that it was hiding on.
"Main view onscreen." The Chieftain growled.
The screen resolved into a black screen with a star glaring in the distance. A few asteroids could be seen drifting around them. The human transport was identified with a red waypoint. A few attack alarms sounded across the cruiser and the crew began to prepare for one of their first battles in the cruiser.
"Plasma turrets heated and ready." Weapons replied. "Locking on target. They're out of our range, though we could take a few shots along the trajectory, we may get lucky…"
"No. We will destroy this ship properly. Fifty percent on engines." Kursnow roared.
"They're accelerating to emergency velocity. We're still gaining though. We'll be in range in 2 minutes at current speed." Sensors reported.
"Shields up to full charge." The Shield operator muttered.
The cruiser continued on its near straight path, smashing through any small asteroids that got in its way.
"Shall we launch fighters?" Someone asked.
The Chieftain growled a negative. A small timer in the top right of the view screen hit 30 seconds to weapons range. Weapon range was more determined by time to impact than how long the shot would be effective in. After all, the greater the distance a shot was fired from, the more chance there was of it evading as it noticed the round coming in, so range usually was the distance that a shot would impact in five seconds or less.
"How long until pulse laser range?" He asked.
"One minute. Ventral beam range in twenty five." Weapons replied.
"Hold ventral beam and plasma beams. Use the lasers and cripple their engines. I want a broadside flyby. I want that ship decimated. If the GA finds any remnant of it, they'll know this was deliberate. Without a trace, this transport could have hit an asteroid or defected." Kursnow ordered.
"Confirmed. Holding beams. Entering range in ten seconds." Sensors announced.
The Chieftain could not maintain his patience any longer, especially with his target only ten seconds out of range. He leaned forward in his chair.
"BEGIN PREIMTIVE SHOTS!" He roared.
"Yes Chieftain!" Came the reply.
There was a burst of confidence among the crew as they fell into pattern. The pulse lasers opened up with a vengeance, catching the transport in its rear engines and sending it into a roll. The fire ceased as soon as it came. The cruiser slowly to allow its broadside to last longer. The cruiser came within two kilometers of the transport.
"Fire all weapons." Kursnow rumbled with a small grin.
"Aye!" Came the shout.
The cruiser fired with everything it had; plasma beams, pulse lasers, plasma torpedoes and even its ventral beam. A tad bit overkill, but the result was a desired. The human ship rumbled and spun away at the first few shots but disintegrated when the heavier weapons slammed into the hull.
"To dust and ruins." Kursnow replied. "Now chart a course for Arann!"
I+-+-+I
UNSC Spearhead of Dawn, Arann orbit, Febraury 10th, 2553
The bridge was silent for several minutes, and then the informants gave a snort and left the bridge unhappily. Thel stood at the console, still staring at the planet in the distance. Small pricks of light that represented ships were dotted around the planet.
"How did we get here so quickly…" He grumbled.
"During the jump, the crystal you have gave a burst of unknown energy throughout the jump. It's not radiation, so it's not harmful, but that is the only thing that occurred differently during our jump." Cortana replied.
"Hm…" The Sangheili sighed.
"I knew there was something fishy about that crystal at the start." John grumbled, stepping up beside Thel.
"It's not harmful, though." He replied.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the human turn and stare at him for a brief second, then turn back to the planet ahead.
"I do not like these… boarders." Thel grumbled. "They need to lose their attitudes."
"Why do you not discipline them then?" John asked.
"What exactly do you mean by that?" The Sangheili asked, completely alien to the concept. "Back in the days of the Covenant, the way you dealt with officers who gave you disrespect was to either kill them or undermine them."
"I don't think that killing those two would send a good message." Cortana replied.
"I have no idea how you would discipline the two of them. But… Aren't we both higher rank than them, according to the message we received. Why don';t you discipline the two. You'd certainly at least know something about it." Thel said.
The Spartan shook his head.
"I keep on forgetting that." John replied, and then turned, heading for the door out of the bridge. "I will go and have a word with them then."
Thel heard the doors open and close. He stood in the bridge and stared down at the planet for a minute.
"Receiving a transmission from the planet." Cortana announced.
"Show it on the holographic table." He replied.
A brute resolved on the table. He looked around for a second before spotting the Sangheili.
"Elite! What is the reason for your presence here at Arann?" He asked.
"We have come to rest and rearm." Thel lied as quickly as it came to him.
"We? Where is the rest of you crew, then?" The Jiralhanae asked.
"We… had a malfunction in engineering on the way here. We stole this human ship and nearly burnt out the engines getting here. The rest are busy trying to get the engines stable." Thel replied.
"Our scanners are detecting nothing from your engines." The Brute replied.
"Well…" The Sangheili racked his brains to think up something to keep his terrible cover story intact. "The human engines were shielded when we first pic- stole this ship, so I'm not surprised that you can't detect anything."
"Hrm." The brute raised his eyebrow.
He turned away and growled something at a few offscreen people. Thel heard a grunt respond with a cry. The Brute than truned back.
"Your ship will fit into… SH – 536, which is not in use. Is your ship capable of In-Atmospheric operations?" He asked.
Thel turned away and pulled on a headset to get onfirmation from one of the AIs.
"Yes." Vala whispered into Thel's earpiece.
"Yes. It can." He repeated to the Brute.
He nodded. "Sending you the location. You can harbor here for a week free of charge, any further will cost 20 GA credits or 50 Covenant Monetary Units. Very well." The Brute faded.
"Location identified." Cortana told him.
"Engage course." Thel ordered, and then turned to leave the bridge as well. "Inform me when we're moving in to land."
"Aye." Cortana replied.
I+-+-+I
UNSC Spearhead of Dawn, SH – 536, Arann, Febraury 11th, 2553
It had been a day since they had landed on the planet and docked with their specified hangar. Now the crew sat in common room, all of them present, debating on the next course of action. Zhab glanced across the now silent room.
Jimaenius seemed impassive, a master of his emotions. Or at least he evidently understood that he had little part to play in this conversation. The two hunters were standing in rudimentary suits in the shadows of the room. Zhab was somewhat nervous himself. Most of that had to do with the newcomers, particularly the female Kig-yar. In Kig-yar society, females played the lead role, and it was now unnerving to have a obviously much older female sitting in the room.
He knew nothing of her. She was silent most of the time, accept for the occasion word or grunt with the human she came with. Zhab wasn't looking at her the way he would a younger Jackal, as a prospective mate, but as more of a fascination as a possible threat. He swallowed.
"We will get something done today, whether or not we have to do it ourselves." The new human said.
"It would help if we knew what we were looking for in the first place." The Sangheili grumbled.
"As I've told you, it's classified beyond your rank, so stop asking!" She angrily retorted, as this was the tenth or so time the Elite had asked her the same question, or at least implied it.
"Temper, temper." Jimaenius muttered quietly.
Zhab glanced up at his friend and gave a faint chuckle, to only be silenced by a glance from the female Kig-yar. He lowered his head, cowed.
"There is a nearby city, which has a large population of people who may something on the whispers in the uncharted space. Us two will go there today, with or without bodyguards if we must." The human female stated.
The Jackal gave a growl to confirm her side of the bargain as well.
"I still think we should send out at least one observational party before we start sending people out there. We know practically nothing of the temperament of the people here. A human going up and asking questions on what could be sensitive information is hardly going to please them." The Spartan said.
"I agree." The human AI said over the COM system.
"She is not going to be asking the questions alone." The female Kig-yar snarled quietly.
Zhab jerked at the sound of her voice, that had been the most that he'd heard her say in her entire time aboard the ship. There was a silence for several seconds.
"A compromise then? We'll send out a small party to scout the area, and they'll also ask some questions in a couple of some of the more… dodgy places." The Elite suddenly queried.
The two newcomers had a silent staring contest, then had a quick conversation in a language that the Kig-yar did not understand, probably a human language.
"Very well. How long will it take to organize an away team?" Asked the human female.
"Whoever you please, though I would not advise the Unggoy, and I would take Vala with whoever you send in this party." The Elite said.
The two newcomers once again had another conversation. After a minute, they seemed to come to an agreement.
"I will go." The female Kig-yar said. "I will take the Jiralhanae and the Jackal. No AI this time."
Jimaenius got up, seemingly unfazed by the decision. Zhab rose more slowly. He glanced across at the Brute, who glanced back at him, then shrugged.
"Now, Shipmaster," She said, the word laced with venom, "How to we get off this ship?"
"Follow me. There's an elevator that we connected with when docking." The Sangheili said, and then led them out the door of the common room, and then down a series of corridors through the ship, finally leading them to a lower airlock. He pressed a couple of buttons, opening the inner door. He beckoned them inside of the airlock, which the party did. He closed the inner door and opened the outer door.
"Good luck. Don't get killed." He said through a speaker in the airlock.
The party stepped onto a cargo elevator located directly in front of them. The elevator had obviously been intended for Jiralhanae and Sangheili, for neither Kig-yar could reach it. The female Kig-yar didn't embarrass herself as he did, simply gesturing for Jimaenius to press it for them, which he did. The lift groaned and began to descend.
"Our cover is so. We are the crew of the ship Forent. I am the shipmistress. You." She pointed at Zhab, "You're my First mate, Renor."
She turned to Jimaenius.
"You are Merantor, ship security." She said.
"Very well." He grinned.
The lift reached the bottom of the hangar. It passed down one further level, and then stopped at a long, sparsely lit corridor. The group walked down the narrow corridor, exiting at a pair of double doors, which opened into a walkway. Looking down the walkway revealed a large city at the bottom of the hill that the hangar was situated upon. Zhab looked around the hills that surrounded the city below. Rested upon most of the hills and mountains surrounding the city were hangars. Some were inside the mountains, but most were resting on the peaks.
The walkway was long, and the sun was high in the sky.. Zhab heard Jimaenius' spikers clinking on his slightly armored thighs.
Turagh! (Kig-yar swear that once again I will decline to translate) He swore, Why didn't I think of brining a weapon?
He glanced over at the "Shipmistress". She also had a plasma pistol attached to her thigh, though this was hidden under her clothing, so only a bulge remained. Once again he swore internally at forgetting to take a weapon of his own.
After around half an hour, they reached the city limits. There were several tall buildings, even on the far outskirts. Their shadows were cast along the empty street. It was eerie.
"Where is everyone?" Zhab asked, looking down an alleyway. It was empty.
"I do not know. I do not like this." Jimaenius said, glancing down another alleyway.
Zhab turned back to the tow others. Suddenly, Jimaenius seemed to notice something behind Zhab, and went for one of his spikers. Then something pressed him hard in the back of the head. Painfully.
I+-+-+I
Unknown City, Arann, Febraury 11th, 2553
Jimaenius drew his own weapon as the Brute stepped out from his hiding point, leveling his plasma rifle at Zhab's head.
"Move, and I'll blow this Jackal's head off." He snarled.
Zhab squirmed angrily as the Brute seized the back of his neck.
"Now, me and my boys would like to know what exactly a bunch of mysterious newcomers, who happened to acquire a new GA ship wants here on Arann." He snarled.
There were several sounds of rustling from around them as the rest of the group came out of hiding, all with weapons drawn and pointed.
"We aren't from the GA ship, we're from the Forent." The female Jackal snarled, her arm falling to her side and resting against a bulge on her thigh.
So, she was armed. Zhab wasn't. At least Jimaenius had some degree of supporting fire. Though, judging from the situation, that wouldn't make a lick of difference. Suddenly, a possible answer came to Jimaenius. He reached up, as though to scratch his head, and "accidental" brushed his hand off the "danger" beacon on his headset.
"Don't insult my intelligence, Jackal. I know you came from that hangar. Now, you will tell me, what exactly are you doing here on Arann?!" He roared, applying more pressure to the back of Zhab's neck with his plasma rifle.
Zhab flinched as a spark of overspill leapt from the firing current onto his neck. He snarled slightly.
"Why would you even care what our business here in the first place?" The female Kig-yar replied.
"We actually care about our home! I have no intention of letting some secret shenanigans by the GA destroy our planet." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "And besides, the remnant would pay handsomely for the capture of any members of the GA. Especially traitors such as yourselves!"
"So you're here for the money… Then why do you say that you care about this planet in the first place!?" Jimaenius asked.
"Because they pay us handsomely if we say that when the civilians are around." He replied nonchalantly.
"So you're bounty hunters, then?" The female Kig-yar asked.
"Of course not." He growled, but it was obvious he was worried someone might hear him state otherwise, even though the streets were deserted.
The street was silent, except for a box perched on a wall in an alleyway falling over, probably the wind- Jimaenius stiffened and sniffed the air. There was no wind. The Jiralhanae he faced seemed to have reached the same conclusion.
"Wait a seco-" He began, positioning his hand to fire the rifle more efficiently.
There was a snap of a plasma field igniting, and the brute dropped Zhab. The brute gaped at the two plasma points sticking out of the center of his chest. Then he fell backwards as the points disappeared. An energy sword hovered in thin air by itself. There was cry from the several Brutes as they saw it. Help had arrived, and it couldn't have come at a better time.
The Brutes opened fire at the hovering sword, which started forward before deactivating, throwing the Brutes into confusion. Jimaenius took advantage of the confusion and swept the two Kig-yar into cover in an alleyway. He mumbled an apology as both protested about getting manhandled by him. He peeked out and raised a spiker, firing several shots at one confused Brute.
The shots struck the unsuspecting enemy in the side, but failed to break his power armor. He ran for cover and fired a few of his own at them. However, the majority of the group had their attention occupied by the cloaked Elite that was making mincemeat of them. Several shots from the plasma pistols, both red and blue, whizzed through the air, but none succeeded on hitting the cloaked Elite.
The female Kig-yar aimed from behind Jimaenius and opened fire. They hit home on its target, and he stumbled and fell as his power armor broke from the punishment.
"Can I have a weapon?" Zhab suddenly asked from beside Jimaenius.
Jimaenius handed him his other spiker. "Have fun."
Zhab opened fire. Most of his shots missed, unsurprising, seeing as he was unaccustomed to the new weapon.
The Brutes that were firing at the floating energy sword, hoping to land a hit on the armor's shields, getting them to flare and reveal the Elite's location. One Brute attempted to body slam the Elite, but hit nothing as he lunged forward. The sword whizzed upwards and into the offending Brute's back. The Brute cried out, but the blow had a side effect. A red plasma round finally landed on the Elite, lighting up his shields.
"THERE! OPEN FIRE!" One Jiralhanae screamed.
The Elite disengaged his sword and ran to the right as the plasma shots intensified. He drew his own pair of rifles and fired. More Brutes fell. As Jimaenius fired his own volley from his spiker, he wondered if the power armor that these Brutes had was slightly poorer quality than the ones in the Remnant. They seemed to break a lot faster.
There were around ten brutes out of the group of twenty-five remaining. Another went down under the Elite's energy sword as he gave a low slice, cutting out it's legs. Zhab and Jimaenius coordinated fire took down another. Suddenly, one drew a plasma grenade and primed it, taking aim for the Jimaenius and the Jackals.
"Get back!" Zhab yelled as the Brute drew back his arm.
The Elite, however, was faster, and fired a plasma burst straight at the hand holding the grenade. It struck the wrist, hitting the grenade and causing it to primitively detonate. This took out two more Brutes. The rest began to back away from the battleground, obviously uncertain of their next move. Their leader was dead and so was around half of their group. Suddenly, one turned and ran. About half of the remaining ones also did the same.
Jimaenius stepped out fully and opened fire, tearing another one's armor apart. The female Kig-yar nailed another one in both thighs. The cloaked Elite suddnely leapt forward and spun around, using the momentum of his spin to increase the power of his swing. The first swing went straight through a Brute's chestplate. As it staggered backwards in shock, The swing continued and ended with it spinning around one more time and slamming hard into another Brute's midsection.
And it was finished. The Brute collapsed off the energy sword. The Jackals and the Brute stepped out from their cover. The Elite disengaged his cloak, confirming Jimaenius' suspicions. It was the Shipmaster.
"How did you get here so quickly?" The female Kig-yar asked.
"If you press the button to go down again on the elevator, it goes down to an underground rail system that takes you out about 300 meters down there." He said, pointing back the way that they had come in the first place. "We should go. The Brutes may come back, but they're not stupid enough to come after us in the hangar."
"Wait… The elevator does that? What a waste of half an hour… Anyway, Come on." Jimaenius said, gesturing for the Kig-yar to follow him.
They began to head for the elevator, when suddenly a beam rifle fired from above, landing between the Elite's feet. He growled and looked up. At the top of one building, a pair of Brutes with beam rifles took aim at them. From around another corridor, another large party of Brutes could be heard charging from another street.
"Time to get out of here." The female Kig-yar and Elite said.
I+-+-+I
So, I'm finally back, or well, not fully back I think. I'll not sure how much I'll be writing at again, but I'll be trying a hit harder then usual. Anyway, I wrote another action scene into the story, so this chapter isn't so much a filler as the other two. Heh, I've been watching too much Star Trek recently. Anyway, have a long chapter to make up for it.