Chapter 13

21 July, 2554, 1104 Hours, Settlement 3B, Harvest System, Planet Harvest

Kelly pointed to a dot on the PDA. "Found them."

John nodded slowly. "Lets go and get them."

Picking up Cortana's chip from the table as well as his MA5C (now repaired), he handed an M6H to Kelly.

"Asher," he began.

Oblivious of what John was suggesting, Asher raised his eyebrows. "Uhh, can you wait a sec?"

There was a few humming noises and Asher exited from his room, carrying a small bag.

"Yeah?"

Frowning, John pointed at the bag. "What's that?"

"My stuff. You don't expect me to..." his voice trailed off as he saw the looks John was giving him. "What, you mean you're going alone?" he asked incredulously.

John half nodded. "Ye- n... Kelly and I -"

Kelly exchanged a glance with John, then locked eyes with Asher. He stared back. Unfinished business. We still aren't friends.

John understood. "Asher, see -"

Asher was taking no nonsense. "I'm coming, John. Ever since we met I've been a pest. Now I want to help."

"Asher," Kelly began, "aren't you -"

John silenced Kelly with a glance. She hadn't seen him fight yet.

"Asher, I appreciate your gesture," John said, tactfully trying to bluff his way out. "But.., we don't even have weapons for you and -"

Asher pulled his arms back and stood straighter, and John could seethe outline under his shirt of a plasma sword handle and a M6D.

Kelly's eyes widened in amazement.

"You grow up here," Asher smiled triumphantly, "You've gotta learn some tricks."

John nodded slowly and dumbly.

Kelly threw John a look. "John - I..."

"You're UNSC," replied Asher. John wasn't sure whether that meant Kelly or the two of them. "I'm insurrectionist. What doesn't change is that we're friends."

Kelly knew this wasn't directed at her. "John," she tried again -

"And I'm willing to put my antagonism with the UNSC aside - for now."

Kelly looked at John, then Asher.

John slung his bag over his shoulder. "Then lets go."

Asher followed him out the door. Dumbly, Kelly threw a hood over her face to hide from anyone outside who could identify her, and followed.

"But what was that, anyway?"

Fred grimaced. "We've got to get back to earth. Screw this mission. Screw John. We've got to move. We can come back here later."

Laughter boomed through the speakers. "Enjoy yourselves."

"Oh, man," Ash growled.

Linda pointed. "...look!"

A small drone was hovering over their heads, carrying the same weapon that the insurrectionist had carried earlier. "Try hard, SPARTANs. Who's John?"

Silently, Fred cursed himself for being so careless.

Fred half-heartedly took down the drone, knocked out the gun, and twisted its power source into the bio-ammunition. He wasn't going to risk contamination of anyone or anything.

Linda got up and after disinterestedly peering at the smouldering flood spores, began poking around the walls.

The doors hissed open, and five guards entered, carrying the same forerunner weapons.

"Move," growled the leader. He shoved Linda out, then Fred.

Fred's heart sank; an execution block. Cheering people.

He glanced behind him, and saw Mark and Olivia being shoved out. Ash. Where was -

The leading guard screamed in pain and dropped to the ground, hands clasping his forehead. A smouldering piece of metal from the destroyed forerunner weapon smashed into his forehead.

The other guards raised their energy weapons.

Ash remained in the middle of the cell.

"Move, kid," growled a beefy guard.

Ash didn't wince, but raising the core of the energy weapon, hurled the block of pure energy at the guards.

There was a plasma explosion, the smell of sizzling flood spores, and eachof the guards fell back screaming.

Ash ran out, his right hand smouldering from the energy.

"Hurry!" he gasped, cradling his burnt hand. In his other, he held a rough metal club.

Fred grabbed Ash, threw him over his shoulder and grabbed the metal club. Ash was getting nowhere with that hand. It would probably be replaced.

Charging out, he struck the MA5 out of the hand of a shocked civilian guard and ran out.

Linda, occupied with an old S1 Sniper Rifle, saw the other's leave. Taking the time to scoop up the ammo, she ran after them.

Asher and John went first, because the guards knew them, and watched from a higher level to see what would happen to Kelly.

The guard nodded to each of them, but when Kelly arrived, he asked for money.

Silently, John cursed himself for his laziness. He ought to have known...

Kelly began to walk away, slowly, and the guard followed her, after watching a few seconds.

Asher quickly lobbed a piece of raw meat down at the guard. The meat missed its target, landing on the guard's foot and not his head. Kelly turned, hearing the noise. The guard was reaching into his pocket to grab a Magnum when one of the stray dogs attacked him, attracted to the meat.

As the guard managed to get himself mauled, he hit an emergency button, but Kelly was already up and away.

Asher bit his lip. "Now comes the fun part," he said, and pointed.

The way out was covered by ten guards.

"That is seriously screwed," John whispered to Kelly.

"I know," grunted Asher, and walked back casually towards an nearby alley. "You two... Get occupied."

Out of the corner of his eye, John watched Asher snake up a wall, shinny across a drainpipe, and drop softly in the snow behind the guards.

Three of the guards were unconscious in heartbeats, hit by attacks on their spinal cords. As the rest turned, John ran up, hooked three and knocked him to the ground. Asher finished the last ones with two swipes of a plasma blade. The four guards who weren't unconscious lay on the ground, clutching plasma wounds.

"That wasn't wise," Asher grimaced. "Now you'll be on the wanted list too."

John looked out at the bleak landscape. "If we manage to live long enough."

That was lame. I've got writers block. (Again). Don't forget to R&R on your way out.