Date: March 14th, 2559 0800 Hours
Location: Kepler 186F Orbit aboard The Brigadier
"You're telling me that they are using the brutes as a slave force? I find that hard to believe," Tyler remarked in disbelief.
"Commander Bame's exact words," Porsche simply replied as he carefully tightened the final tiny screws back to their place on his energy wakizaki.
Tyler glanced around at his teammates with an expression of doubt. "And so Admiral Lasky wants us to join forces with the Jiralhanae? I did hear that correctly, right?"
Porsche paused, looked up from his weapon project, and glared at his subordinate. "If that is what Lasky wants, that is what Lasky will get. And it's our job to make sure he gets it. If you believe that his tactical assessment is flawed, then you have the right to bring your concerns through the chain of command. Understood, Eilen?"
Tyler submitted and raised his hands. "Understood, sir," he replied with an annoyed expression.
Porsche gave him a firm nod and continued to optimize his custom weapon.
The rest of the Spartans in the auditorium stood with their designated Fireteams waiting for Commander Bame and Captain Duranso to arrive to give the mission briefing. Most of the Spartans from Project Omega were distracted by the presence of Blue Team, particularly the Master Chief. The legendary Spartan towered over the rest of the Spartan-IVs, with the exception of Regendorf who was approximately the same height. Master Chief silently stood next to his teammates, patiently waiting for his two superiors to arrive, either unaware or unphased by the attention the rest of the Spartans.
After a long glance at the large green Spartan, Angel leaned over to Tyler with a cynical smile behind his visor. "So Eilen," he said, getting his leader's attention. "I heard you faced Blue Team in a Breakout match," he said while trying to keep a straight face.
The sarcastic comment also caught Scythe's attention, which made him chuckle. Tyler sharply turned his head to Angel and he glared at his teammate. "I don't want to talk about it," he quickly hissed.
Angel chuckled at Tyler's quick reply that reeked of his obvious insecurity. "Of course. I wouldn't want to talk about it if I went 0 - 4 either," he jeered.
Tyler gritted his teeth and pointed a finger at Angel. "Just like how you don't want to talk about the fact that Bennett effortlessly subdued you at the cafeteria, eh?"
The sharp retort caused both Rodriguez and Scythe to laugh at Angel. Angel's amused expression instantly dropped after his brain registered the retaliation, which was pretty effective to say the least. "Fuck you, Eilen," he sneered.
"Yeah, well fuck you too," Tyler yelled back. He couldn't fight back the urge to let out a wry smirk. It was nice to have the last laugh for once.
Porsche received word that Commander Bame was approaching the auditorium. He quickly finished up tinkering with his wakizaki and placed it on his belt. He then moved onto the stage and cleared his throat. Once he noticed the commander approaching the entrance, looked towards the Spartans and readied himself for the announcement.
"Spartans! Commander on deck." Porsche announced.
Every Spartan in the auditorium immediately stood at attention as both Captain Duranso and Commander Bame entered the room. The two officers walked towards the center of the stage and looked out to the Spartans.
"At ease, Spartans," Bame said.
The Spartans all uniformly eased their stances and focused their attention on the commander. Eric briefly glanced around at all the Spartan teams in the auditorium, observing the amount of personnel at his disposal. His glance lasted a few moments longer at the sight of Blue Team. It was difficult for him to maintain his composure since he has been waiting a very long time to fight alongside the Master Chief himself. Without further adieu, Eric decided to begin the mission briefing.
"Alright Spartans, let's get started," he began speaking as he pressed a button on his clicker, which activated a projected hologram of the planet Doisac behind him and Captain Duranso. "As you all probably already know, our next operation will be on the Jiralhanae homeworld, Doisac. Yesterday, Fireteam Ghost sent us a recording of a small Empire insurgency invading a brute stronghold. With much higher grade tech and advanced weaponry, very similar to the Promethean tech. They quickly took over the base and captured numerous amounts of Jiralhanae. They then decided to execute the stronghold's chieftain."
He turned to the hologram then pressed his clicker, zooming in on the location on the planet. "Furthermore, Fireteam Ghost was fortunate enough to expose one of the Empire's officers to us." He pressed his clicker again and a somewhat blurry photo of a man in a suit popped up on the monitor screen. "Here he is. He goes by the alias Kronos. He has a tamed Xenomorph by his side that looks to have a Yautja genome, which makes it an exceptionally dangerous Xeno," a photo of the strange xeno popped up next to the picture of Kronos. "In addition, this Xenomorph has no visible physical augmentations on its body which may ask us a few questions that we may not be able to answer at this time. With all of this in mind, we have absolutely no reason to believe that they wouldn't have other tamed Xenos at their disposal. So, be very wary of any Xenomorphs in this op."
"Anyways, our main objective in this op: Capture Kronos. He is a high priority target that we absolutely need alive. He very may have valuable information on the Empire. In addition, if any of you come across any other Empire officers, capture them as well. Any intel is good intel."
Eric cleared his throat and continued on. "As far as we know, there are no Empire vessels within the planet's orbit. With that being said, our first objective is to link up with Fireteam Ghost and convince the remaining Jiralhanae strongholds to join our forces." He noticed several Spartans give each other surprised looks and looks of sheer distaste. "I know this sounds absurd, but they can only help our cause. They will be fighting to keep the sovereignty of their home planet, which will give us a distinct advantage against the Empire. I strongly advise all of you to keep our history with them in the past. The last thing we need is another war with the Jiralhanae."
"Wonderful," Scythe muttered under his breath as he crossed his arms. "Now we have to fight alongside the bloody apes," he remarked sarcastically as he turned to Angel for a reaction. Angel subtly shook his head at how insane this operation was.
Eric continued on. "As far as we know, there is only a small base on the planet that the Empire occupies. Reconnaissance confirmed that it is used as a forward operating station where they transport Brutes off of the planet. The only problem is that this base is heavily fortified with technology similar to the Forerunner's. Storming the base would be more than problematic and we would have to consider that the casualties will be high. So, we must establish a relationship with one of the Brute tribes then have them help us set an ambush for the Empire. We can only hope that Kronos will be leading the incursion himself."
Eric paused and studied several of the Spartans' posture, then nodded. "Understood, Spartans?"
"Yes sir!" They all shouted in unison.
"Good. Objectives will vary as the op progresses. You're dismissed."
…
Date: March 14th, 2559 1600 Hours
Location: Doisac, Jiralhanae Homeworld
"Reaching the DZ in two minutes, Aries," the pelican pilot stated over the coms.
"Thanks, Delta 012," Tyler replied back. He then looked over to his team. "Alright, boys. On your feet. Time to go," he said as he placed his DMR on his back.
"Pfft, don't tell me what to do..." Angel mumbled under his breath as he threw his helmet on and grabbed his shotgun. Followed by a seemingly frustrated Scythe, who was pushing a magazine into his sniper rifle.
"What are we supposed to do? Go down there and start shaking those ape's fucking hands like we are friends? They are going to start shooting at us the moment we come into sight." Scythe groaned, obviously disliking the plan that was already set for them.
"What we are supposed to do is follow the commander's orders. If we stick to the plan everything wi-"
"Rubbish fucking plan, it's going to get us bloody killed, and you know it." Scythe retorted with a sneer. Eilen could do nothing but hold in his irritation, his heart pulsed and his blood pumped, but he held it in, thankfully. Deep inside him though, something was stirring, like a volcano ready to blow. The fireteam leader just kept his mouth shut and focused on the mission, his anger slowly began to dissipate. Composure. That was what he needed.
His infuriating thoughts were interrupted when the pilot's voice echoed through his helmet. "Fireteam Aries. We're coming up to the DZ. ETA, thirty seconds."
Tyler shook off his heated emotions and focused on his duty. "Alright, form up boys," he ordered his Spartans as he placed his energy sword hilt on his thigh.
The rear door of the pelican slowly began to open up, revealing an alien savanna that resembled much like the savannas of Africa on Earth. As the pelican lowered to the ground, the members of Aries all piled out and began checking their surroundings. The pelican quickly closed its rear door and flew away from the drop zone. Tyler rose his fist then took a knee. His teammates followed suit.
Tyler activated his encrypted communication transponder on his wrist and linked up with the channel to Command on the Brigadier. "Command, this is Fireteam Aries. Do you read?"
Porsche's transponder appeared in top right hand corner of Tyler's HUD. "Loud and clear, Aries," he replied back.
"Which way is our objective, sir?" Tyler asked.
"Half a klick due west. You'll link up with Fireteam Ghost. From there, you will have to confront the brute stronghold, peacefully. Understood, Spartans?" Porsche ordered them sternly.
Tyler could sense the tension coming from both Angel and Scythe. Especially Scythe. "Understood Command. Aries out," he said back as he deactivated his transponder. He looked at his team for a moment and nodded. "Alright, let's get this done."
The four Spartans quickly made their way across the grassy savanna. The acacia trees and most of the flora were surprisingly similar to the ones on Earth. However, the fauna that they saw were much different, but they did act similar to the herds of fauna from Earth. Tyler wished he had a moment to observe the indigenous creatures, but his discipline made him more focused on rendezvousing with Ghost.
After a short while of running through the Savanna, the team came across a small thicket of trees and bushes. They cautiously made their way through the bushes towards their NAV point which showed that they were roughly fifty meters away from the rendezvous point. Tyler slowly led the fireteam throw the bushes until he suddenly walked into an invisible wall. Stunned by the surprising event, he raised his DMR up at the wall.
Suddenly, a large Sangheili Major materialized out of his active camouflage. Tyler let out a large breath of relief at the sight of the elite and lowered his weapon. "Jesus, man. You almost gave me a damn heart attack."
The elite huffed at his statement and began to turn around. "Come, Spartans. Your kin are waiting for you," he stated as he began walking through the brush.
Scythe glanced over to Angel with an annoyed expression behind his visor. "Brilliant. The split-chins are here too. Those apes are definitely going to welcome us with open arms now," he sarcastically muttered.
"Got that right," Angel replied flatly.
The team followed the elite through the bushes to see the four Spartans of Fireteam Ghost gathered around with the one Sangheili Spec Ops Officer discussing about something. Spartan Masy was the first to spot Aries and he waved to them.
"Oh, hey guys," he greeted them enthusiastically, which appeared pretty odd to the Spartans of Aries.
Tyler nodded to him. "Gummies," he simply replied back, remembering that he had to address the team by their callsigns.
"Glad you guys could finally join us. Pretty place, isn't it?" He said in his higher pitched voice.
Tyler raised an eyebrow and glanced at Rodriguez who was subtly laughing at the funny comment.
"I mean, I guess so," Tyler said in a confused tone. He turned his gaze to Ghost's leader. "Ghost. What's the situation?"
Spartan Black waved for him to come over to the circle. "Come here. We'll show you," he simply said.
Tyler walked over to the circle to see the Spec Ops officer holding a transparent data pad, clearly of Sangheili origin. It showed a map of the brute stronghold with several red pings marked all across the area.
"So," Black began. "What you see here is their stronghold. It's just as fortified as the last one we were at, but there are many more civilian brutes inside this one. So, let's approach them as peaceful as possible. I'd rather not get into a firefight with them."
"No argument here," Tyler rest assured. "There is one thing I'd like to know before we go in."
"What's that?" Black asked.
Tyler cautiously looked over to the Spec Ops officer. "What is your current relationship status with the Jiralhanae?" He firmly asked the elite.
The elite glanced back at him and clenched his mandibles. "Not desirable," he replied flatly.
"That's what I thought," Tyler commented. "With that being said, I don't think it would be a good idea to bring the Sangheili with us," he said in the utmost honesty.
Black looked over to the Spec Ops officer for a moment. "You're probably right, Eilen. Officer, could you and your troops remain here on standby until further notice?"
The elite shrugged, knowing it was the most practical decision. "Yes, Spartan. We will remain here. If anything were to happen, we will immediately move in to assist."
"Sounds good," Black replied. "Thank you for understanding." He then looked at Eilen and took a deep breath. "Alright. You and I will be doing all the talking. The rest of you Spartans," he said looking at the six remaining Spartans. "Just keep quiet and keep your weapons sheathed. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," they all replied, except for Angel and Scythe who remained silent and stern.
"Alright, let's get going."
…
The eight Spartans began to move toward the brute stronghold with their weapons sheathed on their backs. Every single one of them were on guard, thinking about the possible worst case scenarios. As they made their way towards the stronghold gate, there was a large echoing voice that came from the stronghold.
"Halt, you demons!" A deep voice shouted out from one of the watchtowers. "What are you doing on my homeworld again?" A brute showed himself with an odd looking Jiralhanae armament that looked similar to a Covenant Carbine, but more like a makeshift spike rifle.
Black raised his hands, hoping that the universal jester for don't shoot applied to the Jiralhanae. "We come in peace. We are not here to fight. We just wish to speak with your chieftain," he shouted back at the watchtower.
"Nobody speaks to the chieftain unless I say so! What does Kronos want with us this time?" The brute questioned as he tightened his grip on his tempered spike rifle.
"We are not with Kronos. We are with the UNSC," Eilen yelled back.
"What you say is folly, filthy humans! Either way, we want nothing to do with your kind!" The brute scowled back in rage.
Eilen quickly shook his head in denial. "No! I assure you, Kronos is not a part of the UNSC. We only want peace with the Jiralhanae! Not war! I'd rather keep our terrible past behind us!"
The brute sneered at Tyler's reply. "That is what Kronos promised us! Then he comes to take many of my brothers and sisters away on his stolen holy ships!"
Black waved at the brute. "We aren't just here to make peace with your kind. We are here to form an alliance to fight against Kronos and the rest of the Empire!"
The brute paused for a long moment, carefully considering his options. His teeth still gnashed together at the very sight of the humans. Thoughts of the Great War flashed through his head. The Prophets deemed them as lesser beings and that their destruction was the will of the Gods. Yet, what they were told by the Prophets were all lies. The Covenant did betray them. However, that didn't ease the extreme tension, which was an understatement, between the two species. What the humans did to them on their home planet was completely intolerable. However, these particular humans in front of him were not like the others visually.
After a long moment of pondering, he squinted his eyes and sharply turned his gaze to the brute on his left and growled. He then muttered an order in their native tongue, pointing at several positions on the wall. Many other brutes quickly made their way to the gate's levers. He then looked back to the Spartans and sneered.
"If what you say is true, then I will allow you in. But before you enter, you must drop all of your weapons!" The brute gatekeeper demandingly uttered.
Black and Eilen looked back at their teammates with a wary gaze. They then began to drop their weapons onto the ground, shocking everyone on the team.
"Is he fucking serious, mate?" Scythe cried in astonishment.
"Just do it, Scythe," Eilen simply ordered him without so much as to turning his head in the sniper's direction.
Scythe let out an anger gruff, but then began dropping his weapons. "Fucking brilliant," he muttered to himself.
"Don't worry, buddy. Nothing bad will happen," Macy assured him as he dropped his weapons.
Scythe rolled his eyes at the comment and walked up next to Eilen. "Don't make me regret this, sir!" He coldly spat, pointing a finger at Eilen.
With his blood now boiling after the statement, Eilen smacked Scythe's hand away from his face and bumped chests with the Spartan. "Don't you ever point your damn finger at me again, Scythe! Have some fucking faith for once!"
Scythe remained silent, but kept his glare on his fireteam leader. It took every single fiber in his body to not take a swing at Eilen. His concentration was broken when the stronghold's gates began to slowly open. The eight Spartans turned towards the gates to see several brute troops wielding spiker rifles rushing over to them.
Several of the brutes began to pick up the human weapons from the ground as many others began to surround the eight Spartans. Finally, the gatekeeper made his way towards the Spartans and gave them a sneer.
"I am Decanus," he sternly announced himself to the Spartans. "I will take you to meet with Chieftain Duxus myself. Now, follow me demons," he coldly ordered them.
The other brutes growled at the Spartans, indicating them to follow Decanus. The Spartans slowly followed the brute officer. Inside the compound, the Brutes with rifles and worried looks watched the Spartans walk down into the middle of the base with their escort. The sight of these Jiralhanae felt very unfamiliar to the Spartans that were involved in The Great War, including Scythe. They weren't stomping around and causing pandemonium like the Spartans were accustomed to. The female and young Jiralhanae appeared to be frightened at the very sight of humans, with many of them cowering for cover. The males clearly were absolutely furious to see them, but they kept their distance.
Scythe felt every single pair of eyes focused on him, which began to spike up his blood pressure. He felt as if what he said outside of the gate was heard by many brutes, which immediately led him to regret his decision in lashing out like the way he did. So, Scythe kept his mind shut and focused on calming his composure, hoping that his body language would help ease the extreme tension.
Hushed voices and violent huffs left the mouths of the ape-like aliens that firmly watched them make their way through their stronghold. The tension briefly subsided when the Spartans entered a tent with a massive looking and decorated Brute sitting down on his throne and surveying a large map.
"Chieftain, I have brought you the demons" Decanus said with a slight nod of his head. Duxus, the Chieftain looked up and immediately laid his eyes on Eilen. Any tension that subsided before immediately was back.
"Hmm...thank you Decanus...which one of you humans is the leader of your war party?" The chieftain asked, now standing a few feet taller and looking over the Spartans. His fur was dark, and in contrast to the light it even made it look shiny. His eyes were a light yellow color, his tusks for teeth were somewhat worn down, and along his face there seemed to be remnants of scars and war paint. He clearly was elderly next to his kin, but undoubtedly stronger than him. His strong posture demanded loyalty from his clan.
Spartans Eilen and Black stepped forward, "We are, Chieftain" Tyler said somewhat nervously, attempting to maintain his strong composure. Duxus rubbed his chin with his hand slightly and waved to the soldiers, to which they understood and all but Decanus left the tent. Eilen did the same, turning around and looking at the spartans "Wait outside, this shouldn't take long."
The two fireteams acknowledged the command and proceeded to stroll out of the tent, taking seats just outside. "Isn't this some shit," Scythe muttered to himself. "We're sittin' ducks out here and our fearless leader wants us to just sit on our arse and wait," he mocked, while actively attempting to keep his tone down.
James Rodriguez, the third member of Aries looked up and shook his head, "No, everything is gonna be alright, we just...y'know, gotta chill out and let them do the talking. They're not going to put us in any danger," he quietly responded with faith.
Scythe growled and angrily looked to James the same way he did to Eilen. "You really are going believe his bullshit, huh? Damn you are stupid."
"Just relax, Scythe," Mangold replied in a calm tone. "Getting worked up over this isn't going to make things easier."
Scythe turned his attention to him with a subtly shocked expression. "I'm sorry, but who are you again?" He mocked the larger Spartan.
Mangold just giggled and shook his head at the comment, which wasn't the reaction Scythe expected or wanted. "Look buddy, we're on the same side. The last thing we need is for us to fight amongst ourselves. If you haven't noticed before," he said as he glanced around at his surroundings to make sure the brutes couldn't hear what he was about to say, "these brutes are petrified of us."
Scythe subtly took a quick gander at the surrounding brutes. He did notice this as they were walking in, but he didn't know what to think of it. He then looked back to Mangold, but said nothing.
James Mangold continued on. "If you show that you are visibly unsettled with them, that will make our objective much more difficult. We are the dominant species here, so act like it. At the same time, you shouldn't show that you think lesser of them. We need their cooperation."
Scythe subtly turned his helmet away from him to ponder the random words of wisdom, something that he really wasn't expecting to hear at a time like this. He was the dominate being here. We were the ones that won the war, but that makes humanity responsible for what happens in the aftermath.
He shook his head, snapping out of his light trance. He then glanced back to Mangold but said nothing. Just gritted his teeth. He looked over to Angel to see what his body language was telling him. Angel remained standing and had his arms crossed, cautiously observing the brutes around him. He also was still on guard, but he made an effort to hide it. Although, he wasn't visibly shaken by being in the presence of the brutes. He kept his posture stern and demanding.
Scythe then glanced at one of the brute guards who was standing only fifteen meters away from the Spartans. The brute was making scuffs and growls, but he avoided eye contact with the Spartans. The same reactions applied with the other brute guards. A faint sense of superiority and a hint of security began to flow through his spine, which made him sit up straight and rectify his posture.
Maybe they were feared. There really was no reason to show fear. He took in a deep breath and began to observe the brutes around him more.
Mangold smiled behind his visor and nodded. He tapped Scythe's knee with fist. "See, everything is gonna be fine, man."
Scythe moved his gaze further away from Mangold and scuffed. "Ye, fuck off," he said out of annoyance. Yeah, I guess you're right, you giant oaf, he said to himself, not letting himself compliment his teammate.
Meanwhile inside the command tent, Spartans Eilen and Black were talking with Duxus about the current situations with the new rising empire, and their "pets" they decided to adopt into their army. Both spartans had their helmets removed and laying on the briefing table. They stood across the table from the Chieftain who had a hologram of a the local region illuminating the inside of the tent. Tyler noticed that the briefing table was being powered by an old Covenant battery. The battery seemed like it was running fairly low on power.
The low-powered battery caused his mind to wonder what the rest of their supplies were like. It appeared that their advancement in technology drastically regressed since the end of the war. After pondering on whether or not he should to ask Duxus about their supply manifest, he decided that he wouldn't ask at this time because he was afraid that the question would essentially imply a sense of belittlement towards the Brutes, which certainly wouldn't be good to say the least. So, Tyler simply turned his gaze away from the Covenant battery and focused his attention on Duxus.
Duxus seemed slightly baffled at their words about the Empir. However, he kept a stoic look on his face, not looking too distressed or edgy, but the atmosphere around him definitely was heavy. His strong sense of composure greatly impressed the two Spartans. The Brute let out a deep sigh, that sounded a bit closer to a growl.
"These...serpents you speak of...they are of insect origin?" he asked in a low gruff tone.
Eilen scratched the back of his head and shrugged his shoulders, trying to think of a good analogy to help the Chieftain's visualize the creatures, but he couldn't think of any since he couldn't think of a real life comparison that the brute would understand. The only being that could be a close comparison would be the Yanme'e since they operated like a hive mind and were of insect origin, but he figured that would only confuse Duxus more.
"To be completely honest with you, we don't know much about them ourselves. They share similar traits with aggressive insects, they have an exoskeleton, but they function with a hive mind with a queen being their commander, per say. Not necessarily like the Yanme'e. More like the Flood, except less...zombie-ish and serpent like."
Duxus gave the two Spartans a strange look of bewilderment. "I do not understand your human word Zombie-ish."
Tyler cocked his head, then lightly laughed to himself as he glanced over to Black. "Right. I guess you can call it a human adige. But yes, you know how the Flood took over our warriors' bodies, making them seem undead?"
The brute simply gave him a subtle nod.
"Yeah, well, these serpents have their own exoskeleton body that's heavily fortified. At the same time, they are a parasitic organism since they need live hosts to breed," Tyler finished.
The Chieftain was surprised to hear about such a thing existing, he stood back and ran his large hand through his braided beard. "Why should I trust you, hm? We were at war with your species for quite some time. Then just now, you show up not too long after my people were attacked by your kind."
"Being at war with someone doesn't make them your lifelong enemy," Black assured. "Our beliefs did not coincide with one another's by any means, but relations can be mended in due time. Look at the Sangheili for an example. They were at war with us, but now we are helping the Arbiter help free his homeland from the Covenant Remnant, who terrorizes Sanghelios. The Prophets lied to both of your species about a false belief which ultimately turned both of them against each other. The hatred and the bloody rivalry you shared with the Sangheili was caused by them."
Upon overhearing the word 'Sangheili', outcries of rage and aggression emanated from Decanus. However, Duxus just gritted his teeth. "I do not care about the elites no more than I care about you humans," he sneered at the two Spartans.
"But." The utter of that one word singlehandedly shocked both of the Spartans. "I do understand what you are saying." The next comment was even more astonishing.
Michael Black took a deep breath and assessed the Chieftain's body language for a moment. He clearly showed a very strong distaste for the Sangheili, but he wasn't physically shaken up by the topic alone. This is by far the most reasonable Brute I will ever encounter, Michael thought to himself. He cleared his throat and continued talkin with the chieftain.
"I'm glad you do, Chieftain. As for us, we are willing to put our past aside to fight against this common threat. We know what your kind did to ours, all those atrocities. We will never forget it, but we are willing to move on from them. Essentially, we want what you want," he stated firmly. "Peace for our species."
Black paused and took another moment to observe the brute's body language. Duxus was still well composed with his arms crossed firmly, but he remained quiet, waiting for a reply.
"If we both want to achieve this goal, we need to be on the same side. We need to fight together. Look, whe won't hold you at gunpoint on something like this, but I will say that we could really use your help, and your people could use our help. All we ask in return is that you assist us in capturing Kronos," Michael finished.
Duxus shook his head calmly. "We still do not need your help, humans. Atriox will soon be here to quell this human incursion."
Both Spartans were taken back by the name he mentioned. "Atriox? Who is he?" Tyler asked.
Duxus grimly smirked, revealing his large fangs as he leaned up and cross his arms. "I am not surprised that you have never heard of him," he smuggly commented. "You humans were never the only enemy to the Covenant. Your kind almost faced extinction against them, but Atriox," he laughed. "The Covenant never came close to quelling him and the Banished."
Tyler's heart dropped at the unveiling. "The Banished? They were the enemy of the Covenant?"
"Indeed they are," Duxus replied. "And they had many opportunities to take down the Covenant."
Tyler's mind began racing in many directions. A force stronger than the Covenant? A force that was against the Covenant? Feelings of both fear and anticipation rushed throughout his body, but at the same time, a sense of opportunity filled his chest. He wondered if The Banished would be willing to also fight for their cause. The thought danced around his mind for moment.
"If he was against the Covenant, then why did he not ally with the UNSC? Have you ever heard of the saying 'The enemy of my enemy, is my friend'?" Tyler asked the chieftain.
Duxus cocked his head after hearing the quote. "I can see where you are going here, human. I'm afraid Atriox has no sympathy for humanity."
Michael Black cleared his throat and placed his hands down on the briefing table. "Diplomacy never hurt anyone. There has to be some way we both can come to an understanding. The bottom line: we have a common enemy," Black bluntly stated. Duxus remained quiet but kept his piercing glare on the Spartan.
Black continued on. "These humans that you've encountered here are much more than just terrorists. They aim to genetically modify their own bodies to create a super being, and they absolutely have the opportunity to do so with those serpents in their disposal. One thing we also failed to mention before is that they also have another captive organism called the Yautja. With these two species, they will effectively gene splice them with their own bodies, creating a perfect organism. Stuff that makes the Spartan Program's physical augmentation look like a fucking physical therapy session. And they've made it crystal clear that they are leaving the UNSC and the rest of humanity behind."
Duxus raised his right eyebrow and stroked his long dark beard, processing all the information that was given to him. "So, you're telling me that these super beings that were once humans are the real threat?"
"I promise you," Black assured, "that we are not your enemy. These metahumans are looking to take over the galaxy, and they absolutely have the resources to do so. We must work together to defeat them."
Duxus crossed his arms, then took in a deep breath. After a long moment of silence, Duxus growled and sneered at the two Spartans. "Fine," he reluctantly muttered. "I accept your help, humans."
"You have my gratitude, Chieftain," Black said not long after he let out a breath of relief.
...
Several hours passed by since the meeting between the two Spartans and the brute chieftain. Since then, Spartan Porsche arrived with a company of marines, three more Spartan Fireteams, and a small vehicle armored division that consisted of three Scorpion tanks and eight Wolverine Anti-Air Tanks with emp shells.
From there, the company of marines dispersed around the brute stronghold, creating a defensive perimeter. The three tanks guarded the entrance of the stronghold. The eight Wolverines dispersed in strategic spots around the stronghold. All of the vehicles then activated their active camouflage, thanks to the cloaking units the Sangheili provided.
Lastly, the five Spartans Fireteams, including Aries and Ghost, scattered themselves around the base. Fireteam Aries stationed themselves on the front wall. Scythe climbed up to the best sniping vantage point with Tyler just below him. Both James and Angel were on the lower level with a few marine platoons and the three reinforcing Spartan teams. Fireteam Ghost stayed within the interior part of the base. Spartan Macy took control of one of the Wolverines, which visibly aggravated the vehicle's operator. Spartans Black and Humble stayed back with Duxus. Then Mangold hopped into the turrets on one of the Scorpion tanks.
Tyler brought his hand up to his helmet and pushed down slightly to interact with the comms, "When do you think we will get to see a mantis in action?"
Spartan Macy chuckled and quickly replied, "The sooner you don't ask about it probably!"The comment brought a smile to most of the Spartan's faces.
"10-4", Tyler responded while still smiling slightly.
With everything finally set in place, Porsche nodded in approval and began walking back to the main tent. As he went inside, he glanced at the hologram at the other positions in the region. Thanks to Duxus, the other surrounding strongholds in the region agreed to ally with the UNSC. Commander Bame dispatched the remaining battle grounds to assist them and they were all fortified and ready. Blue Team remained on standby in a secure location to depart wherever the Empire decided to land.
Then suddenly, Porsche received an incoming transmission from The Brigadier. He listened to the message intently for a moments. His eyes widened afterwards and he glanced over to Duxus and Black. He then looked back to his wrist pad and opened his coms.
"Roger, Command. We're ready, we'll be waiting for you, Blue Team," he replied. He then took a quick breath and opened up coms to the rest of the battle groups. "Alright gents, Command just notified me of one slipspace rupture. A single ship of unknown classification just jumped into orbit and its heading rapidly towards my position. Be ready. This is our chance," he stated. "Just stick to the plan."
The plan was simple: Draw in the empire forces. Let them get comfortable, then spring the trap.
…
The sound of repulsor engines roared through the air like a jet. Tyler, several marines, and some Spartans glanced behind them and saw an updated version of a Falcon, dubbed the Eagle, swiftly flew over the stronghold, dropped four objects in mid-air, and circle back to where it came from. Tyler turned his attention to the four objects and zoomed in on them as they descended onto their position. He couldn't believe what he saw, but the very sight of it caused him to start laughing.
The four members of Blue Team dove down to the ground in unison. Once they approached the surface, they activated their thrusters which spun them upright, then decelerated their speed quickly. Finally, they landed onto the ground with sheer force with their knees and a fist dug into the soil. The four legendary Spartans lifted their heads then stood upright. They quickly glanced around the stronghold and dispersed into own positions.
The Master Chief made his way to the front wall next to the Tyler and the other marines, then aimed his assault rifle down range. Fred made his way to one of the scorpions tanks, which happened to be occupied by James Mangold, and took control of it. Kelly made her way to the other side of the gate, adjacent to the Master Chief's position. Linda then made her way to one of the back watchtowers with her trusted Nornfang.
Tyler couldn't even express the amount of excitement and stimulation that rushed right through his veins at the sight of the most breathtaking, awe-inspiring, and amazing entrance he's ever seen. He couldn't help himself fangirl. He looked at a few of the marines around him and let out an amazed breath.
"That was the coolest thing I've ever seen in my entire life. I can't believe that just fuckin' happened," he said as he started laughing hysterically, to which the marines followed suit.
Master Chief subtly glanced over to the loosened up soldiers and his fellow Spartans. A small smirk formed across his face, certainly pleased with himself for raising the morale by just a simple entrance that the others considered extraordinary.
A glimpse of an object at the corner of his HUD caught his attention. He turned his attention to the object to find that it was a ship. It was unlike any ship he's ever seen, and he's seen his fair share in his entire service. It certainly didn't look like any UNSC or Forerunner ship that he's ever seen. It was somewhat similar to Covenant origin, but the architecture wasn't the same and it appeared to be more technologically advanced, on par with Forerunner tech. All he could gather from the sight was that it was about the size of Halcyon-Class Light Cruiser, but resembled a Covenant CCS-Class Battlecruiser.
"Eyes up," Chief announced through the coms network. "I have a visual of an unclassified vessel entering the airspace."
Porsche quickly made his way out of the tent and looked up to see the vessel hovering in the distance. He quickly opened his radio frequency and began directing the troops around him. "Armor vehicles: activate your camouflage now! Ground troops: get to cover and stay out of sight! We need to take Kronos and any other officer alive!"
Duxus then called out to his forces. "My brothers and sisters, it is time. Get to your positions. Let them into the stronghold. Be fearless, cut down your enemies, but keep Kronos alive."
Personnel from each species quickly made their way into their respective positions. Chief, Tyler, and the marines next to them quickly hid behind cover and waited for the incoming Empire troops. It was only a waiting game now.
Linda zoomed in on the vessel through the scope of Nornfang. It remained stationary in the air. Then suddenly, three smaller aircraft exited its bay and began heading towards their position. "I have a confirmed visual on three Empire dropships heading this way. They are larger than a Covenant Liche. Much larger. They seem to be carrying some armored units, I do not have a good look quite yet. Their ETA is roughly a minute."
Porsche quickly rushed into the tent and opened up his coms. "Alright gents, I want radio silence until we spring the trap. I'll make the order. Good luck gentlemen."
Tyler took in a deep breath and readied himself. It was finally time to take out some damn Empire soldiers. He turned his gaze to the Master Chief who then looked back. Chief subtly nodded to him, to which Tyler nodded back.
Sounds of alien vehicles gradually became louder and louder until it was practically on top of them. Tyler looked up to see Decanus in the watchtower growling at the sight before him. He had his spike rifle aimed down range at the incoming troops. Then suddenly they heard a voice on the other side of the wall.
"What's wrong, Decanus?" The voice said in a mocking tone. "You know the drill, open the gates," the voice nonchalantly ordered the brute.
Decanus growled and turned to look at the ambush team, focusing his gaze on the Master Chief. Then he hesitated. He took in a deep breath.
"What's the matter? Forget how to open the gate, you dumb ape?"
Decanus sharply turned his attention back, angered by the insult. "Quiet, Kronos," he muttered. Tyler, Chief, and the rest of the marines and Spartans around them all readied up. It was him. "I'll open the gate."
"Good boy," Kronos replied in his smug tone, to which Decanus scoffed angrily.
Behind the sounds of the alien engines, Tyler started to hear something hissing and shrieking. Then it started letting out a familiar clicking noise that he heard on Sanghelios. However, it sounded like it was a growl. He couldn't make out what it was.
The Brutes quickly began opening the gate, which cued the ambush party to brace themselves. Tyler was only twenty yards away from the gate's entrance. He quietly swapped withdrew his DMR onto his back and reached for his energy sword hilt. He looked over to the Master Chief who gripped his assault rifle with one hand and had a frag grenade ready to be primed in his other.
Tyler then heard the roars from the engine as they began to move towards the gate. He knew exactly what the Master Chief was going to do, so he quietly moved next to the legendary Spartan.
"I'll clear a path for you, Chief," he whispered as he jestered his sword hilt. Chief quickly nodded in acknowledgment and placed his assault rifle on his back.
Finally, the gates opened up and the Empire troops began to enter the stronghold. The Brutes moved out of the way. Tyler had visual on Kronos, then noticed the giant Xenomorph next to him which resembled a Yautja. A Predalien, he thought to himself. Behind Kronos were several soldiers that were equipped with unfamiliar armor suits, a heavily fortified personnel transporter from the looks of it, and modified Scorpion tank. The tank's cannon appeared to be charged up with energy, which meant that it was an energy based cannon. The paint consisted of cyan, black, and tannish color with a large emblem of two elephants. Then Tyler realized what it was.
It was a Hannibal Scorpion tank, but that didn't make any sense to him. How did they have access to Hannibal armaments?
"Steady men," Porsche quietly ordered through the coms.
Kronos suddenly stopped in the middle of the stronghold with his pet Predalien at his side. He glanced over to the serpent with a questioning expression. "What's wrong, girl?" He calmly asked.
The Predalien quickly glanced around the entire stronghold for a moment, then caught Kronos's attention.
Suddenly, she opened up all of her mandibles in anger and roared at top of her lungs. Every Empire soldier then raised their weapons and started storming towards the brutes. The personnel transporter rear door then opened up and several large Xenomorphs exited, letting out loud screeches and cries.
"Now! Spring the trap!" Porsche yelled through the coms.
Immediately, the UNSC vehicles deactivated active camouflage and began opening fire at the Empire troops. The Spartans and marines all revealed themselves to the insurgency and began to open up.
Activating his energy sword, Tyler rushed in front of the Master Chief with his sword gripped tightly. He clubbed his body against a trooper with sheer force that sent the trooper flying several feet. Tyler then swiftly swiped his sword across, taking out three troops. The Master Chief immediately sprinted behind the Hannibal tank, where he boarded the rear radiator and forcely pulled the grill right off the metal, snapping the nuts and bolts right off the metal plating.
Before he could thrust a primed grenade into the radiator, he suddenly was flung back away from the radiator. He swiftly landed on his feet like a cat, but found himself standing against a Sangheili Xenomorph roaring back at him. The two beings reacted at the same exact time. The serpent hastily pounced after him as Chief quickly pulled his magnum, but Chief couldn't get a shot off in time and the serpent tackled him to the ground. It pinned Chief's right arm down, which had the magnum, and quickly resorted to making efforts to head bite through Chief's helmet. Chief quickly brought his left arm up and grasped the serpent by the neck, making an effort to push the serpent's head away from his. The serpent then forced his other free hand down onto Chief's helmet, adding more pressure to the helmet's integrity.
"Linda," Chief groaned through the coms channel, attempting to not lose his grip on the serpent's neck. "Little help here."
Suddenly, the top of the serpent's head exploded, launching bits of acid covered chitin everywhere. Chief shoved the dead Xenomorph off his body and grabbed the grenade. "Thanks Linda," he simply replied.
"Anytime," she replied back as she continued firing sniper rounds into the battle.
The Hannibal tank fired an energy blast at one of the Wolverines head on which completely decimated the vehicle. Several marines around the vehicle were engulfed in flames. Chief quickly made his way back to the rear of the tank, but before Chief could plunge the primed grenade into the Hannibal Scorpion's radiator, the tank fired another energy blast at one of the UNSC tanks. The energy impact caused the standard Scorpion tank to explode into many pieces.
Chief quickly primed the grenade and plunged into the radiator, then dove off the back. The grenade exploded inside the Hannibal tank's rear and caused a chain reaction of explosions ultimately demolishing the tank, killing any personnel around it. He withdrew his assault rifle and began spraying out short controlled bursts.
On the other end of the battle, Porsche fired several rounds at the Empire troops, but suddenly was shot by something that propelled him to the ground. The excruciating pain in his left shoulder made him yell out in agony. He looked over to his shoulder and noticed that there was what appeared to be glass-like material. The projectile completely penetrated through his armor's shielding system and entered into his flesh.
He quickly turned his attention to where he got shot and saw a large empire trooper running after him. Porsche scrambled for his wazaki, but when he pulled the hilt from his belt, the trooper stomped down onto his hand and pointed his energy rifle down at Porsche's face. There wasn't anything he could do.
He gently closed his eyes.
The energy rifle fired, but it wasn't over. However, his head recoiled to the right from being impacted by the energy project. The glass-like projectile ruptured right through his helmet and the melted metal started leaking onto his cheek. The contact between melted metal and his the side of shit cheek caused him to yell out in agony. Realizing his right hand was free, he immediately removed his Venator helmet and tossed it away from him.
He quickly looked up and saw Spartan Black in a one-on-one fight with the large trooper, but it was clear that Black was being overpowered. The trooper thrusted his fisted into Black's gut which knocked the wind right out of his lungs and dropped him to his knees. The trooper then forcefully drop-kicked him down to the ground. He then began to reach down for his energy rifle.
With what strength Porsche had left in his body, he grasped his wazaki and began charging for the trooper. But it was too late. The trooper fired a projectile right through Black's chestplate, burning a hole through his sternum. The amount of shock, guilt, and hatred that flew through Porsche's spine made him forget about all the pain in his left shoulder. With every ounce of hate spent through his rush of adrenaline, he collided right into the trooper's back which sent him flying several feet in front of him, landing on his face.
With all the rage that boiled through his body, he forcefully stomped down onto the trooper's back. He gnashed his teeth together as he lifted the trooper's head up from the ground. Then in a swift and fluid movement, Porsche swiped his wazaki across the trooper's neck, severing it clean off. Porsche then tossed the severed head aside and quickly rushed back to Spartan Black.
Black coughed up blood profusely, desperately gasping for air. Porsche withdrew his wazaki and began pulling Black into the briefing tent. He then lifted Black up and laid him down onto the briefing table. After a quick glance of his wound, Porsche found that he was running out of ideas.
"Stay with me, Black! You hear me? Don't you.." he voice trailed off as he watched the life fade from Black's eyes. He was gone.
More rage shook through his body. "F...FUCK!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.
He stormed out of the tent with his wazaki gripped tightly. At his feet, he found Black's dark and charred up Recruit variant helmet. He quickly grabbed the helmet and placed it over his head. The HUD settings quickly rebooted and his armor's shield systems were back to being fully operational. Then with every inch of determination and hatred, he began to effortlessly cut down Empire troopers and Xenomorphs alike.
Scythe fired his last sniper round in the watchtower at an unfortunate Xenomorph. In an instant, he threw his empty sniper aside and jumped down from the tower. As he landed, he drew his SMG and he charged through the battlefield, mowing down any enemies that he came across. As his clip was reaching its end, he swiftly slid behind cover and reached for another clip.
Suddenly, the concrete cover shattered next to him and he quickly found himself tightly groped by a large alien hand. He looked up to see the Predalien roar that was absolutely deafening. The Predalien then flung him out from cover, away from the gunfight and then thrashed towards him. Scythe quickly made it to his feet, slapped another magazine into his SMG, and sprayed at the incoming Xenomorph. The Predalien just raised her arm over its face as the horde of lead ricocheting off his strong chitin, never losing an inch.
Scythe's eyes widened. "Shit."
He dropped his SMG and drew his combat knife. The Predalien picked up that pace and reached for Scythe's neck. Before the serpent could grab ahold of him, she was hit by a large spray of pellets. Scythe looked to his left to see Angel firing off shells from his shotgun at the Xenomorph, which was opening wounds across its body. The aggravated Xenomorph roared with all of her mandibles fully extended. Angel tossed his empty shotgun away and pulled out his serrated combat knife.
The two Spartans then charged after the large serpent in unison. The Predalien whipped her tail after either Spartan, but each of them dodged the attack. She then forcefully swiped her arm forcefully just as Scythe was thrusting at her. He didn't have enough time to dodge and the impact propelled him back a few feet. Angel managed to plunge his blade right through the tough chitin on her chest.
The Predalien screeched in pain, but then immediately grappled Angel by the neck and brought him up. Angel quickly pulled out a plasma grenade, but the Predalien smacked it out of his hands and tightly grasped him with both hands, revealing her inner jaw. Scythe took the opportunity to dive for the plasma grenade. He dodged her tail, caught plasma grenade, primed it and stuck it onto her back. Before the plasma grenade ignited, the Predalien ejected her inner jaw at Angel's helmet. He instinctively moved his helmet to the right, but the headbite scrapped across the side of his helmet.
Then the grenade exploded. The shockwave from the blast flung Angel away from the Predalien. The Predalien's lower half was completely severed off from the rest of her body. She screeched in agony until her head went limp and lifeless. Angel got up to his feet, dusted himself off, and grabbed his shotgun. As he loaded more shells into shotgun, he looked over to Scythe and chuckled.
"She better not have scratched my paint," he nonchalantly commented.
Scythe noticed the large and obvious gash across Angel's helmet and began laughing along. "Can't notice a difference," he replied.
As the two Spartans made their way back to the battle, they noticed all of the devastation, but the gunfire was over. There were bodies everywhere. Human, brute, Xenomorph. Everywhere. There was only one Scorpion tank and three Wolverines left. The rest were giant piles of burning metal. Thankfully, all three of the dropships were destroyed along with whatever vehicles they had left. Scythe noticed several dead Spartans around the stronghold. This was a terrible battle.
At the center of the stronghold, they saw Kronos and his troops with their weapons down. The remaining Spartans from Blue Team, Spartans Macy, Mangold, Eilen, and Rodriguez all had the Empire troops at gunpoint. Kronos didn't seem fazed one bit.
Porsche noticed the smug grin across his face and marched towards him with his wazaki gripped tightly. "You wipe that grin off of your face or I'll cut it off," he grimly ordered pointing his wazaki at the man's face.
"Sure, Porsche. I'm sure you will," he smugly replied.
"You know me?" Porsche questioned firmly.
"Oh, how can I not? You were on Sanghelios. We know who you all are very well. Maybe too much," Kronos simply replied.
Porsche remained silent at his comment, despite his pure desire to shove a grenade down his throat. Then suddenly received a transmission from command. After listening to it, he looked up at the sky to the Empire ship.
"Maybe this will ruin your day," he bluntly stated.
Kronos as well as everyone else looked up to the Empire ship. Suddenly, a Sangheili Supercarrier materialized out of active camouflage directly over it. The supercarrier's glassing beam flared up, then shot directly through the Empire ship. The ship detonated exposing an blast as bright as the sun and a deafening sound that shook the ground.
Porsche then lowered his gaze back to Kronos. "We got you, you son of a bitch," he said.
Kronos only remained quiet. After calmly observing the destruction of his ship, he directed his attention back to Porsche. Then a subtle smirk curved at the edge of his lips.
Sorry it's been a long time since I've updated this story! I think I'll be able to update this story more often with my upcoming work schedule. Also, I changed around some character names, so don't be alarm. Please go review chapters 11-13. Anyways, thanks for being loyal to the story! Please leave a review if you get the chance! Thanks!