Towering jagged rock walls lined the ravine leading to the Covenant stronghold. Tall purple metal barriers had been erected, bowing out from the cliff face of the mountain and encasing the base in embracing arms of protection. A pair of Shades sat on the high thick walls and three plasma turrets were positioned around them. Jason could see the heads of Grunts peeking from between the gun sights of the three smaller emplacements. The Shades appeared to be inactive.
Glassed rock extended from the base of the walls out about fifty meters, melted flat by plasma bombardment as to offer an unobstructed view of the entire perimeter.
Towering over the ten-meter walls was the streamlined hulk of a Covenant craft. The type was unfamiliar to Jason but that could have been attributed to the fact that the alien ship looked to have shared a similar fate as the Disparage upon its landing. Jason counted three capital grade cannons protruding from the side of its mass and pointing upward at the sky.
As the returning party neared the walls, two giant blast doors slowly swung open, allowing a small guard of armed elites to scurry out in a cover formation. Jackals with old-school beam rifles cast nervous glances down at the newcomers while scanning the rapidly darkening forest line through vacuum sealed helmets. Jason turned and readied his BR55 while his team and the last of the elites backed in through the doors as they clanged shut. Jason relaxed a bit as the heavy locks were secured, but hoped he had made the correct decision in leading his team here. They were now within the jaws of the beast, though it didn't seem particularly hungry at the moment.
"What do you know about the Entrenors?" the elite asked once they were within the high walls of the purple compound. "Who are you and where do you come from?"
Marcus gave the elite a blank stare. "We're humans," he said, his fingers twitching on his weapon.
The elite looked vaguely thoughtful, as thoughtful as an elite could look that is. Jason still couldn't read their expressions from happy to angry to constipated. "I see," the elite said at last, obviously not understanding anything. "I would tell you that we are Elites, Jackals and Grunts, but it seems that you are already familiar with our Coven."
They have no idea who we are, Jason thought to himself, relieved that his earlier suspicion was confirmed.
"How long have you been stranded here?" Jason asked, choosing to not reveal any more to the aliens unless they asked.
"Two and a half universal lunar cycles," the elite responded. "However, you did not yet answer my initial question," he said, turning to Claver, "how you know about the Entrenors."
"Do you have a place where we can discuss this in private?" Simmons asked, stepping forward.
The elite stared blankly back at the man for a moment then began to move toward a door in the cruiser that had been dug out of the ground. It seemed that the wreck had crashed landed into the rocky cliff and had not been moved since. Jason began to follow the HC Commander when Simmons turned to his new companion. "It appears that your situation is somewhat dire," he spoke. "If you would be so kind as to brief my men on your current standing, I am sure they can be useful in some way." The elite gestured to one of his crew and motioned to Jason and his men, all the while looking back and forth between Simmons and Jason as if confused about the chain of command. Simmons turned to Jason. "Thank you, Captain," he said in a tone that solidified his intention to meet with the elite leader without a Firefly presence.
"I am Elutar," the elite in blue armor stated. "This ship you see before you is what is left of the Prophet's Fist, a Ralathar-class cruiser, now a converted defensive bunker." Jason surveyed the craft. It was large enough to be classified as a medium sized corvette-class ship by human standards, and from the looks of things, probably five or six interstellar category grades more powerful than the Disparage.
"By defense, you mean defense against the Ki-shin?" Darius asked.
If an elite could smile, Elutar just did, the corners of his jaw raising ever so slightly. "If you will follow me, I will show you." Elutar continued speaking as he led them to another entrance on the Prophet's Fist, this one having had a dirt ramp constructed up two meters to reach the blast doors on the side of the ship. The purple alloy sheets slid open with only minor protest and Elutar led his human train aboard like a mother goose caring for her ducklings. "Watch the first step," he warned as he entered. "The artificial gravity is still operational. However, there are parts of the ship where the gravity well generators have been deactivated to conserve power. Then you will have to accommodate a 12 slant."
Jason deactivated his air filter and set it to auto clean, hoping to squeeze a couple more minutes into the depleted filter's life while inside the pressurized Covenant craft. It was a lucky thing that humans and elites both breathed approximately the same composition of atmosphere. Knowing this, Jason wondered if the Elite home planet looked anything like Earth. Leading the way through the maze of corridors, Elutar answered the marine's many questions like a tour guide at an amusement park.
"So what happened here?" Jason asked.
"We crashed when the automated inhabitants of the Halo ring attacked our ship," he answered.
"I should have guessed from the energy scorching on your hull," Darius observed. "So what happened to us was just the usual welcome I suppose."
Elutar stumbled a step forward. "Well, they may have modified their first contact protocol since we last broke contact with them…" he responded, regaining his balance. Jason walked around the spot where Elutar had stumbled, wondering if there was a problem with the artificial gravity. The rest of the Fireflys followed a similar path.
"For being so small, they sure manage to pack a punch," Marcus chattered. "They fried our engines real good with those beam lasers."
Jason and Marlin both shot Marcus a sharp glance. Revealing the particulars of their situation was probably not the wisest thing to do, something Marcus quickly understood. Elutar however, didn't seem to think that holding back information was something to worry about.
"So how many of you survived the crash," Marlin asked as they turned a corner into another identical, dimly lit purple hallway.
"Twenty-seven of us total. Ten of us Elites, six jackals and eleven grunts. However, our current numbers are down to sixteen, six elites, four jackals and six grunts." Jason thought quietly to himself. Those numbers were pretty stacked against his four men should the Covenant aliens decide to turn on them. However, Spartan Claver would even things up nicely. Commander Simmons was still a wild card in Jason's eyes. For all he knew, Simmons could be some elite super commando.
"What happened to the others who survived the crash?" Marlin followed up.
"I will show you the reason for our diminished numbers," Elutar answered, typing a code into a holopad station. A secure door hissed and opened, lighting up and singing its familiar tone. Walking in, Jason could see that the room was a security station overlooking a brig. Tensing up at the sight of the Covenant jail cells, Jason nervously walked up to the viewing window where Elutar stood. The strange thing about the brig was that it contained foliage and vegetation from the outside planet. "This is the cause of the deaths in our camp," Elutar spoke, gesturing towards the atrium before them. Jason and his crew looked blankly at the trees. It looked as if the trees had been transplanted into the giant room but from the damage Jason had witnessed from outside the ship, the trees could very well be growing through a hole in the hull.
"So what are we looking for?" Marcus asked, confused.
"Just watch," Elutar said, tapping the holographic control panel before him. Inside the atrium, the lights slowly dimmed. In seconds, the only source of light was a slight glow originating from the ceiling of the forested room.
"What was that?" Marlin asked, jumping back from the viewing window.
"What was what?" Marcus asked, moving closer to get a better vantage point.
"I saw something just now, moving through the brush," Jason admitted.
"I didn't see anything," Darius said.
"See there it is again!" Marlin whispered pointing to the left into the darkness, his sniper sight tracking movement through the atrium.
"I don't see it," Darius insisted.
"I saw it," Jason affirmed, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "Now the question is, what is it?" Nodding, Elutar motioned them to follow him though another door on the far side of the security post. As the doors parted, a ray of light sailed between them, causing quite a ruckus in the brig/atrium. Entering a well lit purple room, Jason jumped slightly, startled at the sight before him.
Spartan Claver stood over a mangled form in the center of the room.
"Do not worry, the beast is dead," Elutar reassured, misinterpreting Jason's surprise. The rest of the Fireflys filed into the room and the doors to the brig slid closed. Laying prostrate on what seemed to be an examination table was a gigantic beast. The well muscled frame was covered with white spines that reflected the light in the room in a way that distorted its body into a shape more hideous than what it probably was.
"If you look closely, you will notice that this beast is covered in transparent spines," Elutar started. "The pseudo-metallic spines diffuse ambient light and, when they are wet, can refract and reflect light in a way that makes the Ki-Shin nearly invisible to the unaided eye. Even when dry, in the dense forest, their skin mirrors the plants and trees around them, making it extremely difficult to follow, especially when they attack in packs which, let me assure you, they almost always to do. Finding any less than four of them in one place is a blessing from the Gods." Elutar moved to the cadaver and shifted one of the arms, turning over a large paw so it faced upwards. "As you can see, the beast is a natural hunter. These claws here can strike down a shieldless elite in a single blow." Looking closer, Jason could pick out three long fierce looking cone-shaped claws.
Thinking back to the sun-painted pastel lines in the sky when they first entered the Covenant camp, Jason presumed that night had probably fallen. No wonder the Covenant troops had insisted they move quickly. Such a predator would be a nightmare to face after dusk.
"I see you have been introduced to our planet's inhabitants," Ra'kellesh announced, stepping into the room from a side entrance. The Commander Simmons followed shortly behind him. "I can tell you first hand that they are not most welcoming to house guests." Elutar nodded.
"From what this human Commander has told me," Ra'kellesh said, speaking to Elutar, "their ship may have a functioning Slipspace drive that we can incorporate into one of our recon patrol craft." Jason was not sure if the worty noises Elutar was emitting indicated excitement or happiness.
"We must move quickly then," Elutar started. "The crash may have startled the Ki-Shin for the time being, but they'll probably grow curious after a day or two."
"I concur," Ra'kellesh agreed. "The Commander Simmons has men defending their ship and both Za'tuluki and U'biques remained as well. However, for the time being, we should show our new friends to some accommodations. There is little we can do once darkness has fallen." The polite elite turned to Jason. "It will be nice to have the chambers in use once again. Hopefully it will be only for one night and not a moment longer."