Halo – Katerina Duran - "Make It Last: Of Trust and Friendship"
Location: Jungle near Mount Kilimanjaro, Earth
November 17th, 2552
"1st Squad, you're my scouts. Katerina, watch the Chief's back."
Whoa, whoa. When did this become a thing? The Master Chief was just about to voice out his opinion when it dawned upon him that it would be useless to argue, given the current situation they were in. He shot a quick glance at Darius and Katerina Duran, who was standing behind him with an innocent look on her face.
Looks can be and will always be deceiving.
Sergeant Johnson, his longtime friend, had stated that the explanation was worth it. Was it going to be? Right now, all of them had to get to the extraction point. Yet, John could not shake this feeling of discomfort off him. Not when Katerina was around and he did not get his explanation.
While his mind was in a conflict about this, he heard Johnson getting on the COM channel to a Bravo Team, telling them to fall back to the extraction point. It wasn't long before trouble started to brew, with a Sergeant Reynolds from Bravo Team attempting to reach Johnson but to no avail. There was something about a Brute Pack, though.
"Phantom," Katerina whispered to everyone present, her eyes dotting upward to the skies.
An irritated 'tsk' came to Johnson before he said, "We stick together, we're gonna get spotted. We'll split up, and meet back at the LZ," He concluded. Turing his head to the Master Chief, he then said, "Chief, go with Katerina and head toward the river. 2nd Squad, you're with me."
Wait, couldn't they at least talk about this?
Later…
This Magnums-wielding female Elite was really something.
In the last few battles, she had taken out more Covenant Loyalists than he could count. Be it using her twin Magnums or twin Energy Swords. He had never seen a female Elite before, let alone one in action so this was really something. Almost like she was stealing his thunder.
So far, they had lost contact with Sergeant Johnson after his Pelican was shot down - the Pelican meant to extract everyone out of this jungle. Travelling forward, they all reached a low cliff and a dam was in sight – a dam filled with Covenant Loyalists.
Katerina gave a soft gasp. "Spartan, look!" She called for him.
Taking it cautiously, he walked up to her side, to view a Brute Chieftain beating Johnson on the far left in front of a tiny building.
"Oh, Sergeant… we must rescue him!" She turned her head to the Chief. "Come! We must battle our way across the dam to reach him!"
She spun around to make a move, with the Chief staring at her with awe. She really did care about Johnson. What, were they best buddies now? Man, she was full of mysteries.
Katerina then paused and turned her head to him. "Unless… you have a plan to rescue all of them, Spartan."
Now she was asking for his opinion?
"No. Let's just go get them back safe and sound."
"As you wish."
The Chief, Katerina, Darius and three remaining Marines hurried to the dam, catching the Covenant Loyalists by surprise. Katerina headed straight for the Brute Chieftain while the rest of them handled his minions. By the time it was over, John found Katerina standing over the Chieftain's body, blue blood on her right wrist blade. She was staring at it with the coldest of eyes for a few good seconds, before returning to her son.
"They should be in here!" Darius pointed to that same building.
Running inside, they found Johnson and three other marines behind a plasma shield. Catching sight of the Chief and Katerina, Johnson got to his feet with a little struggle.
"Sergeant!"
"This isn't as fun as it looks," He commented. "Release the shield, would ya?"
A single touch to the plasma shield's control unit and it disintegrated. Katerina and Darius tossed any Covenant weapons that was scattered around them to Johnson and his marines.
"Is there any other means of escape?" She asked Johnson.
"Don't worry – we're good," So saying, he got on the COM Channel. "Kilo 023, what's your ETA?"
"Imminent, Sergeant. Find some cover. Gotta clear a path."
"Roger that, Hocus," To everyone present, he said, "Friendly gunship, coming in hot!"
"Yet it does not mean we are safe," Katerina gazed outside of the busted windows. "Phantoms!"
"Hocus!" Johnson yelled over the COM.
"I see 'em! Standby! Going loud! Everyone down!"
"You heard the man!"
Katerina hung onto Darius for dear life as the ground began to tremble. Although the two Phantoms had arrived and were releasing reinforcements, Pelican Kilo 23 manages to swoop in and let loose a missile barrage. One of the two Phantoms exploded in an intense coruscation of firework, killing any reinforcements that were just dropped off as well.
"Scratch one Phantom!"
For the second Phantom, Kilo 23 fired two missile barrages and it plunged into the river. "Scratch two!" Kilo 23 lowered itself to the dam for pickup. Finally. All of them hurry to the pelican and practically jumped into it.
As the pelican took off, everyone took a comfortable seat, except for John and Katerina, who were glancing down at the jungle below them.
"You did good,"
Katerina curved her head to the Spartan, her big violet cat-like eyes widened.
"But we're still not even."
A/N: Thumbs up for a crappy chapter?
I do apologize. I seem to have lost my inspiration for this fic. I can however tell you that the next chapter will be better!