Halo – Katerina Duran - "Make It Last: Of Trust and Friendship"
Location: Voi, Kenya, Africa, Earth
November 17th, 2552
"Well, now that wasn't so bad, was it?"
"Excuse my tone… but if you are highly amused by my misfortune with the Wraith… STOP IT. It was not fun at all!"
"I have no idea what you mean."
"You are lucky you wear a helmet, because I cannot tell whether or not you are concealing a smile."
A small smile was indeed on John's lips. "Look, you did good. But right now, we're moving onto bigger things."
"Oh?"
"This Warthog convoy's moving to Voi and we're to punch through the Covenant Loyalist Anti-Aircraft defenses that surround the Ark," The Master Chief said, looking out at the row of Warthogs. "It'll allow Lord Hood's fleet of ships to passage to Truth's fleet so we can kill him."
"Oh," Katerina sounded disappointed and he took note of that. "I was hoping that I could be the one who ends his miserable life."
"He must've done something really drastic to piss you off."
A small faked laugh came to her. "More than you will ever know."
"Is it all in the explanation you're yet to give me?"
She nodded. "Yes."
"Good. Then get in. You're driving."
Later…
"What's that sound?"
"It's getting closer!"
"Oh, this can't be good man..."
"Scarab! Find some cover. Now!"
"Oh no!" Katerina exclaimed once the oversized tank caught her eye.
"Run for it!" John motioned for her to move first. The last thing he needed for her to die.
The Scarab tore through the factory, taking with it the bridge John and Katerina were just standing on. That was too close.
"New Mombasa all over again…" He mumbled under his breath, lifting the Missile Pod he had in his hands up high, eyeing the Scarab. "I'll need to get inside and take out its power core. Will you watch my back while I help take out its legs?"
"But of course, Spartan. Whatever you require of me."
A part of him honestly wanted to trust her completely, but he knew it would be still a slow process. He didn't mean to be cold towards her in the beginning of it all, but not too many Covenant soldiers would save a UNSC Spartan's life, so nobody could blame him for his skepticism.
But in just this one day, she's proven to be highly skilled at Human weapons and vehicles, and not to mention athletic. She may appear to be a quiet and humble female Elite, but there was a soldier inside of her.
She also had this… this hidden rage inside of her that he only saw glimpses of whenever she ran into Covenant Loyalists, more so whenever they would run into any holograms of Truth. However, the last hologram she spotted, she flipped it over. She really hated that Prophet like poison. What exactly did he do to her that caused her and Darius to join the Covenant with no other choice?
He still needed to wait for his explanation, though.
Later…
The very last target was a Covenant AA gun. Take it down and Hood could successfully start his attack run. Reaching to it was no easy task; there must have been dozens of Covenant Loyalists looking to stop them from succeeding. John, Katerina and the surviving Marines they had with them put everything they had into destroying the AA gun, giving Hood the green light to attack.
John and Katerina were standing on a cliff side, overlooking The Artifact with the Forerunner Dreadnought at the center of it. Multiple Longswords, three UNSC frigates including the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn, and The Diary of Oath, Katerina's Assault Carrier which she regained, streaked overhead.
"All ships: fire at will!"
The Frigates engage the Dreadnought with their MAC guns and explosions cover the Dreadnought's surface. Not even a little scratch.
"What is that thing made of?" Katerina questioned out loud.
Just then, the Forerunner structure began to open like a starfish, with the Dreadnought being lowered into it. What appeared to be an energy beam from the skies began to focus on it, and it grew broader by the second.
"This… is not good!" Katerina exclaimed.
"Let's find some cover! Come on!" John grabbed her by her arm and pulled her to him. They took shelter behind a large horizontal rock as the energy beam released a sudden shockwave.
Once they felt the shockwave subside, the Master Chief and Katerina peered over the rock… only to witness an enormous black sphere outlined with blue hover in the sky above The Artifact. Every single ship in the air was left disorganized.
"What in the name of Duran…" Katerina gaped, eyes fixed on the sphere.
Lord Hood got on the COM, distraught and coughing. "What did Truth just do? Did he activate the rings?!"
Commander Miranda Keyes got on the COM as well, managing to supply with an answer. "No, sir, but he certainly did something..."
The Spartan and the Elite watched as the Dreadnought took flight and disappeared into the sphere, followed by several Covenant Loyalist ships.
"Evac wounded and regroup! Wherever Truth went-"
"Sir, new contact - slipping in!"
A heavily-damaged CCS-class battlecruiser emerged from Slipspace just behind John and Katerina. The cruiser was emitting smoke as it flew over them, before losing altitude and crashing to the ground, completely out of their sight. The crash caused a great rumble, but what was onboard the ship?
"What is onboard that battlecruiser?" Katerina asked, wondering if he even had an answer or not. "Do you think they could be Brutes?"
No. The Chief knew exactly was it was. And he did not like it one bit. "Worse. The Flood."
Katerina was standing behind him, so John did not see the stunned expression on her face. Her silence was what made him turn his head to her. When he did, she was keeping her gaze on the area where the battlecruiser was to have crashed. She was also taking deep breaths.
"You okay?" He asked.
"Huh? Oh, yes! Yes, I am!"
He should have known right there that she was lying, but he didn't. "Then I think we've got a job on our hands."