Chapter 29: Duel
1903 Hours September 03, 2544 (Military Calendar)
Gren Garvany System, Forest south of Vera city
Planet Precipitous
Mark heart was racing, his hands where throbbing, his legs started shaking, however, the only thing going through his head right now was: Make your move Zaku, I can't wait! The two Elites behind Zaku dropped their plasma rifles and reached around the back of their torsos and grabbed their energy swords. Their weapons flared and took shape and they began to advance side to side toward Mark. Alright boys, let's see what you've got. Mark raised his shotgun. The two Elites began continued to advance toward him. When they were within range of the M90 the split formation and moved toward Mark's flanks. That's the best you can do split-lips? Mark lowered his shotgun to coax one of the Elites to bite. The one to his left got inpatient and charged. Moron… Mark avoided the vertical slice and turned to face the other Elite. He placed the point of the M90 to its chest and fired the weapon. As his partner fell to the ground the other Elite realized its mistake. Before he could make his next move Mark reached for the combat knife in the back of his belt and threw it at the Elite's neck. The Elite recoiled in pain as it gasped for air. Mark raised the M90 to its temple and fired. Newbies… "Zaku, I hope you do better than your little…" As Mark turned to face Zaku he noticed he wasn't there anymore. Shit!
Mark raised the M90 and looked down its sights. "Having trouble finding me Mark?" Now you're making fun of me you bastard. Mark advanced toward the crystal. "If your thinking that relic's destruction will help you survive you're wrong. Being the only source of light in this catacomb, you'll have even more trouble finding me." There goes plan A. "Enough games." Zaku revealed himself standing over one of the dead Elites. He picked up one of their energy swords hand tossed it to Mark. "Just so you know, I could have killed you at any time you want, but this is a lot more interesting, don't you agree?" Is this guy for real? Mark chucked and he grabbed the energy sword from the air. "Zaku, I really wish the rest of those Covenant bastards were like you, you're a hell of a lot more fun." Mark turned on the weapon and was astonished by it weight. Damn, these things are heavy when they turn on! Zaku took an offensive stance. Mark tried to mimic him as best as he could.Zaku leap toward Mark at full speed, Mark decided it would be best not to try to copy him further and moved out of the way. As Mark sidestepped from Zaku's attack, Zaku stopped and swung his weapon in a backward slash toward Mark's position. Fuck! Mark jumped back to avoid the attack. Zaku noticed that both of Mark's feet were no longer touching the ground. "Bad move Demon!" Zaku kicked at mark's feet, throwing him off balance. Not good not good! Mark moved his body so that he would land face up. Zaku jumped above him for the killing blow. Mark raised his energy sword to block Zaku's. I hope this works! The two blades began to spark and loose shape as they clashed. Mark put both feet at Zaku's chest and pushed him away. Their swords sparked and reshaped themselves. "Now where were we?" Mark charged at Zaku and tried to cut him down with a vertical slash. Zaku used his sword to block the attack. "You know, these weapons were not meant to be used this way." Mark looked at the swords begin to spark and loose their shape again. "So, what do the fireworks mean Zaku?" Zaku moved his mandibles to form a crooked smile. "Looks like we're about to find out!" the hilt of both swords shattered in their hands. As they instinctively let go of the breaking weapons, both released a massive amount of plasma. The shock shattered Zaku's shield and burnt the surface of Mark's visor black. They were both blinded and disoriented.
Mark took his helmet off to check on the situation. Zaku was still blinded by the sudden burst of light. Here's my chance! Mark threw a left hook at Zaku's exposed head. Zaku recoiled from the blow and stuttered back. Zaku's vision returned and dodged the next blow, while delivering one of his own. Mark was hit in his right cheek by Zaku's Elbow. The both stepped back from one another. Why do I always have to fist fight with one of these things, do the other Spartans have to go through this? Zaku looked at Mark's face, "wait, you're the one that… I see, well then, this fight just got more interesting." Huh? Before Mark could finish processing the remark Zaku took a swing at him. Mark ducked under it only to be met with Zaku's knee. Mark recoiled from the hit while kicking Zaku in the side. Mark felt something running down his nose. He touched and examined what it was. It was blood, his blood. "Huh, my nose is bleeding, it's been a while since its done that." Mark continued his attack on Zaku. Their fight was starting to turn into a stalemate with neither of them making a powerful enough blow to knock out the other. This is getting us nowhere! Mark had enough of the stalemate and wanted to end the fight. He reached around Zaku's neck with his right arm. Zaku realized was Mark was attempting to do and grabbed this left hand. Then, summoning all his strength, Zaku threw Mark across the room. "It's been a fun fight Demon, but it's about time we end this." Zaku reached for the energy sword he had hidden on his armor. I can't believe I didn't see that! Zaku activated the sword and charged at Mark. Oh shit! Mark looked behind him. The Crystal! Mark ran as fast as he could toward the crystal. He picked it up from its stand and hurled it at Zaku. "You're only delaying the inevitable Demon!" Zaku quickly cut the crystal in two. Suddenly, the two halves of the crystals began emitting a glow that completely surrounded Zaku. "What's going on! ARGH!" Zaku shrieked in pain as the glowing energy fluctuated around his body. The M90! The two pieces of the crystal shattered and the light began to dissipate, Mark picked up Tiffany's M90 and approached Zaku. Zaku's body was stiff, what looked like electrical charges moving across the surface of his body, his head looking up at the ceiling which was becoming impossible to see as the light began to fade away. He looked down at the weapon which was now pointed at his chest. He looked up at the bloody face of the human he had just fought with. "It was fun Zaku, but this fight ends now." Zaku moved his mandibles to form a crooked smile. Mark pulled the trigger.
Mark finally reached the entrance of the building; there he was greeted by his squad. "Sergeant Tyler…? What the hell happened down there? Where's your Helmet? What happened to your face?" Emma asked him. Mark sat down next to a wall and Jason began to inspect Mark's face. "Man sarge, you took one hell of a beating." Mark laughed "yeah, I ran into unexpected resistance down there. Let me give you guys a tip, don't fist fight a Covenant Elite." Jason cleaned up the blood on Mark's face and bandaged him up. Mark handed Tiffany her M90. "Thanks a lot Langley, this thing saved my ass." Tiffany grabbed the shotgun. "Anytime sarge, glad I could help." Eric put down his radio unit. "Good news sarge, we're getting picked up soon." Mark stood up. "Alright boys and girls, prepare for extraction!"
"So, is this what death feels like…? Absolute darkness…?" Zaku's mind raced with these thoughts. Soon though, be begun to question whether he was really dead, as his eyes began to adjust to the darkness. He tried to stand up, and to his surprise, he could. In his right hand he felt the hilt of the energy sword he had used to cut the crystal. He activated it and out of instinct he inspected his wound. He looked down and noticed metal pieced begin to be expelled from the entrance wound. Once all of them had been expelled, the wounds closed. "Now that's interesting…" He began walking to the entrance of the catacombs. When he reached the exit, he noticed the humans were nowhere to be found, but his dropship still was. He boarded the dropship and put in the coordinates. "I wonder how I'm going to explain this to the Prophets...?"
