36.
Location: New Mombasa, Kenya, East Africa, EARTH.
Timestamp: October 23rd 2552. 09:23 hours.
Unit ID: Corporal Jacob Matthews (Male, 25, 5'11"), Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, 7th Shock Troopers Battalion.
Status: Moving up stairs.
The walk back to the hideout was a long one. The whole way back Jacob and the others didn't say a word, Jacob out of grief, Shay'est out of fear of further upsetting Jacob, and Thel'Watamee because, well he was Thel'Watamee.
Walking up the steps back into the apartment building, Jacob stopped in his tracks. Shay'est and Thel'Watamee stopped behind him. "Jacob?" Shay'est asked "Are you alright?" She reached out and gently placed her hand on his shoulder, like before; only this time he didn't pull away.
"I know there was nothing I could have done." Jacob said, his voice now only slightly more quiet than normal "His injuries were from a ODST pod crash landing, not from the brutes. When they found him, he was already dead." There was a pause. "We learned all about those sorts of injuries in training. That's how I know it's what killed him."
The others remained silent. Shay'est stepped closer so she could place her other hand on Jacob's other shoulder. She then brought her head around next to his and whispered "I am sorry." She turned him around and wrapped her arms around him, embracing him in a hug. "We will do everything we can to ensure that everyone else gets out of here alive." She hugged him tighter and he rested his head on her shoulder.
Jacob held her for a moment, before Thel'Watamee cleared his throat in an awkward way. Jacob then pulled back gently from the hug, keeping his hands on her waist. "Thank you. And when this is all over, I'll do everything I can to make sure you two stay alive too." Jacob looked over to Thel'Watamee and smiled "And I mean both of you."
Thel'Watamee nodded and Jacob let go of Shay'est. They proceeded up the steps to the others, who awaited them in the living quarters. When David and Martin spotted them, they walked over to meet them half way.
"Hey!" Martin said "Did you see that explosion?"
"Yeah," Jacob said, holding back the ache in his throat, thinking about how he's going to explain Curtis to the others without losing it. "You know what caused it?"
"Well, I don't know who caused it, but I know it was our explosives. Human stuff; covenant detonation would have caused a different explosion." Martin said, before he observed the group. He must have taken notice of the fact that Curtis wasn't amongst them, because Jacob noticed his expression droop and become a grim frown.
"Where's Curtis?" David asked, his voice serious and his facial expression much the same.
Jacob gathered the words together in his mind, and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. The pain in his throat grew, and the salty tears began to well in his eyes. Jacob closed his mouth and slowly shook his head, looking down.
There was a moment's pause. David broke the silence by saying "I see." Before giving Jacob a pat on the shoulder. "It's alright pal." He tried comforting him "Did you get his tags?"
Jacob's shoulders flinched as he realized he had forgotten to collect his fallen ally's dog tags, which would be presented at Curtis' funeral. Jacob looked up with a horrified expression. "I…" was all he managed to say before interrupted by Thel'Watamee.
"It is alright." He said, his voice much louder and dominant than the ODST marines' voices "I collected them before we left the site." He said, holding out the chain, with two silver tags attached. "They looked of some identifying importance, so I thought I should bring them back for you."
Thel'Watamee placed the tags in David's hands and stepped back to where he was standing a moment ago.
"Thank you…" David and Jacob both said in unison.
Jacob took a moment to look at Shay'est and Thel'Watamee before something hit him like a punch. "Wait," he said suddenly "I haven't seen any of you guys around. No Sangheili, I mean…" he took a moment to think before asking "Why are there a heap of brutes around, but none of you lot?"
Without skipping a beat, Thel'Watamee decided to answer his question "There was a brute uprising within the covenant. The leader of the Jiralhanae, a brute named Tartarus has taken control of the covenant and ordered a culling of our species within the Covenant." He finished, as emotionless as always.
Both Shay'est and the rest of the group looked at him, astounded. "How the hell did you know that?" David asked "I thought communications were out for you guys too."
Thel'Watamee shrugged "It came through the intercommunication system before it cut out."
"Why the hell have you not told us this earlier?!" Jacob yelled. "It would have been pretty nice to know!"
Thel'Watamee shrugged again "It did not come up in conversation, so I thought it irrelevant." His voice was slightly higher pitched than normal, defending himself.
There was a second's pause before Shay'est finally spoke "Is this true?"
Thel'Watamee looked at her and nodded, confirming that their military had betrayed them. "It is true. We are just as alone in this as the others here are."
Shay'est looked down, shocked at hearing the information and her mind still processing it and what it meant for them.
"Does that mean that your species is going to be at war with the brutes?" David asked.
"I do not know." Thel'Watamee asked. "It is a possibility. We are not being killed off completely from what I can tell, only those within the Covenant military. This means our home planet should be relatively safe from the brute uprising." There was a pause. "Hopefully…"
Jacob stepped in front of him "I told you that I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you two stay alive." Thel'Watamee locked eyes with him "I'm going to stick by that. When this is over I'll discuss things with my commanding officers and see if I can try to pull strings to join forces with you against the brutes." He took a moment to think about his statement "If your species will allow that."
Thel'Watamee nodded and replied "I will also attempt to communicate with my leaders and we will do everything we can to attempt to order some sort of alliance between you humans and our Sangheili kind against the brutes."
Jacob turned back toward Martin. "You said it was a human explosive that took down the ONI Sword base?"
Martin nodded. "Yeah, that's right."
Jacob's voice had returned to normal earlier, and now he held a serious tone. "Then that's our next objective. We're going to find out who caused that and see if we can meet up with them. If they were able to coordinate something like that, they have a plan, and maybe a way out of here." Jacob turned back toward the two Sangheili. "What do you two think? Like the idea of having a few more allies to help out?"
"The more, the merrier." Shay'est said "Is that how your expression goes?" she blushed, unsure of her knowledge of the human language.
Jacob nodded "Yeah, that's it." He smiled. "What about you, David?" he turned back toward his Captain. "You're in charge, what's the go?"
David took a moment to process Jacob's suggestion and plan out a way to get there. After doing the math, he nodded and said "Sounds good. Martin, let's start packing up and getting ready to move. We'll have a quick noodle meal before we take off, that should keep us going for when we get to the Sword base and find out what went down."
Martin nodded and the team spread out across the apartment, gathering up bits and pieces of their setup that are essential to take with them. This consisted of their gear and other basic stuff that could be transported easily.
Jacob spotted David standing by the window, gazing down upon the street, his vision fixated at a particular vehicle that seemed to be intact. A small van that had remained together through the slip space blast.
"Any idea how we're going to get that thing going?" Jacob asked, also seeing the van. "We don't have a key."
David smiled before replying "Don't worry. I grew up in New Jersey. I know how to get it going."
Hey guys!
Here's another chapter for you! I've finished my exams now (as said in the previous chapter) so I'll be able to find more time to write now!
I've also got a few ideas coming together in my head, so I'll have to replay Halo 2 and ODST, do a little more research. Things are going to get good.
Unfortunately, I'm still sick, but I've taken the weekend off of work to get better. This means a lot more time to write, so expect a couple of fairly frequent chapters coming out in the next week or so! Also, keep an eye out for familiar faces.
Well, I'm off! As always, remember to keep reviewing and I'll keep writing!
Toodles!