Shortly after making their peace, Cal finished his food that had been previously left unfinished, and Sen followed suit. There were countless questions that Cal wanted to ask the odd alien, but he did not want to make them anxious so soon after making peace. He was not sure how deep the language barrier went either, meaning that he had no idea how to ask even if he wanted to.
He moved to pack his stuff back into his bag, finally seeming to remember the purple blood that still stained his medical supplies. He grimaced as he placed the blood-encrusted IFAK into his backpack, he had to deal with enough blood, alien and human, to last him a lifetime.
He heard Sen make a questioning squawk sound, so he turned to look at them to see that they were gesturing towards the stitches on their arm, trying to get his attention with an inquisitive look.
Sen spoke with their usual raspy voice, thick with a confused questioning tone. "Why?"
Cal thought for a moment, looking the alien up and down before deciding on a response, he spoke with sureness. "Because it was the right thing to do."
Sen looked confused for a moment, tipping their head to the side, and staring at him, then back at the wound. They replied in a flat voice with the usual rasp, like they weren't really sure how to react. "Oh."
They then picked up their helmet, holding it sideways in their hands. They seemed to stare at its scratched yellow surface in hesitation for a moment, before flipping it forward and slipping it over their head. The alien then nodded at Cal before standing up, using its uninjured arm for support as it stood on two legs. Its left leg trembled slightly as it put weight on it, releasing a pained grunt before it seemed to stabilize itself, standing with more firmness. Sen then limped to the broken door, skirting around the corpse of the hairy beast on the ground, seeming to glare at it as they went past. Cal shouldered his pack and threw on his damaged helmet, following close behind.
As Cal emerged from the building, he was immediately met by the gleam of the setting sun. He stared in disbelief, realizing that he must have been out cold for an hour or two. 'It's got to be at least 1700-1800 hours by now' He thought inwardly, realizing that now he didn't have a clue as to how badly the city was infested with Covenant.
Testing his legs gingerly, he found that the ache persisted as a lasting soreness, but he would need to deal with it. Looking over at his new companion, he saw that they seemed to be quickly adjusting to the discomfort. Putting more weight on the hurt leg, the alien walked with even footsteps ahead.
They turned their covered head towards Cal, making an odd trill noise at him before pointing forward. Cal realized that they probably were trying to lead him somewhere.
He felt a great deal of nervousness at letting the strange alien take the lead, especially considering the circumstances. It was still technically an enemy soldier, and could be leading him into a trap. But after considering his options, he realized that he had few options right now. Either see what the alien wanted, or probably just go back to wandering the city alone again, and the latter's chance of survival was probably just as bad as the former.
Reluctantly nodding in agreement, Cal followed close behind the alien as it slowly wove its way through the buildings. The alien seemed to be projecting an air of sureness, but Cal could see through its slow movements and a minor limp that the wound was still bothering it, and it seemed unsure and nervous about its direction. It reminded Cal of the thought he had before; that the alien was just as lost and afraid as he was in this city. It was trying its best to not show any weakness in front of him, but he could tell it was a façade.
They walked for a while, walking through the desolate city without seeing a single sign of life. Buildings and cars were left vacant, some with lights left on. Bits and pieces scattered around as though the people of the city had just suddenly vanished, leaving the fragments of their livelihoods as the only evidence they ever existed. Soon they came upon a street corner, and around the bend was a scene that made the hairs on the back of Cal's neck stand up: Wrecked warthog, dead bodies. The same place he got shot a few hours ago.
Cal immediately ducked behind a short wall, peaking around to see Sen move up to a wrecked car, grabbing onto the hood with their hand and peaking over carefully. The alien's head twitched rapidly back and forth, seeming to scan for any movement ahead. Seeming satisfied, they let out a similar trill sound to before and looked back at Cal. Noticing that Cal was hanging further back, Sen tilted their head at him before seeming to realize why he might not want to get any closer. They nodded, dropping their hand down and turning to face him. They whispered in a low voice. "It ok, Cal stay."
Cal, feeling almost a bit indignant at this, shook his head in protest. "No, I'll go. It's fine."
Sen turned around and started making their way across the street. Cal followed close behind, rifle in a lowered ready position in front of him. Across the street, there was a road that seemed to lead into a closed plaza. Outside there seemed to be some odd Covenant barricades at the top of a set of steps, but he saw no movement anywhere nearby.
Sen walked to the top of the steps and stopped suddenly, raising a three-fingered hand in a fist akin to a human "hold" sign. Cal stopped short of the top, as his companion's head once again flicked side to side. After a moment it dropped the hand signal and slowly walked past the barricades. As Cal crested the top, he was met with a gruesome scene.
The bodies of Covenant aliens were scattered everywhere, blood of many colors spattered the concrete of what must have once been a tranquil plaza. He stared in disbelief at the deceased forms scattered in front of him, feeling a pit in his stomach when he recognized the forms of Elites… Just like the ones that tore his squad apart. He ripped his vision from them, trying to focus. He looked around for Sen, seeing them holding what looked like a broken Covenant needle weapon that was on the ground. They then seemed to look around, before staring in a direction, letting out a sound that he'd never heard before. Like a weak, broken squawk.
Cal watched his companion slowly get up, all semblance of strength seeming to leave their body as they slowly limped across the pavement. Cal moved forward to get a better look, confused at what could have gotten such a strong reaction from them. And then he felt his breath stop. It was a body, but this one was different than the rest.
Sen almost seemed to crawl over to the limp form on the ground. Wrapping their arms around it, they cradled the body in silence, holding it up to their chest in an embrace. Cal could only look on in silence at the unbridled show of grief, and he felt tears welling up in his eyes. He had no idea who this alien was, or what they were like, but looking at what was in front of him he could only think of his little brother. The Covenant started killing each other all right, and they killed someone who was very close to Sen.
Sen sat like that for a minute, before seeming to reach their hand out and take something from the body, before pressing a spot on their armor and seeming to slip it inside. They then got up and silently carried it to a grassy spot of the plaza, laying the body down on its back, before grabbing a flat piece of metal debris from the ground and beginning to scrape the earth with it.
Cal watched from a respectful distance, not knowing what he should do. He looked at the body, he saw a familiar bird-like alien. This one he noticed had fewer feathers around its neck than Sen, and wore distinctive orange armor as opposed to yellow. Its upper chest was completely crushed in, and dry purple blood dripped from its mouth, which seemed to be open in a silent scream.
Over a short period of time, he could see his alien friend was greatly struggling with digging. The dirt was moist and dense, taking a great deal of effort to dig into. Sen sucked in the air greedily, noticeably exhausted and slowing, but only throwing themselves harder at the task. Cal couldn't stand and watch anymore; he grabbed his entrenching tool from his pack and approached the spot Sen was digging.
As he walked up to the hole, he placed his shovel in the dirt. Sen recoiled at the movement and almost threw themself backward, raising their hands in a fighting form before pausing upon recognizing Cal. Cal put his hands up immediately in a disarming stance, speaking softly. "Woah, woah! It's alright, I'm just trying to help."
Immediately Sen's shoulders slump as they drop their posture, sucking air in heavy breaths. They collapse into a sitting position and reach up with their soiled hands to remove their helmet. Grasping the helmet, they rip it off and toss it to the side. Cal can immediately see the fresh tears running down the sides of their face, as they reach up with their arms to cover their eyes. Sen lets out another pathetic crying noise as sobs wrack their body.
Cal had no idea what to do, or what to say, but he could feel the grief like it was his all over again. He sat down next to the grief-stricken alien and simply waited, keeping company as all the emotions came out. Eventually, the sobs and tears lessened to heavy breaths as they sat in silence, simply letting it all out.
After a few minutes, Sen finally uncovered their face. Looking directly ahead, they didn't acknowledge that he was now sitting right next to them. Suddenly, they spoke in a voice that seemed raspier and more unstable than before. "Brother…" They mumbled.
Cal turned and looked at Sen, muttering in a confused tone. "huh?"
Sen turned and looked at Cal with tear-stained eyes, stabilizing their voice with a slight grunt. "Small brother…" Sen sobbed suddenly, seeming to need to find their words. "Sen, sister. Big, protect."
Cal saw tears well up in Sen's eyes again as she opened her beak and let out a cry. Voice quaking again as she croaked out. "No…"
Sen then slumped again, placing the back of her dirt-covered hands on her eyes to stem to tears.
Cal felt a twinge of surprise at the revelation that Sen was female, as popular rumors among the marines suggested that the Covenant didn't allow females to fight, but he quickly shook the thought from his head to focus on what mattered in the moment. He looked at his companion, someone who he would have killed just a few hours ago, but just felt sadness for the poor thing. He truly had no idea what to do or say in this situation, so he didn't. He just sat next to her and gave her the time to let all the emotions out, clearly having held them in until now.
After a minute she seemed to have calmed down enough again, sitting back up and uncovering her eyes again. Cal silently handed her his canteen, which she took and poured into her beak, tipping her head back to gulp down the refreshing fluid like before. She nodded gratefully at him as she handed it back, Cal could see the redness and exhaustion around her eyes as she slowly got back up to continue digging.
Cal joined her with his digging tool, and together they silently dug a shallow grave. Cal noticed that even though they were in very close proximity to each other, Sen didn't seem tense at all, and he realized that he too felt no threat from her. He felt truly moved by what he just saw a moment ago, and he couldn't help but feel confused about his own beliefs now.
Shoveling another scoop of dirt from the hole, he looked up at the skyline of the city in the distance. Smoke rose from the massive skyscrapers contrasted with the view of the setting sun in the distance, and sounds of explosions and gunfire that had become the usual ambiance echoed through the streets. He could see the massive Covenant ships strafing overhead, and looked down at Sen, still digging her brother's grave. How could they be one in the same? How could the vile Covenant that murdered billions, conscript people that seemed so normal like her?
Shortly after, they finished the grave. It was shallow, but it had to do.
Sen lowered the twisted and mangled body of her brother into the hole, seeming to try to lay it out in the most natural and respectful way possible. She looked down into it for a moment, closing her eyes and bowing her head, before reaching down and beginning to scoop the dirt back into the hole. Cal stood back for this one, sensing that it was best to let her have this final moment alone.
As she scooped the last bit on top, all that was left was a loose mound of dirt over where the hole was. Sen stood up, tossing her piece of debris away. She turned around to Cal, closing her eyes and bowing her head to him in appreciation.
Sen then bent down and picked up her helmet, putting it back on before walking away towards some kind of rounded Covenant storage container. She retrieved some items from inside, one was some kind of blue and grey alien rifle, a pistol reminiscent of the broken one she had picked up earlier; and three strange-looking orbs. Grenades, he realized. She clipped the rifle onto her back, and the pistol to her hip, before returning to Cal. She looked down at the grave one more time, silently watching over it, when Cal suddenly felt a drop of water hit his shoulder. He looked up to see that dark clouds had moved overhead, the sun dipping ever lower.
It was starting to rain.
Sen didn't know the last time she felt rain.
The cold liquid ran down the sides of her helmet and armor, gently dripping into the open areas of skin unprotected by her suit. The time she spent on planets was usually few and far between, being that she was rotated frequently and spent much of her time on spaceships. Most of the time that she felt water on her skin was when she bathed, but there was something unique about rain, something pleasant.
Walking down an open road, she scanned the area around for a vantage point. She spied a small platform upon one of the buildings that had some kind of antennas on it, not the best, but it would do.
She motioned at the Human next to her before gesturing toward the platform above. Hoping that he got the gist of it, she coiled her legs and leapt with a powerful kick, flinging herself into the air at remarkable speed.
Carefully landing on the edge of the platform, she winced at the twinge in her leg from her previous injury but was glad to notice that much of the pain from before had vanished. Looking back down at the Human below, now simply peering up towards her from below, she felt a lot of confusing emotions.
This Human, Cal, who she was fairly certain was male based on encounters in the past, was an enigma to her. She tried to piece together what he wanted, his game. In her experience, everyone had something selfish they wanted, and any action they'd take was to further that goal. Was it to survive? Because if so, why didn't he shoot her even though she was armed? Why did he let her arm herself now? A sworn enemy who could easily harm him.
Her thoughts drifted back to when they buried her brother, how he sat by her while she lost control of her emotions. He didn't say anything at the time, but he stayed, and offered her water. He mended her wounds, gave her food, and called her friend when he had every right to simply kill her.
That's when the source of the confusing emotions came to the surface, few people except Raq had ever been… Kind, to her before. "Kind." It was a word she heard in the sermons of the Prophets, like when the primitive jiralhanae were killed in masses before being assimilated by the Covenant, a "kindness" they called it. It was a word that she had only ever heard used as manipulation or irony, but now, reflecting on what had happened in the past few hours, she finally understood what it truly meant. Dakdak had been nice to her, but he was an unggoy. Talking to an unggoy was like talking to a hatchling, you just couldn't connect with them on an emotional level. But Cal, a Human of all things, had simply been there for her when she needed someone.
During her time in the Covenant, Sen never really looked at anyone else as a living person, she couldn't really. She wasn't sure if it was just her grief, trying to find ways to cope with the loss, but she found herself at least somewhat caring about what happened to this Human. She had never had a real friend who wasn't Raq before, someone who did things for her that were not for their immediate self-gain.
Sen turned and gazed out at the expanse of Human rooftops past the antennas, flicking on her helmets combat systems to scan for threats. Her helmet's tracker picked up a few blips in the distance marked as "friendly," Covenant. She noted to avoid those areas but saw no signs of any Humans in her vision.
Noting a pathway that looked devoid of threats, she raised her hand to her helmet to switch on her battlenet connection out of curiosity. There was no sound when she turned on her connection, only deathly silence. She realized that since neither she nor her squad reported in, she was likely declared dead, and as such disconnected from the battlenet. This was a grim realization that there was no turning back. If she tried to return to the Covenant, they would likely kill her for treason, or worse.
With a shiver, Sen turned away from her vantage point and returned to the ledge close to Cal. Peering down at him, she was met with a sight that made her feathers flatten against her body in shock. Her helmet's system outlined the Human with an angry red, a high-alert status that marked him as an imminent threat. Through the angry warnings and threats, she could see the outline of his hand waving up at her, to which she mimicked the waving gesture back.
She switched off the combat system, immediately removing the hostile marker from her vision. This moment caused her to solidify something with certainty in her mind; though once a sworn enemy, this Human had proven itself to be an ally, a friend even. She had failed to escape the clutches of the Covenant and failed to protect her brother. But now, she had a new purpose forged from defiance. The Covenant had taken many, but they would not take this Human. She would not fail again.
Jumping down from her vantage point, she pointed down towards a road that led around the Covenant troops. She thought about what word she might use to explain to the Human, so she searched her incredibly limited vocabulary and croaked out a single word. "Clea-r" she rasped out uncertainly.
She looked hopefully at Cal, who to her relief nodded, talking in his oddly spoken words "Thank you, Sen."
Dakdak had taught her a few Human words in her time serving on the Solemn Penance, though she never used them until today. Whenever she spoke them, it was almost painful, the sounds were so different than anything she had spoken before, especially the 'f' sound. She found herself cursing her biological limitations, hoping that it wouldn't be a burden going forward.
The pair continued down the road unimpeded, carefully moving down the still desolate streets as darkness continued to encroach. A Covenant aircraft overhead would occasionally cause them to duck their heads behind cover, waiting for it to pass. By now the sounds of fighting in the distance had lessened greatly, and the continued presence of Covenant ships moving unopposed through the dead city confirmed that the Humans were losing badly, and the Covenant was only fortifying their presence within. The pair could only continue to move forward, now walking side by side through the wet streets, now completely unbothered by each other's physical differences.
Moving past a smashed barricade surrounded by vehicles with strange flashing lights on them, Sen came upon what seemed to be another abandoned Covenant position. Crates of Human supplies along with dead soldiers littered the center of the area, and another green vehicle with some kind of weapon mounted on top of it was abandoned off to the side. Around them were all too familiar Covenant tech, colored the same sickly purple that Sen had come to despise. As before, dead Covenant troops scattered around. Sen could tell by the brutal metal spikes sticking out of the sangheili and the plasma holes shot through the jiralhanae that it was another result of infighting, on the orders of the cursed Prophet.
Sen walked over to one of the sangheili and kneeled, examining a metal spike that was sticking out of his neck. His mandibles were drooping limply down, old blood running from his open throat, slowly fading as the rainwater washed it away. She looked back at Cal to see that he was standing a bit back from the bodies, slowly looking them all over warily. He gestured his hand at the bodies around him, looking at Sen with a furrowed brow. He spoke with a tone of voice indicating a question, asking simply. "Why?"
Sen looked up at him from her kneeling position, before looking back at the body. She pointed a finger toward the Elite. "Sangheili." She stated flatly, before pointing at the Brute. "Jiralhanae." She then pointed up towards the sky, raindrops slowly dripping down her raised hand. "Up. Said, jiralhanae kill sangheili. Jiralhanae… take over."
Cal's eyes widened at her, speaking in a befuddled tone. "They… Betrayed the Elites? I mean, Sang-hel-lie?" He spoke, butchering the word 'sangheili' badly. That at least made Sen feel better about her own pronunciation.
She nodded, pointing at the place on her arm where a spike was once lodged. "Be-tray-ed." She croaked out grimly, dragging out the longer word from the voice chamber in her throat uncomfortably.
Cal looked like he was about to say something, but then looked away absentmindedly. He walked over to the dead Human soldiers and kneeled by them. Sen walked over next to him to observe that he was removing some kind of shiny chain from around the neck of one of the Human soldiers, grimacing as he pulled it free.
Sen made a chirp at him, causing him to be pulled from his trance and look at her. Now it was her turn to question. Pointing at the odd silver necklace in his hand, she rasped out quietly. "Why?"
He raised his hand towards her, and from it dangled two almost identical small silver tags. She could see Human runes etched on them that she could not read, but she could tell they were different. He paused for a moment, seeming to choose his words carefully. "Names." He spoke softly, "For families."
Sen blinked at him, he was bringing the names of the dead back to their families? She had never heard of such a thing in the Covenant, they cared little for the names of the dead. Except…
Sen reached for the compartment on her armor, about to show Cal the pendant she had taken from Raq's body. She stopped instinctively, fear encroaching on her mind as she immediately thought of the idea of the Human snatching it from her. She batted the instinctive thought from her mind, shaking her head free. She looked back to Cal to see that he had moved on to another body while she was thinking, and seemed to be trying to carefully remove some kind of back-mounted device from one of the dead Humans, murmuring an apology under his breath.
At that moment, Sen heard the distinctive hum of a Spirit dropship approaching. She immediately snapped to attention, realizing the dropship was heading straight toward them. Sen hissed out a warning to her Human companion. "Cal! Coming!"
He immediately let go of the device and ran away from the open area, ducking into the shelter of a building. Sen followed suit, leaping up into a broken window above, and using a solid wall as cover, peering into the air. Quickly she saw the Spirit approach, and ease its way down into the open area they had just been. Sen swore under her breath, pulling her focus rifle from her back. Knowing that they were in for a fight no matter what now.
Sen looked out at the scene below with the scope on her rifle. She watched the side doors of the drop ship open, and a small group of five unggoy cannon fodder leap out. They nervously huddled together below the ship, wildly pointing their weapons around. Sen hoped that Cal wouldn't shoot in panic at them yet, but luckily, he was holding fire for now. She then watched a group of jiralhanae, five of them, leap from the landing bay to the ground below. This caused the unggoy to scatter in panic, trying to avoid being landed on by the falling Brutes. She identified one Captain and one Major, wearing distinctive dark blue power armor, and three Minors.
She assessed the situation from above, immediately categorizing the Captain and Major as the most significant threats. Scanning the inside of the dropship, she could see more Covenant troops inside, however, they remained inside as the doors closed and the ship took off once again. Sen felt a bit of relief at that, as she moved her scope back down to the present threats.
The Covenant troops had started to spread out now, the jiralhanae kicking and shoving the unggoy in front of them, pointing at the dead sangheili and speaking in mocking and frustrated tones, some evidently upset that they missed out on the killing themselves.
Since she lacked the sniper hardware in her Champion helmet to properly link with the rifle's scope, she would not be able to use the benefits of the smark-link system. However, she didn't need an advanced targeting system to do what had to be done.
She peaked out the window carefully, marking several locations that she could rapidly reposition to once she started firing. The focus rifle would immediately give away her location once she fired, so she had to move quickly under the cover of darkness to keep the enemy below guessing. She knew that Cal was somewhere under her, so she hoped that he was in a good position to fight while she covered from above.
Knowing that there was no turning back, she focused her scope on the head of the jiralhanae Captain and fired.
Cal cowered behind a small wall, the only thing separating him from the group of Covenant soldiers that had just landed outside. He clutched a frag grenade to his chest that he had hastily grabbed from one of the dead marines outside, knowing that it was likely his best chance at getting one of them.
Peering around the corner, he eyed the biggest Brute, "Jiralhanae," Sen had called them. And anxiously looked around the area, trying to spot his friend. For a moment wondering if she had escaped, but that thought was quickly ruled out when a bright beam of plasma shot from out of the buildings above, striking the massive Brute in the head. The beast let out an angry roar, shield visibly failing as the entire Brute squad started darting to cover and returning fire in the direction of the beam, but in the darkness, they were shooting blind. Cal watched as the large Brute's armor suddenly started hissing, and the helmet seemed to crack and fall apart as the shield disappeared. Suddenly, a bright glowing orb came sailing from another place completely, sticking to the Brute's face. It let out a horrific shriek as it clawed at its face, before suddenly having its upper body disintegrated by a plasma detonation.
Cal twisted himself free from his fear and quickly flicked the button on the frag he had been clutching. peeking out again, he spotted the group of Grunts. They had bolted in fear when the shots started raining from above and were now cowering behind a wall, unknowingly into his vision. He lobbed the grenade through a broken window and watched as it sailed directly into the middle of the group. It hit the ground, making a loud clang noise as it impacted, and bounced directly into the air. The Grunts screamed in panic, immediately trying to run away, only for the grenade to detonate midair. He saw three of them take the blast directly, dying immediately. Two of them collapsed on the ground, not dead, but mortally wounded.
The Brutes immediately take notice, letting out angry yells and turning around to find the source of the attack, only to step into the line of sight of Sen and get blasted again by her focus rifle. The Major goes down soon after, leaving the three Minors injured and without leadership. Cal raises his assault rifle, and choking down his terror, opens fire on the Brutes with a yell. His rounds hit the back of a poorly armored Minor, striking flesh, and causing purplish-red blood to spray out. The Minor tries to turn around to rush to the source of the attack, only to stagger and collapse as the bullets pierced his vitals. The two remaining Minors rush towards Cal, only to collapse dead mid-charge by combined fire from the elevated focus rifle and suppressive fire from the 7.62x51 assault rifle pincering them on either side. From the first shot to the last, the battle was over in an instant.
Cal leaned against the wall, sliding down into a sitting position as he took off his helmet to wipe sweat from his brow. His hands were shaking from adrenaline and fear as he realized just how close to death he was there, and how badly that would have ended had Sen not been covering him.
As if on command, she dropped from the overhang above him, causing him to flinch in surprise. She walked over to him, reaching as if to touch him on the shoulder, but stopping just short. She spoke in her usual broken speech, but Cal thought he could detect a hint of audible concern underneath the rasp in her voice. "Ok?" She asked quietly.
Cal simply nodded and got up from his position before putting his helmet back on. Together, they walked back out into the clearing to assess the carnage. Sen walked over to the dead and dying Grunts and pulled the odd weapon off of her hip. She fired a single pink crystal into the head of the last Grunt that was still moving, putting it out of its misery. Fresh blood ran through the flowing rainwater on the ground as they walked around each of the bodies, ensuring they were dead before fully letting their guard down.
After they cleared all the new bodies, the pair relaxed a little. Catching their breaths following the battle. After a moment's rest, Cal returned his attention to the device he had been messing with earlier, a back-mounted radio transmitter. Leaning down to the body again, he was glad to see that it hadn't been disturbed in the crossfire. He carefully unhooked it from the body, shaking the water off of it as he returned to the dry cover of the building. Sen followed suit, curiously watching him carry the device.
Cal sat down with the radio, trying to locate which switch turned it on. Sen moved a bit away and shook the water from her deep red head feathers, courteous enough to be far enough away to not get Cal any wetter.
Finally locating the power switch, he wanted to yell in excitement when he saw a red-light blink on. For once, something was working! It seemed that these dedicated radio units were insulated enough to withstand a Covenant EMP.
Sen walked over, carefully straightening out her feathers. She looked down at Cal with a head tilt, eying the odd device he was holding.
Cal thoughtfully tapped his helmet, pointing up in the air, and then pointing at the radio. Explaining quickly. "Radio, talk to others."
Sen seemed to pause for a moment, tapping her own helmet thoughtfully, before suddenly appearing to understand. She tipped her head at him, asking with an inquisitive demeanor. "Talk others… help?"
Cal nodded, speaking with excitement. "Yes, help!"
Sen sat down against the wall next to Cal and pulled her helmet off again, seeming to appreciate the moment's reprieve after such an intense battle. Cal fiddled with the buttons further, trying to figure out how to work the device. He had never been trained to use such equipment, and many of the engraved labels on it had worn down over what looked like years of service. He quickly eyed a loose cable hanging from the device and found that the plug on the end fit into an odd connector on his helmet. Turning a large knob on top of the radio, he was rewarded with a crackling sound emerging from his helmet's built-in speakers, which thankfully seemed to have been spared from the fate that their paired radio had. Satisfied that he had found the volume, he turned his attention to what he assumed was the tuning knob, and twisted it. The audio crackled as he turned, but he could hear nothing but weak signals.
Undeterred, Cal wiped the water off of a small screen on the pack that showed the frequency and adjusted the broadcast to the UNSC band.
Cal took a deep breath in, knowing that this was his one chance of getting out of this alive. He fingered a button that's faint engraving labeled it 'record,' and pressed it in. He was greeted by another light turning on, and he began speaking his message to the device.
"This is UNSC Private First Class Cal Bardeen 31173 calling for immediate extraction! I am stranded in New Mombasa and possess a valuable asset that I believe to be vital to our fight against the Covenant. I repeat, please designate an extraction point! This message will repeat."
He then pressed the broadcast button, and the radio began broadcasting his distress call on a loop. He turned and looked at Sen, who was quietly watching him intently with her bright yellow eyes. A thought had been in his mind when he was setting up the radio, consideration in calling for help. He had no idea how leadership, or even just his fellow soldier would react to him bringing an alien of the Covenant into their midst, no matter how friendly it was. However, it was a problem he had to face.
He had one hope, however: He had never heard of a member of the Covenant, especially one that seemed more decorated than the average grunt, willingly joining forces with humanity. If he could convince the UNSC that she would be an asset to them, he had hope that things might turn out ok.
The truth is, he was scared and confused. In the very short time he had known her, he had come to care about the strange bird-like alien. Under these foreign skies, lost in doubt and despair, a former enemy was his anchor. The odd, adorable mannerisms. The way she speaks with an awkward uncertainty, piecing each word together. How she mourned her brother, just like he once did. He couldn't help but be worried that soon he might lose her too, just like his squad, just like Sam.
Cal slumped against the wall, placing the radio pack next to him as it quietly repeated his distress call. The rush from the battle had completely worn away into a tired, depressive feeling. He was thinking about his squad again, and the guilt he felt. He could feel the weight of dog tags in his pockets and realized with shame that while he could bring the tags of strangers back, his own squad was stripped of that honor. He lived, they died for him, and yet he couldn't even do that one simple favor for their sacrifice. He wondered if he was truly worthy of living, maybe he should have died back there with them.
He then remembered his family back home, the gorgeous mountain ranges, and the skyline dotted by its three distinctive moons. His parents took care of the whole community like they were their own children. Showing him the mountains, teaching him the beauty of their planet as it stood untouched by the ongoing war. In this memory was a renewed hope, a purpose.
He looked back at Sen, awkwardly sitting with her long legs tucked against her chest, fidgeting with her odd hands while looking outside at the rain slowly falling. He knew her grasp of English was very poor, and likely understood little of what he was about to say. But he thought she would listen, nonetheless.
"I'm not from here, Earth, you know. My home is far away from here, a little blue ball called New Carthage. Not a lot of people live there, my community in particular. We're small, but hard-working. We're farmers, we grow food and raise livestock for everyone else. My family is always taking care of everyone else, feeding them like they're our own. Come to think of it, it's probably because…" He paused for a second, remembering his dead brother again. He turned to look at Sen, seeing that she had turned to look at him, no longer fidgeting. He cleared his throat, realizing that a single tear had started rolling down his face. He wiped it off with the back of his hand, continuing solemnly. "I had a brother, once. He was my best friend, the best friend anyone could have. He was only a kid when he died, the doctors said there was nothing they could do…" He choked his words, raising his hand to suppress the tears in his eyes that threatened to overwhelm him. He never talked about his brother to anyone, so after years of holding it in, the emotion just spilled out.
Suddenly, he felt a warmth touch his wrist. He wiped his hands away to see that Sen had moved closer to him, and was softly touching his arm with the tips of her claws, looking at him with a long gaze. She whispered with gentle understanding In her coarse voice. "It's ok, Cal." He didn't say anything, just sitting there in her company.
After a minute Sen released his hand, but remained by him. Cal quietly looked at her, semi-surprised by how calm and gentle the alien warrior had just been towards him, and also surprised at himself. He had never talked about his feelings, nor cried in front of others. However, in the presence of this strange alien, he found himself letting his old wounds show. Was there something wrong with him? Empathizing so personally with an alien? Alien, it was a strange word. He realized that aside from the little she had said before, he knew almost nothing about where she came from. Maybe if he knew more, he could understand his own feelings better. He spoke up, extending a question to his companion. "Sen?" She turned her eyes back up towards him, letting out a quiet crow-like noise from her throat towards him. He continued. "Where do you come from? Do you have a family there?"
Sen seemed to freeze for a moment, staring off into space with a blank look that Cal couldn't read. After a moment her head and feathers seemed to droop, she shook her head and spoke with a voice that sounded more broken than usual. 'Home… f-am-ily? No, gone…" She raised her hand up and wiped her eyes, letting out a sad croak.
Cal immediately felt bad, realizing he just stirred up bad memories from a seemingly innocuous question. He reached toward her, stopping just short of touching her as he tried to speak reassuringly. "Hey, hey it's ok. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
Sen turned to look at him with slightly teary eyes, voice shaky but determined. "No, ok. It's ok. Long time." She turned to face him, pressing a button on her armor, and removing an object. She held it up for Cal to see; it was some kind of pendant made from bone, old and primitive. It had some kind of runic lettering in the middle, with rough notches ticked off the sides. The string that it was attached to seemed to have some kind of bones threaded onto it. Sen's gaze flicked to it for a moment, then back to Cal. After a moment she started speaking, her voice quiet, but focused. "Reea clan, long time, from old time. Strong, warriors. Too strong, others fear." Her gaze dropped to the floor, feathers sinking against her body again. "Tricked. Other clan fear, attack Reea clan. All dead, I watch..." She covers her face with her hands, letting a sob out of her throat. "Hide brother… Watch all dead. Hide…"
Now it was Cal's turn. He reached over and gently touched her hand, gently taking it in his own. He whispered softly. "I'm sorry, Sen. It's ok." She squeezed his hand back, turning her head to look into his eyes. At that moment, the radio crackled to life in response to Cal's distress call.
A human voice crackled through Cal's helmet, filled with panic. "This is Romeo 173 calling PFC 31173 Bardeen! Repeat, this is Romeo 173 Calling Bardeen 31173! Our bird has taken fire and crashed near Kilindini Station in Sector B, Industrial Zone. We have injured and wounded, and are under heavy fire. Evac Pelicans cannot land with this heat, get your ass over to our sector and help Private! Over?"
Cal threw his helmet back on, turning on his mic. "I receive you Romeo 173! I am bringing help, ETA unknown. Sit tight guys!" Quickly switching off the radio and disconnecting it from his helmet, he took off outside into the rain, Sen close behind. Moving out into the open road, he stared at the numerous road signs with directions on them hanging over the road. Down the road, on a turn off he noticed a sign labeled "Sector B: New Mombasa Industrial Zone, 5km." He bit his lip, realizing that by the time he walked those five kilometers, Romeo 173 would be a goner. Suddenly, he remembered spotting a warthog in the scene of battle behind him.
Hurrying back, he spotted the warthog sitting partly on a set of inclined steps. He moved over to it and examined its exterior, noting a few light plasma burns on the hull, but no serious damage. Sen walked over curiously to Cal as he climbed into the rear of the vehicle, inspecting the chaingun. The ammo belt seemed full, and there were no casings in the rear compartment. It seemed that the previous squad didn't even get a chance to defend themselves with it before the Covenant got them.
Sen looked up at Cal, letting out a soft, questioning chirp sound. Cal gestured for her to come up, and reached down to help her up as she climbed onboard. Showing her the chaingun, he demonstrated the process of firing. Using the body of the recently killed Brutes as targets, he spun up the barrel and fired a line of rounds, causing blood and chunks to shoot from the bodies as the large anti-aircraft rounds decimated them. Sen flinched at the loud noise and bright flash, seeming more used to being on the wrong end of such things, but held firm. Cal motioned for her to take over, and gently guided her hands to the two handles, showing her which trigger spun the barrel and which one shot. After a moment of pause, she fired the gun herself, laying fire into the corpses as well.
Turning to Cal, she clacked her beak before making a coo sound, seeming pleased with the weapon. He nodded before stepping past her towards the driver's side, lowering himself into the seat. He cringed as he made contact, feeling the cold water that had pooled inside soak through his clothes. He did his best to ignore the discomfort and reached for the ignition to start the Warthog. To his relief, it started without issue, the frame shaking as the engine roared to life.
Easing the large vehicle out onto the main road, he weaved between abandoned vehicles as he looked for the sign that marked the direction to Sector B. Spotting it, he turned onto the road that led to a highway overpass. Pushing down on the gas, he blasted around more civilian cars, trying to get used to the handling of the beast of a vehicle.
After a while, driving the Warthog went from hair-raising to exhilarating. Cal had purged the idea of using a vehicle from his mind, as previously he didn't want to draw attention to himself. But now that he was ripping a path down a war-torn highway with heavy armor, he felt unstoppable. Sen stood perched over the chaingun, watching the road ahead like a hawk with her sharp eyes. The engine roared as it swerved around a wrecked Covenant Wraith, blasted apart and smoking from the inside. Wrecks of UNSC Scorpions and Warthogs littered the road as they entered the industrial zone, bodies from both sides scattered around. The damage to buildings became more prevalent, as smoking holes and debris on the road increased. The sounds of weapon fire became louder, echoing through the cityscape ahead.
Suddenly, Sen let out a hiss and pointed forward from her vantage point. Cal looked ahead and saw a small group of Covenant on the road at a makeshift checkpoint, they had seen the approaching vehicle and were scrambling to get into cover. Cal ducked his head down and pushed on the gas, throwing the warthog forward. Sen fired the chaingun, spraying the debris that the enemies were using as cover. The 12.7x99mm AP rounds tore holes through both cover and enemy, while the blinding headlights approached rapidly. The Warthog slammed into an overturned civilian car, throwing it aside, and plowed through a group of Grunts and Jackals. In a flash, the thundering Warthog left a trail of dead and dying Covenant as it blew straight through the makeshift checkpoint.
Cal lifted his head back up as they passed, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that the Covenant hadn't been able to hit the truck in the carnage. He looked up to see a sign marking Kilindini District ahead, with an annotation noting Kilindini Station. He turned the Warthog off the overpass and drove down the ramp towards the district.
Getting off the freeway, Cal found more signs of a battle fought not long ago. More fire, smoke, and bodies. He scanned ahead until he noticed a sign hanging above, slowly swinging side to side from being shot multiple times, faintly flickering 'Kilindini Station (CLOSED), next left.'
He slowly pulled through the debris, hearing the sounds of shooting ahead, UNSC and Covenant. He pulled up to the intersection to find the turn completely blocked by a section of a building that had collapsed onto the road: No way he was getting the hog over that.
He shut off the engine and climbed out, gesturing to Sen to follow. She glanced down at the chaingun for a moment, seeming a bit unhappy to leave it behind, before hopping down from the bed of the truck. They both made their way over to the pile of wreckage and began making their way over. As they crested to the top, Cal could see the Maglev line across from them, and the sounds of gunfire were getting much louder around the bend.
Cal turned to speak to Sen, only to see that she was gone. He looked wildly around, before looking up to see her perched up above on a building. She waved down to him before disappearing into the building, towards the fighting. Cal cursed internally and bit his lip, hoping that she wouldn't get spotted by the UNSC forces before he could get there. With that thought, he took off toward the battle.
What Cal walked in on was a scene of pure chaos. He scrambled behind a smoking car and peeked over. The group of UNSC soldiers was pinned down in a clearing, Pelican sitting on an angle where it crashed into the ground in front of a building. A makeshift trench line of debris and sandbags formed a defensive perimeter, with plasma and gunfire being fired back and forth.
Cal looked over to see a uniformed officer standing next to the Pelican wreck, firing a Magnum sidearm towards the Covenant while clutching a bleeding wound in his side. Next to him, a group of medics dragged a wounded marine behind the crashed Pelican, away from the enemy fire.
Cal ducked around the side of the car, nearly tripping over the dead body of one of his fellow marines as he quickly made his way over to the officer. Running up next to him, Cal began speaking out of breath. "Sir! PFC Bardeen reporting, what's the situation?"
The officer winced, dumping a mag out of his pistol, and sliding another in before replying to Cal with a grunt. "Fucked! That's what. Where's your squad, marine?"
Cal replied flatly. "Dead, sir."
The officer let out a dry, humorless laugh. "Isn't that the story of the day?" He bent down to pick up an assault rifle magazine from the ground and tossed it at Cal, pointing towards the sandbag line in the front. "If you wanna live, get to the front and help our boys clear out those damn Covvies. We need to give our airmen cover to land!"
Cal caught the mag in his hand, and threw a quick salute, shouting a quick. "Yes sir!" He then turned around for a moment and spoke again with seriousness. "I suppose you should know I didn't come alone, got a friend tailing me. Just make sure to hold your fire if she pops up, she's here to help."
The officer shrugged and fired another round of lead toward the enemies, balling up cloth into his wound as he did so. "I suppose we can use all of that we can get. This friend of yours better be the real deal, because nobody else is coming to help."
Cal nodded and took off towards the trench line, ducking behind an overturned vehicle and returning fire toward the Covenant. Plasma zoomed past his head as he aimed at the bright flashes coming from the dark buildings across, heat radiated over the debris as bolts splashed against the metal, melting it.
Suddenly, a bright beam flew from the buildings behind Cal and hit directly into a shattered window in front. Cal ducked his head down at the sniper shot, with his fellow marines around him doing the same. Realizing what it was, he immediately peaked back over to see a sniper Jackal topple from the window. The beam fired again, and a Brute roared in anger as it melted through his armor.
The UNSC troops soon realized that the sniper was friendly, and a cheer went up as they saw the beam flash again into the Covenant. The plasma fire slowed enough for medics to rush up and grab more wounded, as the enemy forces were disoriented by the suppressive fire.
A marine across from Cal shouted at him. "Hey, you just showed up! Do you know who's got that laser gun? Using those alien bastards' own weapons against them is genius shit!"
Cal nodded with a smile. "A friend of mine."
The newly envigored marines, some even sporting minor injuries, began firing aggressively towards the enemy forces under cover of their new sniper. Even those with shields got whittled down enough by the focus rifle to have the UNSC's conventional weapons able to deal damage. All was going well until the Brutes started raging, the confusion and stress from the sudden bombardment driving them into an enraged fury.
The marines fired into the Brutes, taking a few down as they approached, leaving only three heavily armored ones remaining. Cal threw himself backward as one of the three rushed his barricade and slammed into it, causing it to narrowly sail over his head. He stumbled to his feet and fired, only to see that this Brute, wearing the same ornamental armor as the one Sen killed, was charging directly toward the officer. They were doing a suicide rush to kill the leader, a focused, enraged charge. Cal fired and saw one's leg buckle and collapse, the other went down as well. But the biggest one was still going.
Suddenly in a blur, a yellow and red form threw itself from the buildings behind and rolled on the ground, grabbing an assault rifle from the ground. Before anyone could react, Sen was standing alongside the officer dumping a magazine of rifle ammo into the charging Brute until it clicked. The bullets broke the Brute's shield and embedded in its armor, but it was still coming. Sen braced against the ground and threw herself into the air towards the Brute, aiming her legs and coiling them up. Suddenly, she kicked both powerful legs simultaneously into the beast's neck and jaw. With a sickening crunch, its spine bent backward as its lower jaw got forced into its skull, crushing its windpipe in. The Brute writhed on the ground with a horrible gurgle, grabbing at its neck and face.
Cal rushed forward and shot the beast in its exposed head, killing it instantly. He turned his gaze up to see the officer pointing his gun at Sen menacingly, Cal rushes forward shouting in panic. "Hold fire! Hold fire! Don't shoot!"
The officer hesitates but keeps his gun trained on Sen who's now standing motionless with her hand resting on her needler. He leans his head towards Cal but keeps his gaze on the alien. "Private. What in the hell do you think you're doing?"
Cal skids to a stop, desperately trying to reason with him. "Look, she's on our side. Saved my life, saved all of our lives here! She's a friend."
The officer sneered angrily, continuing to hold firm. "That's a Covvie, private, alien. No damn alien is a friend. What about the billions of dead on Reach? Earth? Look around you, fool! It wants to trick us, and once it does it will kill us all!"
Cal raised his hands up in a disarming gesture toward the officer. He could see Sen looking over at him with concern, clearly worried, but trusting of him. Cal began speaking to the officer in a quiet and measured tone, hoping to calm him. "If she wanted us dead, she would have let the Covenant kill us just now. But she gave us the cover we needed, and kicked that Brute that was about to cave your skull in, Sir." He roughly kicked the dead Brute with his heavy boot. "When I first got here you told me that my friend had better be the real deal, and well, here she is. The real deal."
Suddenly, a voice piped up from behind him. A source of support Cal didn't expect. "Excuse me Sir, but I don't get it." Cal turned to see the marine that had spoken to him earlier was sitting against the barricade line, taking advantage of the lull in fighting. "If that alien was a spy, why didn't it just… shoot us? I am just a simple marine, but I reckon it could have just killed us all with that great big beam instead of its buddies."
Another marine who was sitting with a wrapped leg against the back of the Pelican wreck spoke up, spurred by the last. "I was hit pretty bad over there… That covering fire let our guys come get me to safety, I'd be a goner otherwise."
The officer slowly lowers his gun, to which Sen responds by moving her hand from her own weapon. The man looks around at his subordinates, seeming a bit angry at their interjection, but in a way seeing the reason in it.
He huffed, turning to Cal. "I don't know what devil convinced you to befriend one of them, and don't expect me to forget your insubordination. But for the sake of the situation at hand, I will overlook this for now. But my eyes are on you, both of you. Am I clear?"
Cal gave another salute, with a quick "Yes sir."
Sen mimicked Cal's salute silently, before bowing to the officer. The man did a visible double take at that, seeming stunned at Sen's etiquette. She then walked over to an open UNSC supply crate and lifted a battle rifle from it. She inspected its scope and tested its weight, before nodding and grabbing a few mags of ammunition.
Suddenly, one of the marines at the front yelled out in alarm. More Covenant were coming, it wasn't over. Cal rushed back to the front and Sen followed, opting to close the gap a bit with this new weapon. She darted over alongside a marine, who froze for a moment and gazed up at her with an open mouth, seeming shocked that she was larger than them up close. She then raised her rifle up and fired, as Cal slid to a stop next to her and burst suppressive fire toward where she was shooting.
The Covenant fire rained in immediately after, with the raging battle continuing against these reinforcements. But this time, it was clear that the UNSC was doing significantly better than before.
Sen darted from cover to cover, tossing her remaining grenades, and picking off targets where she could. The Covenant were surprised, seeming bewildered by their new opponent.
The battle raged on for a few minutes, as a radioman yelled that the rescue crafts were arriving soon. Sen slid across an open gap to a marine who was desperately searching his vest for ammo and tossed a bundle of ammo to him. Another marine got shot in the shoulder and went down screaming in pain, to which Sen reacted by rushing over and grabbing him by his collar, dragging him to safety where the medics could reach him.
Cal watched in disbelief as his friend fought with the power of an army, reacting instantly to her environment, and raising hell for the enemy. A female marine next to him whispered to him as they repacked some rifle magazines behind the cover. "I don't believe it. How in the damn did you convince one of them to fight for us? That things' like… a mini Spartan or something!"
Cal looked out towards Sen as he clicked another bullet into the steel mag, thinking for a moment before he replied softly. "We just talked to each other, that's all. It's hard to keep hating someone after you've shared a meal with them, and learned their name."
The marine seemed bewildered by the answer but shrugged and went back to loading.
A minute after, someone shouted from the front. "Hey look they're running! They're falling back!"
Cal peaked over to see some Grunts and Jackals retreating down a road, some Brutes firing towards the defenders as they slowly pulled back. The UNSC forces remained persistent and continued to lay fire on them until they were out of sight.
The marines let out a cheer, with the able-bodied soldiers jumping up and roughly embracing each other in excitement at the retreating enemy. They all seemed to completely forget about the alien in their midst, as they moved about unbothered by her presence.
The radio operator declared that the evac Pelicans were cleared, and soon they dived down through the buildings. Sending debris flying as they swooped low to the ground, moving in for a landing.
The first Pelican lowered its loading bay door as it landed, and a single lightly armored young airman came out the door to assist the nearby medics in moving the most seriously injured inside. He froze upon exiting, eyes immediately fixed on the yellow-clad alien warrior loitering around the marines. His voice quavered as he pointed at Sen. "Wha- what the fuck?!"
The marines all simultaneously went silent and turned to stare at Sen for a moment, seeming to just now remember that there was an alien there. One of them turned to the newcomer, speaking with awkward reassurance. "Oh yeah, that… I mean, it's cool? I don't really know where it came from, but it kicked the shit out of the Covenant, that's for sure. Saved our asses too."
The airman stood staring for a moment with wide eyes, before shaking his head and turning back to his work without a word. The marines then began embarking on the Pelicans as they landed, making room for the wounded.
Cal approached the first Pelican, and Sen met him halfway. She strode over to him, seeming to look him up and down to make sure he was unharmed. She then made a soft coo noise and asked him quietly. "Cal, ok?"
Cal smiled at her and nodded, speaking with reassurance. "I'm fine Sen, thanks. I'm glad to see you're alright too."
She let out a small trill and followed Cal close to his side as they boarded the Pelican. The other marines gave her a berth inside, and Cal could tell she was a bit nervous being enclosed inside. Cal sat down in one of the sitting compartments, and Sen awkwardly took a seat in the one next to him, clearly not designed with her species in mind. She leaned slightly on his shoulder and squeezed his hand, finding comfort in his presence. Cal ignored the odd looks from the marines around him, clearly bewildered by the closeness of the pair.
After the Pelicans took off, they were able to escape the city without incident. Cal couldn't see the state of the city due to the lack of windows but could tell by the radio chatter he overheard that it wasn't good. Soon the Pelicans began crossing the ocean, to some UNSC installation somewhere in the United Republic of North America.
At some point when Cal was daydreaming, he felt a weight slowly settle on his shoulder. Glancing over, he realized that Sen had taken off her helmet, hugged it with one arm on her lap, and fallen asleep on his shoulder. He felt exhausted too, realizing that she probably wiped herself out completely during that previous battle. As the slow hum of the Pelican's engines droned, Cal felt himself grow more tired. Aching body barely having a chance to relax in hours, he soon slipped into slumber as well.