Disclaimer: Nothing Halo related belongs to me except for my original characters and the plot line. You no sue me!
Strange, half-formed images raced through 'Zakamee's mind. He saw the armored human, the SPARTAN, killing Covenant left and right. After the last Elite fell, the human turned to face 'Zakamee and took off his helmet, but instead of a human face it was that of 'Zakamee. The Elite stared at himself until the image dissolved and suddenly he had fallen. He looked up and his old friend Saka 'Destabee extended his hand to 'Zakamee. But then the hand turned into a Flood's tentacle and moved to strike him down. 'Zakamee lifted his plasma rifle and hosed the combat form down with it. As the smoking form fell away 'Zakamee looked at his hands, but they were malformed tentacles. All at once, 'Zakamee was a Flood combat form and he was killing unarmed humans in some gray structure. Next to him were other combat forms, one of which wore the same advanced armor as the SPARTAN.
'Zakamee jolted awake and shot to his feet. He regretted this movement as his burned skin cracked and bled. "Wh-what in the name of all that is holy and true was that?" muttered the pain stricken Elite.
The nightmare he had just had hung about him like a shroud. It had seemed eerily prophetic. 'Zakamee coughed and his mandibles twitched in alarm at the dark purple blood that stained the floor. 'Zakamee groped around his back for his emergency med kit but realized that he couldn't move his arm very well. Actually, now that 'Zakamee noticed it, his range of motion was extremely limited. The problem was soon resolved as he saw the numerous cracks running down the armor. The heat from the plasma beam had melted the armor and then it had refrozen into something much more brittle. 'Zakamee clenched his jaw and flexed his arms as much as he could. The pain was almost unbearable but eventually the arm plates snapped and fell off. 'Zakamee hurriedly tore off the rest of his limb armor and shoved it to one side. The helmet also came off and then he reached around and grabbed his med kit.
A few seconds of applying self-adhesive bandages later and 'Zakamee felt much better. He knew it was only the pain-killers but it felt good nonetheless. Slipping the remaining supplies back in their slot 'Zakamee slowly bent down and retrieved his right thigh plate. He ran his hand down it and flipped open a secret catch. 'Zakamee pulled his combat knife from the hidden sheath and slid it into his waist band. Tossing the plate back onto the pile 'Zakamee checked himself over. Minor to moderate burns all over his body, all his armor but his breastplate useless, and only this knife as a weapon. Not that his knife was something to laugh at. Eight inches of a metal strong enough to cut through modern battle armor and a reinforced grip for cracking heads. The knife was something of a rarity, it had been presented to him as a gift when he graduated with full honors from his battle academy. The Prophet that had presided over the ceremony had given this to 'Zakamee as well as his first posting within the Covenant Black Ops corps.
'Zakamee smiled faintly as that happy memory surfaced but he soon returned to the here and now. 'Zakamee noticed a computer terminal nearby but he was loathe to alert the human AI to his presence. Before he attempted to find the training grounds using only his memory, 'Zakamee paused to take one last look at his armor. The formerly bright silver plate had served him well over the years and 'Zakamee was a little sad that he had to abandon it so. He resolved to come back after this ship was recaptured and give it the equivalent of a proper burial. With nothing else to occupy him 'Zakamee set off down the hall and hoped to run into a fellow Covenant before the humans found him.
Li stumbled along the purple walls of the Covenant flagship. Flashing red warning lights vied for his attention on the inside of his helmet. More important, however, were the lights that weren't flashing or glowing green. Li's armor was constantly on the brink of failure as he forced himself to take step after step. How he had managed to survive that plasma blast was still hazy. However, he still had to reckon with all the malfunctions and injuries that he had sustained. The worst of his injuries were the second and third degree burns on the left side of his body. Compounding that loss was the lack of hydraulic pressure in his left arm. He had no weapons and most of his MJOLNIR's systems weren't working. His situation, as the Master Chief would have said, was one big snag. The only things going for Li were that he was still alive and still a SPARTAN. That had to count for something.
Li still ached from where he had sprayed the bio-foam and he couldn't feel his left foot. But all this was dashed from his mind as he heard heavy footsteps coming toward him. In his current state Li couldn't hope to fight anything, not even a constipated Grunt. Li tried to muffle his movements as much as possible as he backtracked and hid behind a large work station. To Li's displeasure, the foot steps came closer rather then passing by. The good news was that the harsh breathing indicated that the Covenant was wounded, perhaps severely. The bad news was that the Covenant was an Elite, which were tough even if they had lost an arm and half a leg.
Li remained crouched behind the console as the alien half walked/half stumped by. Li saw that the Elite was missing almost all of its armor and appeared heavily wounded. Making a split-second decision and rushed the Elite. Unfortunately, Li miscalculated because of his broken leg and instead of knocking the Elite to the ground he merely clipped it on the side of its head, sending it stumbling up against the wall. The Elite made a panicky sound and backed off, apparently scared stiff. Li capitalized on his opponents hesitation by ramming his shoulder into its stomach. Li knew CPO Mendez would have beaten the crap out of him for such sloppy hand-to-hand fighting techniques, but Li's choices were acutely limited in this situation.
Li's charge caught the Elite by surprise and it doubled over, clutching its stomach, or where its stomach might be. Before Li could follow up on the Elite's weakness it kicked his legs out from under him. Li toppled to the ground and lay there, stunned by the pain in his leg. While Li lay on the ground the Elite growled out some words and pulled a nasty looking knife from its belt. Li kicked him in the knee and the Elite fell down next to the SPARTAN. They both rolled away and stood back up. The Elite lunged with his knife and Li barely managed to twist away in time. As it was, the knife cut cleanly through the damaged armor and deep into his left forearm. Since the arm had long ago gone numb, all that registered to him was the fact that a knife cut through his MJOLNIR armor. Li's right hand shot out and grabbed the hand that held the knife. He squeezed until the Elite shouted in pain and dropped the knife.
Both soldiers dove for the blade and engaged in a deadly parody of a pair of children wrestling. Eventually Li managed to come up on top with the knife held firmly in his hand. He raised it above his head and prepared to slice through the alien's skull.
'Zakamee watched in horror as the human raised his knife up and prepared to kill him. 'Zakamee shut his eyes and awaited the inevitable. Instead of a brief flash of pain and light as he transcended the physical he instead felt intense heat. 'Zakamee's eyes snapped open as the human screamed due to the stump where his right hand used to be. Several more plasma bolts slammed into his head which soon disintegrated under the onslaught. The smoking corpse fell off of 'Zakamee's chest as he struggled upright.
"Easy there 'Zakamee." said a familiar voice, "Just hold together and we'll get you back to camp in no time."
'Zakamee waved away the helping hand and pulled himself to his feet. Bracing himself up against the bulkhead 'Zakamee looked at his rescuers. His eyes widened as he recognized the two figures.
"Emissary 'Somamakee! 'Jasakee! What are you doing here?" stuttered the surprised Elite gesturing at the blue and black armored figures in front of him.
"Can't you guess? We were the ones who sabotaged the slip space engines. Huh. And here I was thinking you survived Halo due to your intelligence." smirked the Spec Ops Elite.
"Good to see you too 'Jasakee." replied 'Zakamee, "Is it you I should thank for such a timely rescue?"
"Partly. I shot the human but the Emissary suggested we take this route."
"Then I am in both your debts." said 'Zakamee, bowing as much as his injuries would allow. I hope I can repay you before this day is done."
"We could only hope." muttered the foul tempered Elite.
"Come." said 'Somamakee, "We have the location of our new base camp. Grgra and the others saw fit to move it into the human ship."
"What! What happened to require such a drastic change?" asked 'Zakamee.
"There have been...difficulties." answered 'Somamakee, "The rogue plasma bolts destroyed the lower sections and only a few managed to survive."
Before 'Zakamee could answer 'Jasakee cut in. "We should hurry. Who knows when the humans may search for their fallen compatriots."
'Zakamee swallowed his shock and turned to face the Emissary.
"Emissary. I humbly request a deviation from our route. I need to pick up a few things from the Ship Master's quarters."
'Somamakee tilted his head in askance but nodded is response to 'Zakamee's request.
"I suppose so. I assume you have something in mind?"
"Indeed I do Emissary. There are some things we might need in the Ship Master's cabin and I do need new armor." said 'Zakamee.
"Good idea." said 'Somamakee, "And I might have something in mind too."
'Jasakee snorted but motioned down the hall and stomped off. 'Zakamee made too follow him but turned around when he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"You might not want to forget this." Said the Emissary as he handed 'Zakamee his knife. 'Zakamee grinned his thanks and sheathed the knife. He then limped off to follow 'Jasakee.
I LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have not faded into nothingness!!!!!! Sorry it took me so long to post. You know how it can be sometimes.
Zarbok: Still short. Still concise. Still a great lifter of spirits. Thank you.
someone: Thanks for the compliment. I appreciate it.
rjecktd89: You sort of answered you own question there. The Monitor mainly survived because I felt like alluding to a greater plot that isn't there. Obscurity is fun.
Jimmy-San: The Elite might be Orine. Do you want him to be? If he is I could stick him in somewhere. He would be one of the last Elite's left after all.
elven lord mic: Wow. I had no idea I inspired such....ummm...devotion? And you're probably correst in that last guess of your. See the first paragraph.
theicewolf: Soon enough for you? Probably not. Hope you liked it though.
reagan64: I have finally retreated on the whole silverspec ops or blackspec ops thing. Black armor will now indicate special ops dudes and silver will be for black ops. Hope your happy now. grumble, grumble