He cringed. Blue plasma shots, ready to engulf him, danced on the HUD. He felt the others around him trembling. There was no escape.
A sudden slashing sound came from the Elite's barricade, followed by many a confused "w0rt?" Master Chief opened his eyes; just in time to spot a multi-colored blur of motion silence a group of alien soldiers. The air crackled as what he presumed was an energy sword cut through it. The Chief received his comrades' attention and gestured towards the bushes–he didn't have to wait. Everyone dived behind the natural shelter and breathed a sigh of relief. They were safe... for now.
More slashing. The Elites became blind with fury, and tried to shoot down the mysterious threat. However, this ended up in them shooting their own teammates. Plasma flew through the night sky and, with the help of a few more slices from the sword, soon enough the honorable Sangheili legion lay dead on a blood-stained carpet.
"Pathetic," the Chief uttered.
They all looked around nervously. No sign of the unidentified swordsman. Master Chief slowly stepped out of the bushes and poked at the dead Elites. Wow... the entire legion was annihilated, the Chief thought. Whoever did this is one hell of a soldier.
Master Chief had mistakenly let down his guard at that moment. Had he been paying attention, he would've heard a small fit of excited squealing behind him– and he wouldn't be so damn surprised when a being tackled him. As the Chief slammed into the ground, he panicked and threw a couple of mustard grenades in random directions. These explosions forced a couple of trees to crack and fall to the ground. Families of squirrels poured out of the splintering wood, chittering angrily at the Master Chief. From that moment on, squirrels never liked him that much.
In any case, the Chief was pissed. "The hell are you?" he grumbled angrily at the squealing, tackling, biped creature that was on his back.
It jumped up and stood in front of the straggling Marines. They all looked quizzically at the distorted scenery in front of them–was it another Elite? As it turned off its active camouflage, it became apparent that no other Elites were around–instead, the distortion turned into a blond-haired girl, a little on the short side, holding an energy sword. "I'm code-named Covenant Dance, and I'm a 2nd-class private," she piped up.
"That's great. Now what are you doing on Halo?" Cortana interrupted skeptically.
The freelancer shot Cortana an ugly look, and got on with her story. "I was captured by the Covenant and held in captivity along with some Heretics. We broke free of the prison and have been drifting around this ring-world for a week."
Matthews held up his hand. "Question! Can I have that sword?" he pointed to the glowing energy sword Covenant Dance clutched in her right hand.
"NO. Shut up." She turned back to the Chief and Cortana. "So, I was thinking, maybe I could travel with you guys. You know, we could help you out."
Matthews's hand shot up again. "QUESTION!"
The freelancer's brown eyes flashed a fiery red as she whirled around to the private. "WHAT?" she asked through gritted teeth
"Where are your friends?" he asked innocently.
Suddenly, a small Grunt exploded out of the bushes, both a needler and a human pistol in his oversized hands. Frag grenades, clips of ammo, and varied types of guns clanked together on his belts as he ran up to the Chief and stuck the needler in the direction of the Spartan's face.
"Don't take another step, punk, or I'll blow your head off!" it growled through its breathing apparatus. The Chief blinked, smacked the purple gun out of the Grunt's hand and pointed an assault rifle at its head. It squealed in fright.
Covenant Dance grabbed the terrified Grunt by its methane tank. "DON'T YOU DARE POINT A GUN AT CHIEF!" she yelled at him. The Grunt nodded in reply.
Master Chief inspected the Grunt. It had somehow obtained a black ski-cap, and it had an impressive collection of guns and grenades, accompanied by hundreds of ammo clips, which were all strapped onto belts that were slung over the Grunt's tiny shoulders. Its methane tank seemed to be larger than its brethrens' that the Chief had seen. Before he could make any more assessments, though, a Covenant Elite came sprawling out of the bushes, followed by a massive Hunter. The Chief brought up his Assault Rifle and aimed at the Hunter, hoping to take it down first.
Covenant Dance saw this and shrieked, "Stop! Don't shoot!" at Master Chief.
He lowered the gun quizzically. "Why the hell not! They're about to attack us!"
The Spartan looked over and watched the Elite, who had successfully made his way to the Grunt. It picked up the small creature and squeezed it so hard, the Chief thought the little thing might explode.
"Robby! What were you thinking! You coulda been killed!" it cried in amazingly understandable human English. Oddly enough, the Elite paused, dropped the Grunt, and looked over at Master Chief.
"I forgot to introduce you guys," Covenant Dance smiled. "The Grunt over here is Robby Lee, the rookie Elite is called Reet, and the Hunter is named Biggums."
Biggums growled, most displeased at his nickname.
"Hold on a second, this doesn't make any sense," Cortana mused. "First of all, if you guys are really Heretics, then how come you're in standard Covenant armor?"
"Umm... I dunno," Robby mumbled.
"Second," Cortana pointed to Reet, "if you're just a rookie, then how come you're in black Spec-Ops armor? What about you? I didn't even know the Covenant had Heretic Hunters. And you, the Grunt, where the hell did you get that ski cap? Also, why do you have a bigger methane tank than the others? And why can the three of you speak perfect English?" she prattled on. "Not to mention that you all sprang free of the prison– how did you manage that? AND you three opted to cooperate with a human– HEY! STOP THAT!" Cortana yelled suddenly.
Everyone turned to see Reet the Elite (HAHA I RHYME) chewing on a Marine's rifle. The soldier cried out and flailed like a salmon.
"Buh...but... I was hungry..." whined the Elite.
"And how does that fill your stomach?" the Chief asked.
"It's nutritious!" Reet sang.
Before the AI could open her mouth to say anything, Biggums interjected, "No, it's true; at least, for him. In fact, that's how we got out of the prison– Reet ate through the walls."
There was a long pause.
"... WHAT?" Cortana screamed.
"Well, whatever. We're following you all, and that's that," Covenant Dance said in response.
Fuck, the Chief thought bitterly. Now I've seen everything.