Chapter 4:
Ending a phase
My name is Vellen And today I came as closer to death than ever before.
For some reason I thought I would ether die at the hands of a brute.
Or in a green field.
A moment before the blow that would kill me
We, the ship, hit something… hard.
The first hit flattened the hall way.
If I wasn't on my back I would of died with the brutes.
Then It went black an memories stood in cloaks, telling there stories, my story.
"Kallon? Kallon? Why did you scar me?"
Why do I still trust him?
"I... I didn't mean to…Vellen I am, so sorry"
He never meant to hurt me…
But he did…the pain
And I stop at his door, everyday…
I want to go in but…
The pain...
Markus Smiled, as he hung from the rafters watching the killer squad that had just swarmed the room he was in. Now he hung from his feet, as seven Brutes and four Jackals searched the small room. He looked at his watch five minutes left.
Speaking in a voice that spawned fear he whispered "I don't have time for you" and dropped two grenade pins.
"What that!" a Brute yelled hearing the sharp ping of steal on steal
"My debt to you" Markus spoke in his with his rough knowledge of Covenant basic dropping the grenades and crawling up for more cover.
The Brutes searched the room for the noise but only found two strange orbs, the commander picked them up trying to determine what they were. A moment later he and his companions were colored splotches on the wall.
Dropping down among the smoke and blood he moved to the door across the room. Above it glowed the Covenant symbol for "Bridge" lucky him, there was a shrapnel puncture hole next to the door about the size of his fist. Looking through he saw many, to many brutes to take alone.
"Status report" Markus said into his radio.
"Four and Five here, nearing you position"
"Ten, Eleven, Twenty-three and two Spartans, at the door to the bridge on the starboard side Master Chief is coming up on are position as well.
Markus waited a moment for two and Three to check in then sighed "Alright everybody, no heroics, we open the door firing squad style, no exsplosives, we need the equipment, and for god sakes, shoot them not the controls, the more we leave for ONI, the longer our shore leave. Kris and Chelsie, came up behind him crouching on either side. "What now boss?"
"We kill"
Domar felt the pin-pricks of anger swelling up and down his spine. Not only had a small boarding party of humans gotten all the way to the bridge making him pull all non necessary personnel off there stations and given them plasma rifles, his crew was near mutiny after a Jackal brought a rather horrific story back with his broken body to sick bay. And to make maters worse, the humans seemed to have a new weapon, no one knew what it did but the Neutrino readings from a few humans ships were off the chart.
Why wont they die already? We would be on the way to the Great Journey long ago if it wasn't for there bumbling efforts at survival!
His options were bleak. He was loosing ships as fast as he could shoot them down. And now a force that he new was stronger than him was outside the door, he would not admit it, but the feeling was there. Brushing up against him, bumping into him in his crowd of thoughts. He was near berserk, and was straining to suppress it.
On the other side of the door Markus clicked his radio twice, and it began to rain lead. At both sides of the Bridge doors cycled open and glowed with a blaze of automatic fire.
Domar through his weight into the Brute shot letting it slide him back, slide him back, and then walking slightly forward as he reloaded it. He was accompanied by three Brothers, A moments time and one took a Projectile blast that severed one of his leg, but as a tribute to his strength, he kept on firing. Then a Human vaulted his way forward burying two blades in the Poor Brute's neck, ripping them out horizontally, red lines casted onto the walls better than any brush could paint. Next the Brute on the left to Domar dropped to his knees, a gaping hole in his skull. Domar threw himself to the ground, using the corps of his war brother as cover his Brute shot was suppressing the larger group, but three humans from the other door were rushing to cover at one of the com stations. Domar thought fast, and primed a (Plasma Grenade) (holly flair).
Markus dived for the cover spot siring plasma burning into his shoulder. sliding into his new cover he found it occupied by a hiding Brute. Markus placed both barrels of the his pistols against the chest of the Animal and squeezed the triggers three times. The thing wheezed blood, and found Markus's eyes. Orange dots glowed in the Brutes, Markus saw his own eyes glow in the Beasts dieing thoughts and knew fear was all the Brute felt.
Chelsie ran to his position, thrown two feet in the air by a brute shot projectile exploding near her. she slid into the station on her shoulder plate, s shimmer of sparks.
"Sir, your hit!"
"Tell me something I don't know, were the hell is Kris?" Looking up he saw Kris sprinting to their position. looking strait ahead, not to the side, not to the threat.
A blue white ball burned to his chest and kris new he was dead, his eyes wide.
A moment he stood there. Then he dropped his shotgun, and ran. Ran forward ran strait into the white heat of a brute shot's projectile passing through his gut, passing through like his flesh was water. Screaming the hole time he ran up to the ramp. Screaming he lunged at the Brute. Then he was quite. Pure silence in the room.
Kris giggled once in the dark room void of sound. and the grenade detonated.
UNSC Custer Battle of Dállidis: duration eighteen minutes.
The combined force of the Elite and UNSC ships had established a perimeter and like clockwork, the Brute ships tightened into a ball taking a hit, returning to the inside to regain shields, and coming back out to shoot, and be shoot. Mitchell Logan looked down at his watch and cursed to himself for his stupidity. His watch was unreliable after being in zero gee, and he hadn't reset it yet.
"One minute and forty-five seconds. To detonate on time we will have to launch in twelve seconds."
"Any word?"
"25 mission success rate"
"Its done" Mitchell removed his spectacles, rubbing the bridge of his nose "fire at will"
Out of the front of the ship three perfectly black bullets swam into the void. Under no power but inertia, the three novas would find there way to the ball of ships, melting them over like butter in flame. The thought would of made the Captain smile, if it wasn't for the men and women that were some ware in that hive of ships.
UNSC Custer based Dart crew, Onboard primary target. Battle duration, 18.5 minutes.
Chelsie rounded the corner calling out to Markus "bridge secure and barricaded!"
"Understood, Take tactical." Markus mumbled while holding optic cables in his mouth, applying his hacking terminal to the NAV station as fast as he could. "Spartans, apply your AI's to the ships computer core, we need to get out of here ten minutes ago!"
Taping the last of the system he ran the inscription cipher. On the massive holo structure next the main screen a Blue skinned elf in a scarlet cloak sat next to a pool were lines of code rippled away from her. there was a minor lurch, the hum of engines.
"Were moving!" Markus was starting to wonder if he was indeed going to survive this.
The elf was staring into the water, sending off blue ripples with her finger when a crimson ripple returned to her, she looked up eyes wide with fear "Hold on to Something!" the ship lurched to the side throwing everybody several feet. Markus could see stars on the Main screen. He pushed the engines to red, a contrail of ions billowing behind them. Out of the ball of ships There's shot strait out, like the human rocket ships of old. Spiraling away in the silence of space. the movies always show space as a loud place. but it is early silent. On the main viewer the ball of ships hung in space, then white light, light that acted as sand covering everything. a massive ball of white, that faded to blue, yellow, red, and finally to darkness, darkness void of ships. Humans did this? About time.
"Dart Crew to supper frigate Custer: mission accomplished"
"Glad to hear it bananas, marking your ship as UNSC friendly, the ONI spooks are acting like its Christmas!"
The radio crackled again, "what name do you give the ship?" The question caught Markus off guard, he remembered his CO on his first mission given the same honor, called the damn thing "The Fluffy" now he stood there, hiss boots sticking to the floor with all the blood, the corpses every ware, he spotted a mangled raiment of Kris, just an arm, with a tattoo on it, probley the biggest peace of him left.
"The Christopher" Markus smiled and knew Kris would approve. "Also I need a heavy strike team to clean out some rats onboard my ship."
Truthful Flower, Dállidis
Kallon... Kallon! "Kallon!" Vellen woke in a haze, nothing was here she remembered except-
"Tilipi. nice to see your alive."
"don't mention it"
"Were?"
"Dállidis, Primary continent"
"Primary... continent"
"crash landing, hello? anybody home?"
memories "The crash..." Vellen rubbed the spot on her neck, Coming instantly awake, were was it? were was the necklace? if others new she would be…
"This is yours" Tilipi said, handing Vellen the crafted gold. Vellen reached for it, but found herself to week, sat back down.
"Come on, we should get out of here, a lot of people need these beds" Tilipi was hanging the chain around Vellen's neck as he spoke.
"Tilipi, I cant move, it hurts to much" her lips tasted like copper and it felt like smoothing that wasn't her was keeping her guts together.
"I'll give you a hand to the grav-walkway" said a slender human female. human? Vellen was not only confused but inspired to see a human not carrying arms against her.
As the human took Vellen's shoulder and walked her out of the green hut along lines of similar huts, she asked "Tilipi what is this place?"
"Their called me-deks, humans are quite the masters of herb lore. Their helping with the recovery of the ships crew" Tilipi was manipulating the controls of the grav-walk as the human set Vellen down on the base of the Grav walk, Vellen crumpled her legs underneath her, sitting in the fetal position.
Her head tilted back she started to look about herself. The blue sky above her was a warm bright color accented here and there with white. As the gravity of the planet was altered by the repulsion field she sat on, her head fell forward her vision following along without any specific task. She was on the top of a massive granite batholiths, the very top of a dome sticking out of the earth, and from visible end to end was longer than a curser stern to bow. The ground was thick with green forest, the horizon and the surrounding area was doted with the domes, white, in a world of green and blue.
Sitting among the trees like a beached fish the 'flower lay at the end of a short scar in the forest, the top was in relatively good condition, but the bottom was mangled, its inereds thrashed apart.
"How, many... died?"
"300, twenty percent of the crew" The grav-walk took them in a strait line across to the ship, hanging in air on a purple force-field above a forest. Helpless, week, Vellen cried.
Custer, Geo-sinkranis Orbit of Dállidis
Markus let walked into his dart bay. All the lights were out. Mechin and Chelsie were playing cards under grey lunar light casted from the moons above them. They saw him.
They saw what he was carrying.
The dart room was cold, separated from space by five centimeters of glass. Under the moon light Markus opened a dart. One by one he placed in a dog tag.
One by one.
He read the names aloud as he set them in their tomb.
Twenty two names.
Twenty three humans.
Kris's dog tag was welded into the captain's station were a ships dedication plaque would have been.
Markus closed the hatch to the Dart. The last six of his thirty men helped him wheal the dart to the MAC gun hatch placing it in the ordince tray. Turning to the Com, he pinged the bridge.
"Captain request permission to launch a dart"
"Permission Granted, one moment"
A whistle reverberated throughout the ship, and the captain spoke, simply and to the point. "aten-HUT salute port side!" Markus put two fingers to his lips, kissed them and placed them on the hatch as he closed it.
The ship shook with the acceleration of the dart. The black craft disappeared into the night.
Vellen came to a rest on the hull of the 'Flower. she managed to crawl off the grav pad, and sit in a heap on the silver metal of the hull. Her insides ached, and she was sure her leg was broken and newly set. After a moment a figure stood beside her. Warm to the touch,
warm to the touch
"Kallon. take me home"
"were is home?"
"with you Kallon. with you"
Vellen felt herself lifted in his arms, carried like a child.
"why didn't I forgive you a long time ago"
New York, New York, Earth.
Senator Anna Silverman Sat Next to Dendes, on a cafe just outside the Council chambers for the galactic Alliance of common beings. Anna like referring to it as G.A.B., and the name was sticking.
"We are attracting a lot less attention than on our precious lunch breaks" Dendes was a noticeably old, even for a Elite. His skin sagged slightly, and he seemed to have trouble standing at full height but his tone was carried the strength of a politician, even if his body did not.
"The hiding of the Covenant fleet within the atmosphere was not just a tactical decision." Anna flicked her hand skywards to the G.A.B. controlled Covenant ship that hung just above the city "people see the G.A.B. helping. They see us doing are part in the G.A.B. and the crews Allowed to come surface side when off duty. People are taking to this idea. Morale has been rock bottom for most of the war. People see hope, some for the first time in there life! do you know what that does to a population? In more rural areas Town governments are squabbling at each other over who gets to sponsor a Covenant craft!"
"Still my kind has destroyed all of your colony worlds. How do you justify eating with me?" Dendes put down his glass to greet a mutual friend Anna had waved over to the table.
General Mikola chuckled at this and sat down "actually we have six left, surprised you didn't know about them." Turing to the waitress "Green tea on the rocks, what don't give an old man that look!"
"When are you going to stop having so much fun old man?" Dendes grumbled between bites of halibut.
"When I Die, when else! How's your fish?"
"Delicious" The word almost didn't come out with all the chewing. He swallowed the last bit and ordered a cup of coffee.
"Why does you species like fish so much?" When Anna wanted to her Questions were so genuine you would expect them coming from a child.
"The short answer is it tastes like a delicacy from my Home-world"
"And the long answer?" Mikola said after draining his tee in a gulp.
"We actually hate fish from are Home-world, the closest thing I can think of it tasting like is a tough meat with the flavors of bug. we eat it only in dire situations. Your fish tastes like a land animal our species seamed to have evolved to hunt, or at least our society did. You see, the things are about six units, I mean three meters high... and they bite."
"Well go ahead eat your fish, there easier to catch. Unlike sleep. Is there any rivalry between your species Dendes?"
"No why?"
"Well, I have spent the last Few days dealing with more minor skirmishes than I have had to deal with for the last year, always the same thing, two Elites start brawling in public, in a bar, in a park, anywhere they wont hit anyone else basically. Its not enough to be a major issue I get one from each town hosting a G.A.B ship about every month. Its always the same A tall one and a –"
"A tall one and rough one" Dendes sighed and rubbed his forehead. "That's the most obvious, while not always accurate way of telling our species' genders apart. The fighting is not actual fighting, its sparing. No fiscal harm, just exertion at each other. To us its... Sexual."
Mikola coughed on the mint that came with the tab. Anna blushed. Mikola was going to say something when both Dendes and Anna's communicator started buzzing.
"Well there pulling on our leash. We have to get back to the assembly, the four species' voting councils have started debates on the afternoons agenda. We should do this more often Mikola." She shook Mikola's hand before walking off.
Laying on the Russian accent Mikola said "Well my friend, you represent the leader of the rabble rousing politicians representing humanity; I need be kissing up to you."
(green bird, The seatbelts)
Vellen Curled her legs beneath her wrapped in Kallon's best blanket. The ships angle made the slope of the window in Kallon's cabin a appetizing one. She sat there with the rain pattering on the window, letting the sound keep her warm. In the distance she saw the crackle of plasma from a training exercise. Kallon returned with a steaming bowl of stew, handing it to her with the greatest of care. Snuggling up against her, Vellen's face warmed. they sat together, letting themselves forget everything. forget the war.
"how long, do we stay here?" Vellen asked sipping on her stew then setting it aside wrapping her arm around Kallon, allowing him to find his way into the protection of the blanket.
"shorter than I want" Kallon fingered the spot were the human me-deks repaired a mortal wound in his side. "once the ship is striped of equipment, They want me to take a command crew to educate a human crew how to use covenant craft."
(end song)
Tilipi, Commander Tilipi stood on the bridge of the Falcon. He was alone.
His new white armor gave a unworldly look to him. he traced his hands along the edge of each holo panel. Com, tak, nav, Egn, he walked up to his station. a panel grater in size than his height. a view of the stars outside and the Jupiter shipyards. hovering to the side, watched Cassandra, his ships AI. Tilipi picked her above the available AI's for one reason; she respected his kind. In the floor next to his holo panel welded into the floor plating was the ship's insignia and name. The falcon.
"Cassandra, what… is the, a falcon?" Cassandra looked down fondly with green eyes, blue skin, and red hair. Her body was wrapped in a white robe that reminded Tilipi of a alpha female's garb.
"It's a bird of pray, a winged creature of extreme beauty. They specialize in hunting birds, sometimes larger ones, and land game." relevant pictures flashed onto the screen.
"And, do you think it a appropriate name for this ship?" Tilipi wondered how he ever got along without her council.
Cassandra glimmered with mathematic equations in a aura about her hologram. it seemed she was enjoying herself and had already thought of the answer. On the screen pictures of a serif fighter, a ONI stealth ship (against a white background), and the falcon. witch looked like ONI stealth ship with a spherical bulge in the center.
"Plasma weaponry is sickeningly more powerful then simple projectiles and explosives. And with there ability to maneuver it. its understandable why, not counting our resent technological advances, why we had a 24 success rate against the covenant fleet. The resent advances I was speaking of was our newfound information on plasma weaponry."
On the holo screen Pictures of plasma ejecting from a covenant ship and being warped into a significantly small point by what looked like the hulk of a human ship. Tilipi had heard all this before, at the briefing for his command. The ship was called the and was the escape vehicle for the Master Chief, a story declassified for morale.
"This ship," Cassandra lifted her hands identifying the mixture of covenant and human mettles around them, "Is a ship wrapped around a Fusion generator designed for capital ships!"
"I remember all this from the briefing, all two weeks of it, human power generators are much more powerful and with electricity based energy distribution, you can shunt more of it to a magnetic coil at once" Tilipi was trying his human designed captains chair, and found he liked standing more, and wrote down a note have it removed.
"Right, so now that we have the knowledge to create Covenant plasma emitters. This ship can put out four rounds a minute, and were talking capital ship level. Plus we have four Heathen class nukes at our use. Not to mention we don't show up on covenant sensors until we are within 25Km."
Tilipi dragged a pushed the overturned captain's chair over to the handrail in front of the main screen. Standing on it the railing was at waist level. And he shifted his weight over his hands this was his ship. And he was going to treat it well. In the back of his mind he remembered his mothers words. And thought of his duty to his ancestry.
"Plot a sub-light to mars naval. And send a message ahead of us for the crew to get there personal items in order for departure" Tilipi wrote down a second note for a raised platform to replace the overturned chair. He looked over his recommendations, the removal of individual serving areas in the already cramped mess. Leaving only one, food was food, no mater who you ate with. The randomizing of cabins and beds, ignoring rank and species, excluding the himself and the other grunts, witch he allowed to fill up his methane atmosphere Captain's cabin with cots since it was the only one on the ship.
"Commander Tilipi?" Cassandra turned to him as he uploaded the information from his pad to the ships computer. "The brass are going to have a fit with this."
"Then order the parts and the crew will do it during our first run. Have you seen the mess, we have a bridge crew and an engineer, that's it, and we can't even fit them in!"
"Your sure your up to this?" Kallon asked Vellen pulling on the gloves. They were crouched on the green grass of San Francisco Park. The strange earth trees twisting around them.
"I want to do this, and its are last day before our next tour. Do you know what ship there giving you?" Vellen was beside herself with joy that she hadn't felt in years. She was stretching out, her skin warming surprising quickly in the bright sun. "I want to spar, we haven't in so long."
"Vellen. I love you." Kallon made sure his gloves were on tight; they weren't to soften blows, but to keep claws from extending instinctively. "Ready."
Vellen dropped into an attack stance as her skin tinged a darker shade of blue, (a sign of emotional interest, think blushing) but kallon threw the first jab. Vellen dropped and twisted grabbing kallon's jab, pushing him backs lading on all fours five meters away.
Pulling up her head Vellen's eyes were blazing with warmth she had not felt in years. She ran, hoofs digging into the grass, strait at Kallon. She knew it was predictable, she was counting on it. Kallon saw it two and leaned forward.
Kallon, Kallon I'm going to love this Vellen's mind raced with the action
Pulling her had back for a punch Kallon pulled himself for a block. Seeing this Vellen froze her legs keeping her eyes open as she collided with the grass and rolled with feet upward she kicked up.
And hit air?
In a moment of recognition she only had time to brace. She had no idea were her love was but he out smarted her. And when that happened in sparing it was only a mater of time until-
The sound of flesh smacking flesh filled her ears, followed by the sound of wind. There was a moment of realization that she was nearly vertical, upside down, and moving sideways at high speed, then the thump of the trees. Vellen could only grin in ecstasy at how perfect his counter was.
Kallon crouched on his mate and held her arms in a pin.
"thastü!" Kallon spoke the ancient tung's word for dominance. The first count.
"Mailindiy" Vellen grunted the word Compassion. It was made difficult by the leg caught under her. But if she could...
Kallon took quick inhale to say the final word to end the spar when Vellen's body flexed between his legs bolting him skyward. As he lost his grip, Vellen turned between his legs to face him, moving with the grace of zero gee. With one arm she pressed Kallon to her. With the other she seized a branch of the tree they had now reached at the apex of the vertical jump. With gravity returning there bodies swung on Vellen's arm. As she let go kallon found himself looking past Vellen to sky not grass.
The mutual weight collided with the grass and Kallon found he was being held down by a position usually reserved for... more privet moments. Vellen's voice was hard to hear over her hot, heavy breathing. But after a moment she managed a raged-
"Thastü!"
Phase l- end