Author's Notes: Okay, I lied. Another part!
Chapter 14: Unexpected Company
Crash Site
By the time Karla and her company arrived at the crash site of the Covenant destroyer, the Marines instantly realized that they were now on salvage duty. The once sleek, teardrop shaped spacecraft was now a mangled heap of junk, like a squeeze toy that had seen a few too many years of abuse. The hull was once a deep purple, but now was an ugly black and brown. A result of the ship burning up in the atmosphere. Behind the destroyer, there was a large canyon that was gouged into the ground as the destroyer slammed onto the planet's surface. What surprised Karla the most though, was the fact that the ship was still fairly intact.
If that were a human-made ship, there wouldn't be much left to see.
As the convoy drew closer, Karla quickly began issuing orders to her new company.
"First platoon, I want you combing that wreckage and salvage anything you find. Second and Third, spread out and form a defensive perimeter around the crash site. Fourth platoon, go inside the ship and check it out for survivors.
There were a series of quick acknowledgements. None of the Marine's in the Death's Head Legion questioned her authority. Nearly every Marine in the company had either seen, or heard stories, about her combat career.
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In the service for over five years, Karla Wellings' CSV was very impressive and many in the UNSC praised her service. It was apparent she was skilled at defeating large, heavily armed enemy forces despite overwhelming numbers, and those tactics played a very large role in the Human-Covenant war, where such skills were needed. One note in her CSV described her participation in the Battle of Serim, where she held off a Covenant attack on Firebase Foxtrot with only forty Marines. She inflicted nearly two hundred Covenant casualties, with only the loss of thirteen Marines. Karla earned a Distinguished Service Cross for that action, and it would not be her last.
But what really made the Marines respect, or fear, her were the wild rumors that spread had spread around. One such rumor was the most popular, and the most debated. It started back before the Human-Covenant War, when the Marines were tasked with dealing with countless brushfire conflicts. It was during one of these conflicts that Karla ran into a Marine who was apparently drunk on duty. She attempted to reprimand the man, the inebriated Marine back-talked her, and made some very rude insults directed at her. What happened next is uncertain. Most Marines insisted that she lost her temper, pulled out a pistol, and shot the Marine in the head. But others say she beat the man within an inch of his life, and another claimed she went farther and beat the man to death. As it turned out, that Marine happened to be the son of a very high ranking UNSC official, which was why Karla never got past Lieutenant for the next five years.
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Of course, Karla had also heard of these rumors of herself circulating around.
If only it were that simple.
Karla got back to concentrating on the job. She hopped out of her Warthog and followed fourth platoon as they made their way into the Covenant destroyer. She wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. Also, she wanted to salvage any intact technology she could. Karla knew that it was only a matter of time before ONI had a team of their spooks swarming all over the place, and frankly, she felt very uncomfortable at the thought of having those guys running the show, so she would finish it before they could even start. Unfortunately, the hallways inside the destroyer were just as mangled and twisted as the ship was outside, and it was also pitch black, making the ship difficult to navigate.
Karla, who was trudging through with five other men from fourth platoon, was taking the rear when she accidentally stumbled on a piece of wreckage and fell over. She cursed under her breath and rose up to catch up with the other Marines.
The problem was, they were gone.
Apparently, the Marines did not even notice their own company CO, and more importantly, the person taking up their rear, had fallen behind.
Just goes to show you how much Armbruster loves to train his men.
Karla got up and tapped her helmet light. Nothing happened. The hall remained dark. Carefully, Karla felt around her helmet, and felt broken glass cut into her glove. Her helmet light was smashed.
Just fucking great.
As Karla checked her pockets for a spare light, she stopped. She swore she could hear breathing, and it was not hers.
Holy Ralamee was exhausted. He hoped that this was worth all the effort of crashing this ship into Aeola and nearly getting himself killed in the process.
He clicked his mandibles in annoyance. How was he supposed to find this human that enigmatic voice told him to find? To Holy, all humans looked alike. He had trouble discerning their physical features, much less their names.
Still, I have a duty to fulfill.
Holy pushed some more wreckage over, and heard a loud crash! And what sounded like a human cursing. Holy didn't know why, but he was drawn closer to this sound.
What am I doing?!
Carefully, Holy peeked around a corner, and even in the darkness, could make out the shape of a human. Though he wanted to just walk the other way, Holy's feet were firmly planted on the ground. He had the strange feeling, that odds against all odds, this was the human he was looking for.
Karla slowly reached down her belt and picked out a non-lethal concussion grenade. Carefully, she pulled the pin out, counted to three, tossed it into the air beside her, and dropped to the ground.
Holy barely had time to react to the object the human had flung at him.
I'm going to die!
Instinctively, Holy dove to the ground and covered his head.
The concussion grenade went off with a BANG!, and momentarily filled the hallway with blinding light. The moment it subsided, however, Karla was pointing her assault rifle on the Elite that tried to sneak up on her.
The problem was, the Elite also had a weapon lined up on her.
So there they stood. Both figures, standing in the darkness, waiting for the other to make the first move. Holy, keeping his plasma pistol trained on the human, took the opportunity to examine it more closely.
He discovered that this human was a female, from the shape and figure of her physical form. Furthermore, as indicated by the patches on her armor, she was an officer, but what caught Holy's attention was the nametag embroidered on her vest.
WELLINGS, KARLA
Suddenly, everything made sense now. The dreams, the voices, the clues they left. Everything funneled down to this one point. She was the one that could potentially help save him and his people.
Karla kept a careful eye on the crimson armored Elite. What surprised her was how differently this Elite behaved from the others she had fought. This one seemed more methodical, more intelligent.
"More human."
Karla shook the thought out of her head. At the same time, the Elite dropped its weapon and raised its hands.
What the hell?
"That is it-"
"-I surrender."
Holy had to shove his honor aside force the words out of his mouth. It was not because his mandibles weren't meant to convey human speech, but because he seriously doubted any Elites had said such words, as that would constitute heresy, but that didn't matter anymore. Holy had done enough "crimes" to punished by a fate worse than the quick clean death heresy deserved.
Karla, likewise, found it very hard to believe what the Elite was saying. Not the fact that it actually spoke English very well, but the fact that it wanted to surrender.
"Bullshit, I've seen Elites stop their own hearts rather than let a Marine touch their armor. What are you planning?"
The human still had her rifle trained on Holy. The Elite sighed in vexation.
"What can I do to earn you trust?"
Karla eyed the Elite carefully.
"Why would you want it?"
"I truly do not know."
Karla fought the urge to pull the trigger. There was something fishy about this Elite...
"Give me a good reason not to blow your brains out."
"Because you don't want to."
Karla lowered her rifle. It was like the damn thing could read her mind. The Elite walked forward and kept his arms raised.
"I come in peace. I have no weapons, and I have deactivated my shields."
"How do I know you won't try something?"
"If I do, then you can just shoot me. For it is you who is armed."
Karla thought a moment and nodded.
"My god, this day just keeps getting weirder and weirder..."
Holy gave the Elite version of a smile.
"Tell me about it."
Unknown Location
As the two warriors walked out of the destroyer, three unidentified beings watched on.
"I hope you know what you are doing, Scohar. Nobody has done anything like this in millenia, relying on mortals."
"If this plan fails, you risk dooming this galaxy, and us."
"But if we do nothing, then our doom is guaranteed."
"Are you positive that this plan will work?"
"Nobody other than Maya knows these mortals better. I am very confident in her abilities to provide guidance."
"It is not her abilities we are concerned with, Scohar. But rather, yours."
"I will protect them as necessary, Askaard. Even if it means sacrificing my own life."
"Are you prepared to bear such a burden?"
"Valkor, this problem was our doing. It is our duty to set it right again."
The other two beings nodded in agreement.
"Very well. I will relay your plans to the Elders. But you must remember, any violation of the Sacred Code will result in dire consequences."
"I understand the risks, Askaard. Until we meet again."
And in an eyeblink, the three beings were gone.