Humanity's tenacity in the face of great adversity was always inspiring to Vert. This 'Covenant' faction seemed hellbent on the complete extermination of the human 'UNSC'. It did not matter to the Covenant whether the human was a child, civilian, elderly, or wounded. In the several firefights Vert had been through, Vert had seen noncombatants shot, blown up, physically ripped to pieces, and beaten down without mercy. It shook Vert to her core seeing such brutality against innocent people that were just trying to flee from the battle. The Console War at least had integrity when it came to prisoners of war and civilians, but these aliens had no such honor. The viciousness they gave to the UNSC, Vert returned it in equal measure. Although the UNSC soldiers were not on equal footing with a goddess like her, they were no slouches on the battlefield either.
"Eyes in the sky, we got Banshees incoming!"
Victor and Vert were engaged in another ground battle against Covenant infantry. Every firefight had them at a disadvantage in numbers, but Vert more than made up for their numerical disadvantage. However, with the addition of enemy air support, this battle might not end well in their favor. Vert once again cursed this world for removing her ability of flight, otherwise those aerial targets would be no threat to her or her UNSC allies. There were three in total raining blue bolts on their position. Vert managed to get in cover alongside Victor, but two soldiers were not so lucky. They were stunned by the projectiles enough that one Banshee fired a green fiery missle at the pair which hit one trooper that caused several pieces of their body to fly everywhere. The other female soldier was blown back, but was assuredly dead already from the several rapid fire energy bolts she took that burned through her armor.
"We don't have any damn anti-air weapons to deal with those fucking Banshees!" Victor cursed loudly as he peeked out from cover and shot at the advancing Grunt squad.
"Those plasma pistols! I've seen the Grunts charge it up and fire at vehicles!" One trooper shouted as they were reloading their weapon and sliding into cover with Vert and Victor. "Those pistols can stun anything that is electrical! "
"Pretty sure they'll dodge it if they see it coming." Victor remarked before grunting. "But I get what you're trying to suggest."
"If that's what we have to do, I will grab that Covenant pistol and do what I can to hit the aircraft with a charged shot." Vert spoke up, dropping her DMR and empty ammo pouches off her person.
"You would have made for one hell of an ODST, Vert." Victor said as he pulled out a blue plasma grenade the Covenant used. "We'll provide covering fire for you against the infantry while you go for the plasma pistols. If you can hit it, I've got a good throwing arm for sticking the Banshees with one of these. Go!"
Vert ran out from cover and sprinted to the dead Grunts' weapons. One of the Banshees took notice of Vert and targeted her, but the goddess obtained the alien pistol off the ground. It felt weird holding the weapon, but Vert already had an idea of how to grip and fire it. Vert grunted as her energy shield absorbed the impact from the Banshee's energy bolts, but her shielding was taking too much damage. In addition to grabbing the plasma pistol, she had picked up a Covenant grenade and activated it. Vert tossed the blue flaming explosive at the Banshee, but the pilot of the aircraft performed an aerial roll to evade the grenade. That was just what Vert wanted as she had been charging up the plasma pistol during the grenade toss and fired the charged bolt where she anticipated it evading.
"Now, Victor!" Vert shouted as the Banshee was struck by the charged shot. It fell low enough for the ODST and the other soldier to toss their plasma grenades and stick the vehicle before the pilot regained control.
The explosion of the Banshee brought joy to Vert's heart, but that seemed to anger the Brutes who came out of cover to charge at Vert with gunfire from their 'spiker' carbine. Vert dodged as much as she could while retreating, but the shield gauge emptied after it deflected a few rounds. Diving into cover of a small wall, Vert panted heavily as her shield gauge flashed bright red. Vert was thankful for the strength of her shielding because she would not want any of those spiker rounds impaled into her body. The moment of respite Vert had was cut short when a Brute appeared around her cover, attempting to strike her down with the bladed side of the spiker. Vert avoided the melee attack and fired her plasma pistol at its eyes, blinding the Brute as she dropped the Covenant pistol to pry the Brute's weapon from its hand and emptied the remaining magazine into its chest. For the finishing blow, she jammed the blades of the gun into its head which finally knocked the alien down.
"We got Falcons!"
"Fuck 'em up, boys!"
"Hell yeah! Light those bastards up!"
The sounds of rotors above caused Vert to look up as her shields started to recharge. Vert watched the 'Falcon' airships fly overhead and destroy the remaining Banshees as well as mowing down the Brutes still out in the open. A battle that had started out in a disadvantage had quickly turned in their favor with a stroke of good luck. Vert breathed a sigh of relief as she regrouped with Victor and the remaining UNSC army troops. Victor was holding the side of his helmet with one hand as he looked up at the Falcons hovering over them. Vert was curious as to why the Falcons were not descending down as it would have been nice to take a break from all the walking and shooting.
"Thanks for the assist, flyboys." Victor spoke through what was probably a radio attached to his armor.
While Victor spoke to the pilots above, Vert dashed for the assault rifle and ammo pouches on the dead trooper that had been hit by the green explosive shell. Looking at the lifeless eyes of the UNSC soldier, Vert tilted the helmet to cover their eyes. Though Vert could fend for her own and these soldiers did their best to live to fight another day, casualties were always definite in wars. Standing back up, Vert returned to Victor and the other remaining survivors as Victor motioned to follow him.
"We got to hoof it west of here to the nearest hospital. Those Falcons are part of an air convoy evacuating the last of the civilians to the Alexandria Starport. Their last stop is that hospital, which means if you don't want to walk out of the city or dig a really deep hole, we're double timing it!"
Vert did not need to be told twice and kept the pace alongside Victor. Despite Victor talking the way he always has been since they met, something in his body language was off to Vert. Victor only glanced at her once and she nearly caught him staring, but he turned away and returned his attention forward. Vert was confused as to why he was acting this way all of a sudden until it occurred to Vert that during their past few firefights, Vert never got hit which meant her energy shields had been a secret until now. As far as Vert knew, the only ones with shields like hers were the Covenant soldiers known as the 'Elites' which she fought very few of since there were more Brute squad encounters than Elites.
"You with ONI, Vert?" Victor finally asked. "Thought I had you figured out as some former mercenary on retirement here in New Alexandria. That theory flew out the window when I saw your energy shield shine when you took hits from the Banshee's plasma cannons that would normally kill a person."
"I'm not with ONI." Vert answered his question before directing her own. "Should I know them if I have this shielding technology on me?"
Victor went quiet as if he were contemplating the sincerity of her answer. Vert was unsure whether her answer was the best choice or not, but honesty was needed right now with her current allies. Judging by the way Victor worded 'ONI' and their significance, ONI was possibly in charge of research and development of military assets for the UNSC. Vert should have thought more carefully about responding. Worst case scenario would be Victor assuming she stole top secret military technology and be sent to UNSC prison or a fate much worse than imprisonment. UNSC were her allies right now and Vert was hoping to keep her relations that way until she found a way back to Gamindustri.
"I'll take your word for now, Vert. ONI spooks always keep secrets to themselves, even from each other." Victor finally spoke up. "For all I know, you could be a damn ONI sleeper agent. Either way, I'm just glad to have someone like a Spartan backing me up."
If they're comparing me to a 'Spartan', I can assume it is the UNSC's equivalent of a super soldier.
Perhaps Vert might meet one and see if the comparison held merit.
Rage in battle was a double-edged sword. Depending on how far gone one's anger consumes a person, any measure of self-preservation or sense are tossed right out the window. The alien fighting IF was practically suicidal in their attempts to gut her. On one hand, it made their attacks very easy to see coming and dodge. On the other hand, IF was unable to retaliate properly with how many slashes and stabs they were throwing at her. IF thought she had more of an advantage with the energy sword's longer reach, but the one moment their weapons clashed brightly, IF was forced back easily. The strength of the energy daggers and physical strength from the alien itself told IF she could possibly die the next time they clashed again.
Waiting for blood loss to slow it down is taking way too long. I just need one good opening!
IF then had an idea as she started leaping back a few times to create space. This plan IF had in her head relied completely on how overly enthusiastic the alien was. The large figure in white armor burst into a sprint once more to close the distance. IF turned and ran towards the hospital building's walls, panting heavily as she pushed past her usual speed to avoid the alien catching up completely. IF glanced back at the alien pursuing her and then the wall she was running towards and grinned as everything was going exactly how she wanted.
Here goes nothing!
The alien did not expect IF to wall flip over them as their energy daggers pierced into the building's surface. It would not see anything beyond that because IF sliced off the head off. IF landed in a kneeling position, not even looking behind her as she heard the thud of the creature's body hitting the floor. Deactivating the sword, IF stored the weapon in her coat before spotting something she did not want to see anytime soon. It was the tank from before that destroyed the bridge earlier and the blue ball that it just shot into the air meant it had spotted her. It was ridiculous for IF to be running back into the very same building she had been trying to escape from.
Did I get inflicted with a bad luck curse when I went through that portal or something!?
"Son of a bitch!"
IF normally wasn't one for profanity, but even she had her limits when it came to getting stressed and pissed off. She had nearly been blown to pieces again, sent flying back through the doorways of the hospital she just left, and now that very same exit was blocked by rubble. To make matters worse, she could feel the blood seeping out from her knife injury in the back. IF felt very justified cursing out loud, even if it meant drawing unwanted attention. She had a very powerful weapon that was made for close combat, so any alien freak that wanted to get cut down were welcome to find her.
I need to find some bandages or something first.
There were still dead bodies and weapons on the ground from the other aliens she killed before. One weapon had weird purple shards sticking out of the top of its round frame, but IF settled for something she already knew the functions of. Dual wielding two 'energy pistols', she started exploring the building for medical supplies to patch herself up. IF made sure to stay clear of any halls with windows as that tank was still out there shelling the building. There were quite a few areas that were dark or had flickering lights which meant the aliens had damaged the power source in this place. Backup generators were probably on, which really told her how much of a beating this hospital was taking.
This is the first bit of good luck I've had so far. IF smiled upon entering a room where she could see racks and bins displayed on shelves with anything and everything for healing injuries. The floor was messy with items that probably fell with every shake of the building getting hit. Wait, why did the shelling stop?
IF could hear the sounds of gunfire and rotary machine noises outside. Whoever they were, IF would count them as allies and hoped they were here to rescue any survivors in the hospital. Discarding her jacket and placing her new weapons on it, IF saw the blood had stained her jacket's interior which saddened her. IF doubted she would have the luxury to mend the hole in her jacket and wash the bloodstain off anytime soon. She sat down on the ground and applied pressure on the wound with one hand while using the other to hold the alien pistol and point it at the door. Closing it would have probably been more suspicious to any aliens still around in the building, so IF settled to keep an eye on it and blast anything not human that passes by or investigates the room.
At least I'm not dying of blood loss. I have to find another exit. IF began dressing the injury once the bleeding stopped. Standing back up, IF put her jacket back on, grabbing the other alien pistol and returned into the hallways. She saw more doors and dead human bodies, but something made her pause among the corpses she passed. Kneeling down, IF listened closely to the sounds and heard faint whimpering. Pushing bodies around, IF found a child that had been under one pile with tears running down their shut eyes. A little girl who looked strangely familiar to IF with shoulder length short hair, a brown and white sweater with a skirt, and low-cut shoes with hearts on the straps.
"Kid, we need to go." IF spoke which prompted the girl to open her eyes and look up at IF. "Stick with me and I'll keep you safe, okay?"
"O-okay."
That voice...
"...Compa?"
One single response was all it took for IF to confirm this strange familiarity IF felt with the child. There were obviously some differences in colors that matched more with this world's humans, but the similarities between this child and the Compa from her world were there. Judging by the surprised and confused look on Compa's face, the little girl did not expect a stranger to know her name. IF had several questions now about the idea of counterparts and where her own might be, but she wasn't going to get her answers right now or from Compa.
"How do you know my name, Miss?" Compa asked. "Were you friends of my mom and dad?"
"I know of them by name, but never met them or knew they had a daughter." IF lied because she couldn't really tell this Compa the truth of IF's situation. "Where are they?"
Compa's eyes started to tear up again as she pointed at the two bodies IF had pulled off Compa previously and IF wanted to slap herself in the face. Speaking of faces, Compa's parents took shots to the face that were seared to the point of being indiscernible. IF put down her pistols and gave the young Compa a hug, which the girl accepted and returned. The child wanted to sob, but Compa knew this wasn't the time to break down while there were still potential dangers nearby. IF's Compa and this child version of her shared the same levels of bravery and that made IF smile as she patted Compa on the head. Energy pistols back in IF's hands, she motioned Compa to stay at her back as the pair began moving.
"I'll get you out of here alive, I promise."
IF would never be able to look at her world's Compa in the face otherwise.
Being a traveler of dimensions, MAGES. was no stranger to odd sights and different types of beings. However, the most surprising aspect of this world was the disabling of their magical abilities. If MAGES. had a fraction of her powers, these Covenant beings would be running for their lives at the sight of her. The fact that this world impaired both Cave and herself of their usual abilities in Gamindustri meant they really did not belong here. They were more outsiders than the aliens running about and that was saying something. MAGES. had no doubt in her mind that Vert and IF were probably limited in their ability too, wherever they may be in New Alexandria.
Not to mention our outfits are hardly normal compared to the other people in this world. MAGES. looked between her own outfit and Cave's. They may not say it, but we probably look ridiculous in their eyes.
"Friendlies ahead! They've got trouble and lots of them!" Marcus' shouting brought MAGES. attention back to the front of their group.
"Move to assist!" Ethan motioned the other soldiers to follow his lead. "MAGES., Cave, stay with the civvies! I need two volunteers to stay behind with them. Everyone else, let's go!"
MAGES. had no problem following those orders as she preferred to stay out of combat. Especially considering how vulnerable she felt without her powers active. Cave followed the order like the soldier she was and understood the importance of protecting those who were unable to fight. Their travel through the warzone of New Alexandria led the group towards a building known as the 'Traxus Tower'. According to Marcus who picked up communication through a radio in their equipment, ships were on the way to the tower evacuate any and all possible survivors to a 'starport' where transports were waiting to taking civilian and wounded off the besieged planet. MAGES. would gladly take a ship off this planet away from the fighting, but not without her other companions.
I can only hope IF and Lady Green Heart are heading the same way to this starport as us.
"Covenant dropship! Wait, are those-? Drones!"
"Oh hell, everyone push towards the building! Now!"
The soldiers that had been shouting just contradicted the Ethan's orders. When MAGES. looked in the direction the man had started firing at, she looked up into the air to see a Covenant ship floating overhead. Its bay doors were opened and a swarm of flying creatures flew out and were shooting plasma energy down at them. Some civilians were hit by the enemy fire as they were running to the Traxus tower where another big firefight was already ensuing. MAGES. took aim and fired, but she was not as proficient with firearms as the soldiers and Cave. Only two shots managed to hit and stun one flying insect enough for someone else to take it out.
"Somebody help me! I can't get up!"
MAGES. turned to the pleading voice to see a man who had been shot in the left leg and shoulder. The energy bolt had burned through their clothing and into their skin and MAGES. winced at the sight. After reloading her weapon, MAGES. moved to help the man up, offering her shoulder as support and helped him towards the Traxus tower building. One of the aliens called a 'Grunt' noticed her and raised its weapon up in her direction, but was pelted by several bullets. Looking to see who had protected MAGES. was none other than Cave who simply nodded her head and motioned MAGES. to keep moving. Cave charged ahead of her to help clear the way.
"Cave, Brute with a hammer on your right!" MAGES. shouted as she shot at the leaping simian, but its protective shielding deflected her bullets. "Look out!"
Cave turned to fire at the incoming attacker, but no bullets came out. She leaped back, but wasn't far enough when the Brute's hammer struck the ground. The shockwave was enough to send Cave flying back and rolling across the floor. Cave did not get back up immediately, but MAGES. had more pressing matters as the Brute turned its attention to her. MAGES. wanted to reload, but that meant dropping the person she was holding. The Brute ran straight for her until she saw a grenade land in its path, knocking it back as its shielding gave out. A soldier with a shotgun unloaded shells into the Brute before tossing another grenade to finish it as its body and parts of it flew.
"I got your friend!" The trooper told MAGES. as he ran to pick up the unconscious Cave. "Keep going!"
"Watch your fire, men! Civilians in the crossfire!" Another soldier shouted manning a turret near the doorway into the building. "Get them into the building now!"
MAGES. set down the man just inside the interior of Traxus and reloaded her weapon. The trooper carrying Cave set her down on an empty bench and MAGES. moved to check up on the redhead. Cave woke up with a jolt, looking around confusedly before relaxing as she realized she was no longer in danger. The soldier nearby offered the assault rifle back to Cave and she took the weapon back with a grateful nod. MAGES. was relieved that Cave was fine save for a few minor bruises when she had been bouncing off the hard pavement. The trooper returned back to the outside as more civilians made it inside the building.
"I am sorry for not being able to help you there. Especially with my...limited firepower." MAGES. waved the pistol before lowering it.
"It was out of your control." Cave dismissed the apology as she reloaded her weapon. "In terms of firearms, I prefer ones with more range and power. Sadly, the sniper rifle I had broke from enemy fire."
"I am assuming this was before we reunited?"
"Not long before. It was because of the Jackal sharpshooters that were still nearby the building that we found you and Ethan in."
"Ah, I see...Well, I am sure there is bound to be another sniper rifle somewhere." MAGES. assured Cave with a pat on the redhead's shoulder.
Ethan and Marcus had entered the building and spoke to another soldier, who MAGES. assumed to be a commanding officer. MAGES. noted that there were fewer civilians than when they had fled, so that told her that many were unsuccessful in their attempts to get to safety. MAGES. felt pretty lucky she avoided enemy fire while helping another civilian into the building. Cave stood up and MAGES. followed where she was looking to see Ethan, Marcus, and a few soldiers behind them approaching the pair. Marcus had a sniper rifle in one hand and presumably ammo pouches in it for the weapon in question.
Speak of the sniper rifle and it shall appear...
"We're heading to the floor above us via elevator since it is about to be overrun with Covenant forces. Another civilian group is on the way here from that floor." Ethan explained before looking at Cave. "Marcus says you're a good shot with a sniper rifle, Cave. I don't feel right asking this after you nearly took a hammer blow from a Brute, so you can refuse."
"I am willing." Cave discarded her assault rifle before looking at MAGES.. "Are you staying here?"
"I was hoping to, but seeing as you are diving into danger already...I will come along. I will be taking your old weapon."
MAGES. swapped her pistol for the assault rifle that Cave left behind. At least now MAGES. had a better chance of hitting things with more ammo in the gun than eight measly rounds of a pistol. A female trooper picked up the pistol MAGES. left behind and holstered it for herself while Marcus gave the long barreled rifle to Cave along with its ammunition. The group jogged to an elevator where the remaining injured civilians were waiting their turn to ride the elevator. Once everyone was in, MAGES. took the time to inspect her new weapon properly as the platform closed its doors and went up. The weapon was obviously heavier in comparison to the pistol, but at least it had more power behind it and she could visually see how much ammo was left in the rifle with a display screen on the weapon.
"Repeat that, Evac Team 7? You picked up what?" Marcus asked over their radio before turning to Ethan. "A Spartan just showed up out of nowhere and is helping them advance on Traxus Tower."
"Where the hell did they come from?" Ethan asked with a raised brow before shaking his head. "Well, that doesn't matter. I'm not going to complain about getting one as backup. We're going to need their help anyway if the Bullfrogs' plan is going to work."
Whatever conversation those two were having was lost on MAGES. as they spoke of a 'Spartan' and 'Bullfrogs'. She had her theories, but MAGES. did not want to presume anything until she had the evidence to back up what she was thinking. As the elevator doors opened, MAGES. mimicked the pose the soldiers held using the same weapon.
The time for thinking is over.
There was Covenant to kill.
What's up, Nep and Halo fans. Another chapter brought in for you to read. I'm not going to lie, but some complications happened with the third chapter. So if you're noticing a decrease in even more poor quality than usual, that's why. Still, I pushed myself to overcome my hurdle or you guys would not see another chapter until at least next year. That's how bad I lost my motivation when trouble brewed for chapter three.
Anyway, that's enough of my rambling. As you can see, we're starting to kick the story into gear and crossing over into Halo Reach's campaign proper plus Neps involved. You'll also notice I took liberty with encounters as Drones didn't really show up until the New Alexandria level in that one building.
Onto responding to Chapter 2 reviewers:
MacrotheAcro: Yeah, IF and all the Neps are inbound for more trauma still. It's just IF is getting more introduced to it more than the others. Thanks for reading though and I hope you'll continue to comment on the Neps adventure through the Halo universe.
Lord of Moons: I still haven't figured out how I plan on having Highcom on Reach learning about them considering they have the whole planet to worry about. But you can bet that the Neps will be involved in the section with the Civilian transport section of Exodus. That's where their path will diverge again from the canon path where Noble Six goes to assist Duval with the missle batteries.
AtagoNist: Yeah, it's a bit brutal with it being a war and not being limited to gameplay. And we have not even reached Halo Combat Evolved yet and any Halo fan knows what we get introduced to there that changes everything. I'm glad you're enjoying this and hope you keep reading what I can give out.
Okay, that's all the current reviewers for Chapter two at the time of writing this. I will see you all in the next chapter, which will hopefully be written faster. But we are approaching the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I'll just have to see how the writing developments go. Thank you all for reviewing, favoriting, and following! It is always appreciated and loved, trust me on that.
This is 4K0T4K signing off for now. Later!
