Alright so, here's the problem...
I have no clue if this is rated T anymore. I only had the rating set to T because that was what I had written thus far… but now I'm not so sure. Please let me know if I need to up the rating to M now, because this chapter gets a bit violent. More on that in the AN at the end.
Hey, it's war. Stuff happens.
Also, I will going back tonight and changing the chapter names. I always hated how they were just the generic "Chapter 1 … 2" Etc. I was always scared that I might spoil the chapter because of the name, but I had the bright idea to name the chapters after the names of OSTs for the games. Each of the OSTs are intended to set the mood for the chapter too, so feel free to listen to them while reading. Or not... I'm not your boss. :)
Enjoy!
-Chapter 11: Brutes-
The first thing I noticed was the smell.
The sharp scent of melted metal, similar to Timore's workplace burned into my nose. I knew that there was something hot enough to melt through armor nearby, but due to the fact that I didn't feel like I was on fire, I knew it was far enough away not to be able to harm me.
Next came the undertone of seared meat and freshly spilled blood.
Ignoring the newfound throbbing pain in my head and loud ringing in my ears, I opened my eyes. Immediately I saw the cold hard ground in front of me, causing me to become a bit confused as to where I was. Quickly realizing I am lying down, I push myself into a sitting position, causing bits of dirt and dust to fall onto the ground before I start to examine myself. I found debris ranging from dirt to small rocks covering me from head to toe, but thankfully I was whole.
Looking around, the only thing I could make out was a billowing cloud of smoke. No matter the direction I looked, I was met with the constantly shifting grey blanket of ash that prevented me from seeing anything. The only thing I could make out through the cloud were large shifting blue patches of plasma fire. Every once and a while I saw flashes of green, blue, and pink bolts of light whizzing through the smoke over my head.
The moment I took in a breath, I ended up in a coughing fit. The taste of dust and ash settling into the back of my throat, causing me to gag. My splitting headache and loud ringing in my ears decided to return with full force at that moment as I squirm on the ground coughing.
It was about then that I remembered the bombs.
Double checking to see if I still have my weapons, I found that Destiny was still strapped to my hip, but after a quick examination I realized I couldn't find my plasma pistol anywhere.
I was holding it when the bombs went off. Must have lost it in the blast.
Quickly checking the ground around me, I scramble around for a moment before a pink needle shard impacts the ground directly next to my hand. I could have sworn time itself froze for a moment as I stared at the highly explosive projectile mere inches away from my hand.
My hearing decided to return at that moment, the soft high pitched ringing disappearing at the exact point when the pink crystal exploded. The razor-like shrapnel shattered into thousands of pieces, impacting the exposed points of my armor causes me to grit my teeth in pain.
With the ringing in my ears gone, I could hear everything from the hundreds of plasma discharges to carbine fire all around me. The roaring blaze of the plasma fires filled the rare silences in between the rapid fire of weapons as I tried to find any sort of cover, only to find nothing within my extremely limited eyesight.
Scrambling away from the needle impact, I give up on trying to find my pistol. Quickly reaching down to my active camouflage module, I try to turn it on, only for it to let out a soft pop before letting out its own little puff of smoke.
Fantastic.
Stumbling to my feet, I bring one arm up to my muzzle as I try to catch my breath through the smoke, only to realize that my arm was bleeding a bit from the needle shrapnel. Doing my best to try and navigate my way around, I unclip Destiny with my other hand, but do not activate it. The billowing cloud was my only cover against whoever was shooting at me and I didn't want the bright orange blade to give away my position.
I didn't even make it a few steps before I stumbled over something and fell flat on my face. Squirming in pain on the ground for a few seconds, I spin myself around only to see the sprawled out and burnt form of a sangheili spec op. Charred and steaming holes from plasma fire littered the entire front side of his armor as his intricate curved mask stared motionless toward me.
Scrambling backward away from the dead body, I stare at the unmoving body for a moment. The elite was very obviously dead, but that took me a moment to fully process.
I've seen a dead body before on my father's Lich, but seeing one now, while I'm bruised and cut from enemy bombs and gunfire…
This is real.
I begin to hear all too clearly the sounds of hundreds of plasma rounds and needles smashing into targets. The guttural roars of pain from various aliens all screaming around me in pain reaching me as the fog around my mind clears.
Panicking, I stand up and run, trying to forget what I just saw. Adrenaline fills me completely as I begin to search around for someone, anyone.
Even as I ran through the smoke cloud, I couldn't help but shiver as I remembered the dead body of the spec op that I stumbled over. His neck bent in an unnatural slouch as his helmet stared lifelessly toward me.
No time to think about that now. I just need to keep moving and find the commander.
"You stupid four-jaws did not pay me nearly enough for this!"
I couldn't see very far in front of me, but the sound of a kig yar nearby caused me to whip my head towards the direction. Even through the ever present sound of gunfire and death around me, I recognized the voice.
It was the kig yar from the phantom.
Ally.
Running toward the direction, I manage to spot two forms in the smoke. The silhouette of a kig yar taking cover behind something, aiming a rifle out towards some unknown target was easily seen. The bright beam-like discharge of the focus rifle going off illuminating the area for a second before it faded.
However, behind the jackal was the massive towering form of a jiralhanae who was closing the distance to my ally extremely quickly in a feral rage. I knew simply because the jackal didn't react to the threat that he had no idea the brute was there.
Thankfully I was behind both of them.
Switching on Destiny, I launch myself toward the brute, catching him completely off guard. Stabbing my sword hilt deep into his back, I hear the brute roar in pain through the loud hiss of the blood vaporizing everything it touched. Not giving him any chance to retaliate, I wrench my weapon upward, cutting a clean slice all the way up to his shoulder nearly bisecting him in half.
The nearly boiling hot maroon blood of the simian creature splattered across the ground even as it began to evaporate, with a few droplets landing over my visor.
The brute fell to the ground without another sound, as I switched the blade off. The rancid smell of burned flesh hit me once again, but all the more fresh as I stared down at the dead jiralhanae.
The jiralhanae I killed.
After a moment, the amount of gunfire aiming in my general direction increased dramatically, causing me to dodge forward into the smoke, rolling up beside my ally.
They must have seen my sword.
Quickly shaking off the nausea that was rapidly building within my stomach, I looked over to the kig yar. I found that he was still focused entirely on shooting some unknown hostile. He let off another blast of his focus rifle into the smoke, after which I heard the distant sound of a jiralhanae's roar. Even with my advanced eyesight, I had no idea who he could possibly be shooting at.
Deciding to just get his attention, I call out to him with a single word, "Friendly."
The jackal whips around at my words, aiming his weapon directly at me. For a few moments, I could see his shoulders shake violently from his breathing. His mouth was open wide as he took in gulp after gulp of air.
How is he breathing so easily in this smoke?
Thankfully, he whipped the weapon back around and began aiming back toward the nothingness.
"Still alive, female? Figures."
Grunting, I respond as I glance up over the large upturned boulder we are taking cover behind. Looking up, I could see he was still scanning the surroundings. "Where is the commander?"
The jackal lets off another discharge of his weapon. "Who cares. Stupid sangheili didn't even recognize a trap when they saw one." He looks down to me as he shakes his head. "This whole mission was stupid! I bet there isn't even an artifa-"
He never got to complete his sentence as I watched as three pink shards slid neatly into his head. My eagle-like vision was able to pick up the exact moment the life left his yellow slitted eyes as his whole body stiffened.
Reacting on instinct, I quickly rolled out of the way of the impending explosion. A sound similar to a massive pane of glass shattering came from behind me as even more blood splattered against my back.
The only ally I could find, dead in less than thirty seconds.
Hearing the battle cry of a jiralhanae nearby, I realized I didn't have enough time to panic. Quickly turning back around to the corpse of the only ally I have seen, I realize that his focus rifle was scratched up from the explosion, but thankfully it appeared to still be operational.
Quickly snatching the gun, I see when my optics sync with the weapon that the battery count was still relatively full. Searching the splattered remains of my fallen comrade for anything else useful, I find none of his gear other than the gun survived the explosion.
Another roar fills the area as I settle my new rifle against my shoulder and slide back into cover. Barely peeking my head over the upturned rocks, I pull the holographic sight up to my eye. I immediately found a few targets outlined as white blobs through the smoke.
Thermal optics!
I swung the gun around, scanning my surroundings through the sights of my new weapon for any sign of my squad. All around me, I could easily see the forms of jiralhanae all standing over top of the damaged remains of buildings. Each one of them was aiming one weapon or another into the smoke and firing it blindly into the cloud around me.
Ignoring the small army of trigger happy brutes, I continue to scan my surroundings as I look for anyone who I might consider an ally. Sadly, I couldn't spot anything.
Through the mayhem of the firefight around me, I heard a higher pitched voice screech out behind me. "You fools! I was so close to fully decrypting the artifact!"
Spinning around, I use my weapon to scan for whoever spoke.
Immediately, I need to squint my eyes as the tent that was there earlier has burst into flames which were quickly consuming the material. Many openings were made into the previously hidden area, allowing me to see into it.
Underneath the burning tarp was a large platform with different equipment scattered about. From what little I could gather from looking through my scope, I saw that whatever was in there before was damaged now. The only things left untouched by the flames appeared to be the metallic scaffolding overtop of the whole thing that was holding the roof up, and a small object in the middle of everything.
An object that the jackal was tampering with.
The kig yar seemed to complete its task as it grasps a small spherical object and begins to run toward one of the openings.
I knew we were here for artifact extraction, and that display certainly fit the description. Taking aim, I line up the scope and fire.
Unfamiliar as I was with the weapon, I yelped in pain when the heat discharge from the superheated plasma singed my hand from improper placement. Gritting my teeth in pain for a moment, I adjusted my singed hand to a safer point on the rifle and hefted the weapon back up to a firing position.
Looking through the scope once more, I saw the kig yar using both hands to clutch the left side of its face. A high pitched screech rang through my ears for a moment as I watched the spherical device fall to the floor before rolling under what looked like a terminal.
The kig yar didn't seem to want to waste any more time here, as it took off sprinting. Unable to get a clear shot before the fleeing alien made it out of my sight, I decided I would instead go for the artifact.
That was when the rain of fire started.
The loud hissing of plasma bolts impacting dirt and rock around me increased dramatically after I fired the focus rifle causing me to duck down into cover. The sheer volume of weapons fire aimed at my direction was staggering, sounding like raindrops in a thunderstorm impacting a metal roof.
They must have seen the light from the weapon.
Knowing I needed to wait out the wall of plasma aimed in my direction, I keep my eyes firmly on where the artifact went. Knowing it was only a matter of time before they switched their target away from me, I shifted my position as best I could without leaving cover. Tensing my muscles, I ready myself to run.
After a moment, the weapons fire dies down. Thankfully whoever was shooting at me couldn't see what they were firing at, so they must just assume they got whoever was here.
Running out, I jump over the smoldering remains of part of one of the tent walls and make my way inside. From what I could see, it looked like some kind of research station. Burned out terminals and shattered glass littered the floor inside. Haphazardly placed wires were sparking violently from spots where a lucky shot from someone outside landed a hit on them.
By the time I made it the short distance to the burning building, my lungs were burning and I was having trouble breathing. The smoke in the air was suffocating, and I was beginning to become lightheaded.
Figuring I had a job to do, I quickly made my way over to the terminal that the object fell under, I laid down and began to fish around for it. After a few seconds, I manage to get my claws around it.
Gotcha!
Standing up, I examine the odd device closely. It didn't appear to be anything overly special. Just a small metallic sphere with a few oddly pulsating green lines around it.
The sound of something heavy moving through the air caused my reflexes to kick in. Throwing myself to the side, I felt an explosion go off behind me with a loud boom. The resulting shockwave blasts me into the air, sending me flying.
After a few moments of air time, I land, skidding across the floor and slamming against one of the many terminals. Groaning for a second, I get back onto my feet and turn around, trying to find whatever caused that explosion.
Standing behind me hefting a massive hammer back onto his shoulder was a brute chieftain. He was snarling toward me as he spun around. The black smoke and fire continued to billow around us as I heard him snarl menacingly.
"I have come for the artifact Sig. Now that the Covenant has found us, your usefulness has sadly come to an end."
Quickly attaching the small sphere to my hip, I reach for the rifle attached to my back. This brute obviously thought that I was the same t'vaoan that I shot a minute ago, and I wasn't going to correct him. If he thought I was someone else, it could give me an advantage when we fight.
I knew that I couldn't take this behemoth with a sword if he had any skill whatsoever with that hammer.
The brute saw the motion and let out a bellow, hefting his hammer up over his head. "You think you can defeat me? Bah! I should have squashed you like a bug ages ago!"
Wasting no time, I take aim and fire, letting out a line of molten hot plasma that slams into the brute.
Sadly the brute didn't seem phased as he barrels right through it, the molten energy only seeming to piss the creature off more. Closing the distance surprisingly fast, he swings the hammer down.
Rolling away, I still end up stumbling when the waves of displaced gravity explode outward. Turning to find the brute once again, I found him already above me pulling his hammer back for another blow.
Oh come on!
Dodging as quickly as I could, I put as much energy into my legs as I throw myself to the side. This area was not useful in any way if I wanted to stay ahead of the brute. The flaming remains around us and the smoke filling my lungs with every breath wore me out too fast.
Landing on my feet undisturbed this time, I continue to track the chieftain. Taking a few pot shots with my rifle, I hear him grunt a bit in pain but power through it. I see him turn back to me and begin to sprint, his hammer lifted overhead with a speed I wasn't ready for.
Turning to dodge, I waited until he began his downswing before throwing myself to the side once again. I didn't time it quite right, as I was thrown across the room as the shockwave from the gravity generators overtook me.
Landing roughly against the floor, I thankfully didn't feel like anything was broken but the pain and exhaustion was getting to me. Lifting my head off the floor to examine my new position, I realize I am effectively trapped. There was a metal wall behind me and two burned terminals beside me.
Standing up, I saw the chieftain once more charging toward me. My mind was working faster than it ever had in my life trying to come up with an idea, any idea, that could get me out of this situation. Closely examining the brute steady his stance near me and heft his massive weapon over his head, I got an idea.
"Enough games! I will end your pathetic life here and now!"
If this doesn't work, I'm dead.
Dropping my rifle, I reach down and unsheathe Destiny. Unleashing the orange blade as fast as I could, I pounce toward the brute sword first. As the hiss of the sword's activation rang out, I closed the distance, swiping over the brute's head.
This close to the brute, I could immediately see why he wasn't phased by my earlier shots. He was covered in metallic armor, black lines crossing all over him as proof that I landed my earlier hits, but his arms were exposed.
HISSSsss
Watching as the severed arms of the brute fell lifelessly to the floor, hammer following closely behind, I am unable to prevent myself from crashing headfirst into the brute. Banging my head painfully against his metal armor, I look up.
Only to see two blood red eyes staring down at me with the most hateful expression I have ever seen. He didn't even flinch.
Unable to react in time, I watch as the brute brings up his knee and slams it into my chest with lightning fast speed. Losing my breath from the impact, I fall backwards onto the floor.
Lying there for a moment with my mouth open gasping for breath that wouldn't come, I am unable to react in time when the brute calmly places his massive foot on my chest. Not ready for the sheer pain caused by the massive creature squishing me, I drop my sword onto the floor. In pain and exhausted, I am left helpless under the brute's weight. I see him growl menacingly at me from above as he takes the time to examine his prize.
"You aren't Sig Raan."
His voice was completely collected. My spent brain idly wondered if he was just in shock from losing both of his arms, changing his pure rage from before into an eerie calm. He looks to what remains of his arms, before a deep snarl leaves his maw.
"You will pay for this… Slowly."
I am forced to watch in absolute terror as he gives me a vicious smile, his razor sharp teeth clearly visible. Slowly, he brings up one of his clawed feet and presses down on my throat. The dagger like talon slowly increases in pressure with nothing I can do to stop it.
I'm going to die.
HISSSsss
The bright orange glowing point of Destiny's blade poked through the center of the brutes head, causing an eruption of steam to billow out from the exit wound. I felt the body of the chieftain go slack as he died, the crimson eyes drooping as his menacing smile became completely slack.
What?
Before I could fully react, the brute falls over like a marionette with its strings cut, slamming against the floor next to me. The pain I felt mere moments ago was gone as I stared disbelieving at the unmoving form of the jiralhanae.
After a heartbeat of silence, my breath comes back to me as I cough loudly. Sadly, the smoke didn't make its return any less painful then before. Sucking in what air I could, I look up only to see a silver armored sangheili examining Destiny closely in his hand.
"I would have gone for his legs. Once he was off balance, you could have easily finished him off. That is a mistake that many young swordsmen make." Bero's voice was calm and collected, completely at ease in the battlefield around us. Taking a quick look back outside, I could very clearly see that the firefight has not even slowed down. Nothing has changed, and yet here he is acting like this is just another day. "Don't focus on the weapon. Focus on your enemy."
Unable to stop the growing rage within me, I angrily point to him and shout. "Oh yeah? You were the one that put me in this situation in the first place!"
Bero completely ignores my outburst as he continues to examine my weapon closely. "Interesting that you choose to carry around a sword too… Expertly crafted, custom made…"
Feeling my anger make way for anxiety, I could do nothing but watch as he fiddled with Timore's gift to me. After a few moments though, he switched the blade off then handed my sword back to me.
Quickly snatching Destiny back, I clutch the handle tightly to my chest as a sense of relief replaces my anxiousness. "I know."
The sangheili looks at me for a moment before he grunts, holding out a hand. "Come, we have a new objective."
Grabbing the elite's hand, he lifts me to my feet. "And what would that be?"
The sangheili walks towards one of the openings. "The north and southwest cannons have been destroyed, but Rolu wasn't able to place his charge." He looks back toward me. "Fade with your camouflage and follow closely, we must destroy it if we are to be extracted. Our greatest chance is still stealth."
Looking back down to the destroyed remains of my camouflage module, I shake my head. "Got any other ideas? Mine broke with the blast."
He looks down to the sparking remains of my equipment before his eyes grow hard. Reaching down, he detached his own module before handing it to me. "Then take mine."
Looking to the elite's hand, I slowly reach out and take it. Confused, I tilt my head. "What about you?"
Bero reaches down and grips his sword tightly. Turning to one of the many smouldering openings in the tent, he gestured to my fallen rifle. "Ready yourself, Sohm 'Bir. These savages shall fear the bite of my blade by night's end."
Quickly replacing my broken equipment and retrieving my gun, I walked up beside the sangheili, who was looking out toward the billowing smoke. Reaching down and activating the module, I fade into nothingness once again.
Almost as if that was a trigger, Bero ignited his sword and let out a bloodthirsty roar before he exploded from where he was. Following closely behind him, we run for a few moments before we find a massive pile of smoldering rubble in our way. I idly noted that no one was shooting towards him even though his sword was very clearly visible, but ignored it.
Not even breaking stride upon reaching the rubble, Bero jumps clear over leaving me to gape at the small displacement of smoke where he disappeared through. The black cloud of smoke was strongest here, and yet Bero just jumped through it without knowing what was even on the other side.
Hesitating for a few moments, I follow behind him. Coiling my legs, I bounced over the destroyed remains of what looked to be one of the buildings, I focused entirely on where I was going to land. The ground passing by me as I flew through the air for a moment.
Only to pass through the billowing cloud into an open courtyard, fresh clean air around me.
Getting my first unhindered breaths in what felt like hours, I scanned my surroundings with my weapon at the ready only to see Bero stepping over the dead bodies of three jiralhanae with his sword in hand. He didn't appear to even be breaking his stride as he jogged calmly into an undamaged alleyway. Shaking my head, I begin to follow him.
Slipping into the alleyway, I see Bero glancing around a corner cautiously. Moving behind him, I peer around, only to gasp. It looked to be a small army of brutes standing in a courtyard, all armed to the teeth.
"How high can you jump?"
Blinking at the symbols that scrolled across my visor, I quickly remember that I was connected to the Covenant's battle network. Nearly slapping myself for forgetting to use it earlier in my panic, I respond with the truth.
"Pretty high, though I haven't measured it before, why?"
Bero silently gestures to the two buildings we were taking cover in. "Can you make it to the roof?"
Looking up, I tried to judge the distance. It looked to be about twenty feet. At this point in my life, clearing twenty feet was easy. Smiling to the elite, I nod.
Only to want to shoot myself once I realized he couldn't see me because of my camouflage.
"Yes."
"Good, jump up there and use your focus rifle to cover me. Take out as many as you can using your rifle once I engage. Leave the rest to me."
Gaping at the elite, I look back out toward the brutes. There had to be at least twenty out there, leaving me to shake my head. Bero was my superior, whatever he said I had to obey.
Even if I think it's stupid.
Coiling my muscles again, I jump cleanly onto the roof. Quickly scanning it for any hostiles, I spot nothing before I lay myself prone and crawl to the edge. Scanning the courtyard from my new position, I can clearly see the brutes all circles around two individuals arguing over something. They appeared to be fighting from the looks of it, and one of them was losing terribly. Thankfully, the commotion seemed to have all of their attention. Most of them only appeared to be armed with needlers and plasma pistols, with only the odd one with a carbine.
"I'm in position."
The moment I sent the message, Bero sprinted out, closing the distance between himself and the brutes and stabbing one cleanly through the heart with his two pronged blade.
As the hiss of his sword filled the area, the entire group of twenty brutes all turned to him in a wave. A moment of silence filled the area before I decided to end it.
Firing a beam of white hot energy at a brute, I keep a continuous line of fire on him for only a moment before he begins to scream. Holding the trigger for more than a heartbeat on the same location caused the beam to cut straight through the hulking figure, leaving a smoking hole right where his heart used to be.
Finding another target, I let loose line after line of fire, killing as many of them as I could.
After the fourth one, a few of them began to open fire on me from below, but my prone form and angle over them caused all of their shots to either splash harmlessly against the building below or sail over my head.
Keeping a casual eye on Bero, I found that I couldn't see him through the group that surrounded him. A wall of different colored furs blocked my vision, causing me to panic for only a moment, only for my eyes to widen at what I saw.
One by one, two by two, the brutes fell before him. Expertly evading and countering anything the group sent his way allowed the drastically outnumbered elite to slowly whittle down the group. None of them could even touch him as the hiss of blood evaporating from his sword stopped.
How is he doing that? They aren't even getting close!
A green bolt of energy splashed extremely close to my rifle, bringing my attention back to the fight. Turning and shooting the offending brute, I continued to rain my own form of terror from the skies.
After a few more shots, it was over.
Glancing at the mass of smoking bodies below, I stand up. That fight should not have ended that way, but here we were victorious.
Looking down to the elite who is casually pulling his sword out from a dead body, I begin to see him in a new light. This sangheili definitely was beyond me in terms of skill. He looked as if he felt at home on the battlefield, reacting without a second thought to each danger and responding immediately. No hesitation or fear in him whatsoever as he cut a swath through his foes.
Thinking back to my own fight with the brute chieftain not even moments before, I realized that I wasn't afraid either. I threw myself at him with reckless abandon, assuming that I would succeed just because I haven't failed before.
But I did, and I almost died.
Feeling ashamed for myself, I realized I've always been a bit angry at Bero for placing me in this situation, but in the end this was exactly what I wanted. I wanted to learn how to do what he does. I needed to.
Sure, I can fight, but I can't fight on the same level as what I just witnessed. Even from my spot as an overwatch sniper, I took down significantly less of the enemies than he did with his sword. I needed to learn, and Bero was even offering to teach me.
A force to be reckoned with huh?
Feeling a new confidence fill me, I prepare myself to jump back down to the ground. Halfway through shuffling myself around to dangle my legs over the edge, I was stopped when more text scrolled out before me.
"Stay on the rooftops. Jump from building to building, but remain unseen. Any threat that remains too far out of range for me is your responsibility."
Seeing the logic in that, I pull myself back up and begin to scan for the next roof to jump on.
"Understood."
Bounding from rooftop to rooftop as Bero carefully navigates the streets below, we continue like this for a few minutes. We encountered a few more brutes on the way, but they were quickly dispatched by either a quick swipe from Bero's sword, or an accurate shot from my rifle.
Over the course of a few units, the two of us cut and shot a path toward our objective. The sangheili swordsman below in combination with an invisible sniper overhead proved to be a devastating combination against our enemies. Leaping across from building to building, I was easily able to get a bead on anyone who was attempting to take cover from Bero.
A particularly furious brute hurled three grenades at my sangheili companion, forcing him to duck behind one of the many weapons crates littering the roadways. "You shall die next to your false gods sangheili!"
Aiming down toward the offending jiralhanae, I let loose a line of plasma from my focus rifle that eats into him, ending his life before he could even witness the explosions from the grenades he threw.
"Clean shot."
"Thanks."
A small moment of silence filled the area as the last brute was neutralized. From my vantage point, I was easily able to figure out exactly why these jiralhanae had so many crates of weapons ready. They were preparing for a fight. This was never fully about the artifact, as it was a convenient way to lure in Covenant troops for them to slaughter.
It was a rebellion caused by one jiralhanae clan that refused to believe the prophets. The defiant roars coming from the brutes below all shouting that they were not going to bend to the prophets made it abundantly clear that these jiralhanae all believed him too.
Though I still don't know where they got all of it…
Suddenly, several sangheili figures materialized in the now open clearing, circling around Bero.
Whipping my gun around, it only took me a moment to realize they were friendly. I could clearly see Rtas in his stained white armor walk over to the swordsman. The commander appeared to be battered and completely covered in maroon blood as he clutched his deactivated sword in his hand.
"Good to see you unharmed my friend. What's the status of your lance?
Bero didn't seem to be even the slightest bit surprised that the small army of elites all appeared out of thin air, gesturing to the southeast.
"Almost to the objective. Second lance is lost except for one, but we will make due."
"Reinforcements are unable to safely enter the airspace with that gun still active. Our focus now is to deactivate it so we can properly scan the area for the artifact."
"Understood. Let's move."
My eyes widened at my commander's words. Looking down to the small forerunner sphere attached to my hip, I began to try and find a way down so I could tell him there was no need, before a carbine shot whizzed past my head.
Ducking down, I quickly scan my surroundings to find out where the shot came from before I spot a brute standing on top of one of the nearby buildings with a carbine aimed directly toward me.
How did he even see me?
Not bothering to worry about how the surprisingly perceptive brute saw me through my camouflage, I lined up my rifle and let loose a burst of plasma which into his chest. The large creature falling forward over the building and landing against the ground below with a loud thud.
With the brute neutralized, I look down to see that the grouping of visible sangheili are having a conversation about tactics. I could see a few of them were glancing up to me, nodding appreciatively.
Adding two and two together, I manage to puzzle out how they spotted me.
They must be following the beam from my gun. I need to keep moving while shooting in order to stay hidden.
Remembering my old lessons back on T'avo, I remember that my mother already trained me to do so. At the time I thought it was stupid… but now?
Thanks mom.
Continuing to pace, I scan the surroundings for any threats. Standing still, I realize now, is a good way to get shot.
My sharp eyes picked up on one jiralhanae who appeared to be completely unarmed. The brute appeared to be growling fiercely as he began to charge the warriors from around one of the nearby buildings. The sheer fury in the brute's features caused a shiver to run down my spine.
Even from up here, the warped animalistic snarl that rose up from below shook me to my core as I watched the brute rapidly close the distance toward my sangheili commander. Before I could react however, a small wave of plasma bolts from several plasma rifles pelted the brute, causing his flesh to begin to sizzle.
The creature didn't seem to care all too much that it was being shot up? Fighting through the pain he must surely be feeling in order to reach Bero.
Deciding to end this quickly, I took aim with my rifle and fired. The focused beam of plasma impacting him squarely oh his head, ending the resilient creature mere feet before he could reach his objective.
Slightly disturbed, Rtas moves over to the smoldering corpse on the ground. Giving it a last disgusted look, he turns to the remaining group. "We need to move. This heretical clan seems to have attracted more followers then we first assumed."
Grunts and roars of approval resound from the group of warriors below as they all turn to the direction of our objective.
Glancing over the rooftops, I could see the AA gun peeking up over the rooftops nearby. The gun was very clearly activated as the barrel of the rifle was scanning for targets. Thankfully I haven't heard it fire a shot yet.
Not wishing to be left behind, I hop from vantage point to vantage point, keeping an eye on the group of warriors below me… not that I needed to.
Now that the remaining warriors have come back together, I realized I wasn't exactly needed. The highly trained sangheili cut a swath through any group of jiralhanae that crossed our path with an efficiency that baffled me. Bolts of plasma and needle shards found their mark near instantly when a target showed themselves from wherever they were hiding.
Sure, I got a few shots off, eliminating a few before they could but the point was almost always moot as a wave of plasma fired from my allies would splash against the target's unmoving form immediately afterward.
A feeling of invincibility filled me before I squashed it down. Sure, the group in front of me was filled with elite alien death machines, but one quick reminder that we were down the majority of two lances reminded me that this could go south very quickly.
Before long, we came to an open clearing with our objective in sight. The massive anti aircraft gun was seemingly deactivated, but the blue glowing lights illuminating the area betrayed its facade.
Below the weapon, seven stationary shade turrets were positioned around the weapon in a circle. The only real cover that our group had were the hastily constructed buildings that circled the gun.
Sadly, that didn't appear to be its only defense, as a small army of brutes all armed to the teeth were scanning the surroundings looking for threats. The area was abuzz with activity as brutes all worked tirelessly to fortify the gun. They were pulling everything they could together from extra turrets to ammunition closer to the gun, creating a small wall of cover for them to hide behind.
Thankfully they didn't see me up here casually examining their movements, looking for a weakness to exploit.
One of the spec op sangheili decided to speak up. "Leader, the beasts have set up a perimeter around the target. They outnumber us and their armor is formidable."
Glancing back down to my lance, I could see the group all huddled around one of the buildings, glancing toward the gun. They would need to cross a distance of about fifty feet before they could reach the gun, something that was impossible as it stood. We needed a different solution, as their shielding would not hold through a firestorm like that.
A moment of silence came and went as Rtas examined his options. I could hear a growl of frustration come up through the communications.
All around us, the roars of challenge from other jiralhanae in the area were getting closer. Now that all of the assault lances were in the same place, it looks like the brutes were trying to make this place their last stand.
Looking back down to the turret, I spotted something on the ground surrounding the spherical turrets. The dead bodies of third lance all sprawled out and unmoving, but something seemed odd about their position.
They were killed by the turrets, but all of them appeared to have been charging toward a spot off to the side and not directly to the gun. Following their path, I see a large pile of… something.
I could see one of the brutes walk toward the stack, pulling himself underneath the tarp for a moment and fumbling around. After a second or so, I saw him pull one of the cylinders out, rolling it into the tyrant, causing my eyes to widen in complete disbelief.
Stacked up, placed under another shoddily placed tarp, was a massive pile of plasma batteries. The glowing blue cylinders emitting the signature electric glow of barely leashed energy underneath the thin cloth used to cover them.
I was confused as to why they would place so many highly explosive devices so close to their defenses, only to realize there was a hastily placed wall covering it from enemy fire.
They must have seen what third lance tried to do and tried to patch it.
Sadly for them, I was three stories in the air and could still see them quite clearly. Pulling my gun up, I checked my battery life. I still had a little over twenty percent. Plenty in order to crack one of the casings and continue my overwatch, though if the resulting fight continued on for more than a few units, I would need to jump down to find another weapon as I had no way to recharge my gun.
"Umm, leader?" I hear myself say into the comms, almost disbelievingly.
Rtas's response was quick, and his tone was impatient. "What now, kig-yar?"
"There is a large pile of fuel cells all stacked up behind their defenses. It looks like they need them to operate the gun… and I have a clear shot."
I took aim, finding the center mass of one of the cells. I knew the moment I pulled the trigger that a chain reaction would go off, leveling at least half of the grouping of brutes.
"The moment I fire, half of their defenses will go up in flames… I'm sure that will be a big enough distraction to get you all close enough to disable the turrets."
A heartbeat of silence came through before three simple words came back from below.
"Fire when ready."
Pulling the trigger, the white hot line of superheated particles leaves the barrel of my gun, burning a hole through the tarp before slamming into the contents below. It took a moment, but the chain reaction that resulted did not disappoint.
A blinding flash of white flames came as the rapid fire sound of different explosions rang through the air. The reaction of each battery wasn't something I predicted as each of the explosions sent the others flying out in every direction before those too detonated, causing much more widespread destruction then I thought.
The wall of defenses close to the pile was completely vaporized, obliterating three of the turrets in the explosion's initial blast. The hungry blue plasma flames ate into the infantry nearby as the screams of burning jiralhanae came through.
Suddenly on high alert, the turrets all began to swivel in my direction. Not bothering to wait for the rest of my lance, I stand up and begin to strafe the building tops, keeping my gun leveled down below knowing they definitely saw where the shot came from. Taking aim toward one of the unharmed turrets, I let loose another blast of plasma carving a smoking hole neatly into the operator's head.
The turret began to spin out of control, shooting rapidly in a circle only adding to the chaos.
Continuing my run, I finally spotted the group of sangheili. Materializing our of thin air, the elites closed the distance quickly before slamming into the brutes with ruthless efficiency. Most of the elites branched off to neutralize the remaining turrets, with a few hijacking them in order to use them against our enemies.
Plasma discharges and flying needle shards filled the air for only a moment as the confused group of brutes quickly fell to the highly trained warriors.
Not wanting to be the odd one out, I began to target the smarter brutes that managed to hide behind cover.
Roars of challenge rose up from the area around us, causing a chill to go down my spine. The sheer amount of enemies that sounded like they were converging on our position made my blood freeze.
Before too long, I saw a small contingent of sangheili enter the gun before Rtas's voice came up from the comms. "Clandestine Devotion, all anti aircraft emplacements are neutralized."
A voice came through our communications, sounding rather bored. "Understood. Stand by."
Rtas didn't seem too bothered by the lackluster tone of our air support, instead spending his time organizing our remaining forces. "Form up! Use what remains of their own defenses against them."
Realizing that my usefulness on this building has come to an end, I quickly jump down. The large fall jarred my legs slightly, but thankfully the lower gravity of this world made it a bit easier to deal with.
Rushing toward cover, I could hear the thundering of hundreds of heavy footsteps all converging on our location. It sounded like the entire pack of brutes was rushing to our area.
With half the turrets still in operation and under our control, I could see that this would be where we would stand our ground. The explosion from earlier didn't make it easy to find cover, but thankfully it wasn't nonexistent.
Stepping over the remains of the brute defenders, I slide into position behind a needler weapons crate.
"You, kig yar."
Turning, I see a special operations sangheili I don't recognize pointing to me. His helmet had four scratches across the top from what could only have been a jiralhanae's claws. "Yes?"
"The anti-aircraft gun has an upper walkway. You would be more useful as a sniper with an elevated position."
Checking the remaining battery life on my focus rifle, I knew I only had a few bursts from the gun before it ran dry. "My rifle is almost out of battery. I will not remain a sniper for long."
The sangheili growls angrily in my direction. "Do as you are told, useless kig yar! You will only get in the way!"
Taken aback by the angry retort, I gesture angrily toward the massive gun. "If I do not have a functioning weapon, then I would be useless anyway-"
Our small argument was cut short as a green bolt from a plasma pistol whizzed between us and splashed against the armor plating of the massive gun nearby. Whipping around, I could see a massive amount of brutes all funneling into the clearing from what appeared to be everywhere.
Rtas reacted first. "All troops, fire at will!"
Not needing to be told twice, I begin to pick off any important looking brutes I could see. At this point I was rather thankful that the higher ranking jiralhanae all wore flags over their shoulders for some reason.
The shade turrets began to fire their ordinance towards the oncoming hordes, trying to bottle in the rampaging beasts before they could leave the alleyways between the buildings, but there were just too many for the firepower we had at our disposal.
As the bodies began to pile up, I noticed a few of the brutes begin to throw their weapons down into the floor and sprint on all fours in our direction. The shade turrets seemed to notice, and began to focus their fire on the rampaging brutes. The snarling creatures took far more punishment than I thought they would before joining their fallen comrades, but the damage was done.
The horde was loose.
Growls, snarls, and roars filled the air as the army of jiralhanae all converged on our location. They continued to take heavy losses from the turrets. None of them seemed to care about their own safety in the slightest even as we shot through their brethren one by one.
Firing my rifle into the crowd, I managed to take out a few of the closer enemies, knowing deep within my gut that it was only mere seconds before they were on us.
Click.
My gun finally running dry, I was forced to drop the weapon quickly.
At this point, I only had a few seconds before the brutes jumped over our hastily made barricades. Reaching into the weapons crate in front of me, I pull out a needler with two cartridges before the first brute smashed into the purple barricade.
Dodging out of the way of the now airborne crate, I land on my back and begin to fire. The purple crystals cut into the jiralhanae before he could react, causing a supercombine explosion.
Knowing that threat was neutralized, I turned my weapon out toward the crowd once more. I am met with a wall of angry brutes, all snarling to me and running. Thankfully all of them seemed to have dropped their weapons in their rage, allowing me to spray as much ammo as I had left into the horde.
A few of the brutes exploded in a pink mist, causing the razor sharp debris to splash onto nearby enemies and launching them away, but three were soon upon me.
Using the scant few seconds I gained for myself, I clipped the empty needler to my hip and drew my sword.
Igniting Destiny with a loud hiss, I prepared myself for another fight. My heart began to beat loudly in my ears as I saw the one nearest to me quickly close the distance with his arms outstretched.
My sharp eyesight easily picked up the frothing bubbles around his mouth along with the rage in his deep crimson eyes. I did not know why this brute wanted me dead so badly, but I knew even behind that hatred and anger, there was a living being. One that I needed to kill.
Quickly sidestepping the brute, I slice my sword low, sweeping his leg. With a loud hiss, the brute fell to the ground with a loud thud, screeching in agony. With one of his legs detached from his body, the brute fell off balance directly behind me.
Reacting as fast as I could, I finished him off with a quick swipe to his neck.
I need to thank Bero for the advice.
The sound of explosions going off in rapid succession filled my ears even as I was set upon by two more brutes. Needing to ignore the sound for the time being, I sidestepped a sloppy yet ferocious tackle from one of the hulking monsters, bringing my sword up just in time to bisect him as he passed by.
Spinning around, I found the next brute mere feet away from me in a dead sprint. I didn't have enough time to dodge, so I took a quick moment to line up my sword with his heart and let his own momentum carry him to his death.
The massive creature died as he made contact with my blade, crashing into me as we fell to the ground. Tumbling for a few moments, I somehow managed to end up on my feet with my sword in hand.
Sadly I didn't have enough time to celebrate the small victory as several more of the rampaging brutes jumped over the wreckage that made up my cover and began to attack.
Knowing dodging and counterattacking was my only realistic option, I focused my entire attention on keeping away from their feral strikes and grapples.
Using Destiny to disarm my opponents, literally, I managed to keep my breathing steady throughout the chaos. Panicking led to death, and as odd as it was, this situation was similar to the fight at the beginning of my basic training. Animalistic enemies all attempting to attack me from several directions, snarling their fury to all that would hear it.
Only now, the rules were different. If I lost, I died.
"Rraugh!"
Hearing the sound of a growl behind me, I quickly coil my muscles in my legs and jump.
Looking down nearly twenty feet, I see the form of a jiralhanae pass clear under me, flailing his arms up wildly into the air. He managed to catch himself from falling over, and was waiting below for me to descend back downward.
Gravity eventually overpowered my jump, and I began to fall back down.
HISSsss
Landing blade first on my enemy, I plunged my sword hilt deep into his shoulder before using his body to soften my landing.
Only to stumble and fall face first onto the ground when the brute became dead weight.
Standing up, I tried to remain as alert as I could while rubbing my muzzle with the hand that wasn't holding Destiny. Thankfully, no enemies decided to take advantage of my momentary weakness in order to land a decisive blow.
After a second or two, I glance around me in confusion when no one immediately attacks me. It didn't take me very long to realize there was a small lull in my enemies caused by the explosions from earlier.
I noticed there were several phantoms now hovering over our heads, spraying explosive plasma into the horde of brutes, keeping them firmly away from us. The brutes were finally being pushed back into the buildings, allowing me to have a quick second to breathe.
Looking around me, I saw the smoldering bodies of countless jiralhanae and sangheili all lying motionless on the floor. The stench of blood was overpowering, yet the undercurrent of burned flesh was also easily detected.
A wave of nausea nearly caused me to double over before I held it back. Shaking my head violently, I try to focus on something else other than the dead bodies littering the ground.
Don't think about it right now. Focus!
Forcing myself to look back toward my lance, I noticed that the brutes that managed to cross over into our defenses were not being targeted by the phantoms. Several sangheili were all engaging furious jiralhanae in close combat with each other.
I found the blue glowing form of a spec op close by pinned to the ground with a brute towering over them. His shields were glowing brightly, clearly about to fail under the brute's onslaught.
Quickly closing the distance, I plunge my blade into the back of the jiralhanae with a loud his. Pulling the now still form sideways, I glance down only to see the sangheili with the helmet with claw marks over the top.
Smirking down at him, I offer my hand. "Aren't you happy I didn't take your advice now?"
I didn't expect the angry snarl that I was given by the downed sangheili as he smacks my hand away painfully. "I did not ask for your help, kig yar."
Rubbing my stinging hand, I turn away from the elite.
Jerk.
Deactivating my sword, I reach down to unclip my needler. Swiftly inserting the cartridge into the gun, the crystals poked out of the top signaling it was ready to fire.
Aiming toward a few unlucky brutes, I managed to dispatch a few in a shroud of pink mist before I ran out of ammo once again.
Thankfully at that point, the fight seemed to be wrapping up, allowing me to relax a bit for the first time since we landed. All around me, several sangheili swordsmen dispatched their remaining opponents quickly before finally, all the enemies were defeated.
The firing of the phantoms continued as they chased their prey, the drop ships circling around us protectively. The end of the fighting around me caused my legs to give out from under me as exhaustion both mental and physical caught up.
Looking around to the bloody battlefield surrounding me, I felt a sense of numbness cover me. All the death and destruction was caused… for what?
What was the purpose of this? They set up a trap and ambushed us, but why?
"Yet again, I am impressed."
Hearing Bero's voice coming from behind me, I spin around only to see the silver armored elite nudging a dead brute with his foot. Grunting after a moment, he turns back over to me, looking me up and down.
Confused, I tilt my head. "Impressed?"
The elite looks up from his assessing look, making eye contact. Being the focus of his attention caused me to squirm a bit as his silver slitted eyes were as cold as steel. "Your swordsmanship isn't as underwhelming as I thought it would be. Your reaction speed is very quick for someone as untrained as you are, though your form is sloppy and you lost your footing more than once."
What? How does he know that? Was he watching me through that madness? How?!
Bero didn't seem to notice my bafflement at his observation, as he continues as calm as ever. "Your training will begin once this mission is over."
Feeling horror fill me at the elite's words, I groan loudly. The way he said those words didn't make me feel all too confident that I was going to be able to rest once this was over.
"Those who remain, form up!"
Hearing Rtas's deep voice call from behind me, I run back over toward my leader. From what I could see, a little under half of the lance that attacked the gun were still alive.
"This mission isn't over. We must find the artifact before it slips from our grasp. Ready yourselves warriors, for we will be returning to-"
Tuning out the speech, I look back down to my hip. Sure enough, the forerunner device was still clipped to my armor. Carefully pulling it away, I examine it for a few seconds as I admire the advanced technology in my hand.
This thing had to be older than dirt, yet it appeared as if it was made yesterday. The smoke, grime, and bloody battle I was just in moments ago didn't seem to even have stained it even slightly as the shiny metallic surface remained completely unblemished.
"Umm, leader sir?"
The entire group of weary and irate warriors turned to me, every single one of them besides Rtas and Bero looked absolutely furious at my interruption.
One particularly exhausted looking sangheili took a threatening step toward me. "Stupid kig yar! How dare you interrupt-"
"That's enough." Bero's calm but stern voice cut through the angry tirade immediately, silencing the group.
Thankfully, Rtas seemed much less impatient than the last time I spoke up as he gestured for me to continue. "Yes, kig yar?"
Holding up the small forerunner sphere, I watch as the stunned disbelieving faces of those around me gape toward the object in my hand. The sight of several sangheili warriors all with their mandibles stretched out wide as their eyes grow huge will be a memory I will treasure always.
"Do you mean this artifact?"
—Author's Note—
O.m.g.
My work is literally going to kill me. I'm working so many friggan hours now that it's just …. ugh
Anyway, onto the chapter.
This took a long time for 2 reasons. One was I only had two off days in the last 10 days (see reason above) and two, combat is friggin hard to write.
I did a lot of research for this chapter. Everything from sitting in the middle of "the package" level on halo reach, studying how the layout of the Tyrants looked (which is where I got the idea for the plasma batteries) to playing through nightfall over and over watching the Skirmishers jump from building to building.
As far as I can tell, Skirmishers can jump upwards to 35-40 feet high, and about the same distance wide, if not a little bit more (reference point, halo reach level, nightfall). That is definitely something that I will drastically abuse during this fanfic, as that will be one thing that she has over ALL the other races. (Bar drones)
(Rant/explanation incoming)
About how I am writing the combat, I'll explain how I am going to write the guns and weapons now.
All covenant weapons are going to be more deadly and have more battery life then in the games. The focus rifle is lethal with only a millisecond of exposure for example. The reason they were not as deadly in the games was due to PVP balancing and the like. I refuse to believe that any of the weapons aren't extremely lethal for a tier 2 society like the covenant. If their weapons were essentially compatible with human projectile weapons, what is the point?
Also, all the battery weapons will have a much higher charge. (Beam rifle only having 10/15 shots? Please, that gun is friggan worthless in a combat scenario.)
Also, energy swords aren't infinite, but they will last almost a full day of use before they die for the same reason. It's a society of swordsmen. If the sword died after 10 swings, then that sword would be replaced with something more reliable over the course of the covenant's 3000 year existence.
Human weapons are also more deadly, but they function more or less the same way they do in the games. (For obvious reasons. I can't just add more rounds to a clip)
What I mean by more deadly, is headshots matter no matter what gun they are, will be lethal. Wounds will act more like they do in real life, and placement of the shot will matter too. Toe shots don't do anything, shots to the heart kill, etc.
That being said, ima also buff energy shielding, because I can't have all the chars running around getting blasted all the time. Imagine everyone has 2x over shields but 1 health at all times. Things like the automatic medical assistance in the mk 6 matter, sure, but ima try and make it as realistic as I can.
Let me know how I did in the reviews! I feel like ima need to go back and patch this one up a bit in the future. (Thinking about going back and using some duct tape on previous chapters too)
I'm also not opposed to changing the rating if I think of something later. The only reason it was rated T in the first place was because I didn't think of a ship when I started writing it, nor did I think I was going to blast some brutes with a focus rifle like this.
As always, read and review, and if you like it, consider giving me a follow and a favorite.