Location: UNSC B Training Facility, Africa, Earth
Date: 10th December 2550
Time: 1326 Hours
The abandoned building site was too quiet for Mayne's liking.
"Keep your eyes peel Four Section. Rebels could be anywhere." Avery Brown sounded terse through the COMMs. This training exercise was always the most difficult for Four Section and four months into training, Mayne had experienced his fair share of difficult training exercises.
The objective; plant explosives in specific areas of the building site which is suspected of being a rebel stronghold. Avery had decided to split the section up into groups in order to move more swiftly and silently. Avery had chosen to go with Henry Whetherman and Sarah Kyte, leaving Mayne to go as a pair with Claire Novell.
Mayne and Claire had managed to plant their first explosive without incident but as they were nearing their second objective Mayne spotted multiple figures standing guard on the objective. Two stood together patrolling the windows in the left of the objective and another two stood guard beside a rusty forklift. Mayne signalled his teammate to crouch low behind a ruined doorway. He depolarised his training helmet visor and Claire did the same.
"Claire, hostiles. Two on your left, by the window. I'll take the two on the right" He whispered and she nodded silently but let loose a smirk.
"It's a competition then, I bet I can eliminate the two guards first." She sounded confident and Mayne returned a broad smile.
"And what happens when I get my two guards first?"
"That won't happen, silly." She chuckled and gave a sly look. Mayne quickly polarised his visor again as he felt heat rise to his cheeks. Claire smirked again and did the same.
"On my mark, we move." Mayne readied his assault rifle, loaded with stun rounds. Clair did the same.
"Mark!" Mayne burst into the room and fired off a few rounds at the two unsuspecting 'rebels'. The trainers dressed as rebels spun around and returned fire but not before one was hit, he dropped to the concrete ground hard. The remaining trainer ducked behind the forklift but Mayne as already prepping a stun grenade. With accuracy, Mayne lobbed the nade over the forklift and heard a yell and then a dull thud.
Both guards down. Mayne turned to see how Claire was fairing and saw her dispatching the last guard. Mayne smiled as evilly as he placed the fake charges on the objective.
"Don't you say a fucking word Mayne." She said sourly. Mayne decided not to push her buttons as he knew that Claire was very competitive and didn't take well to losing.
Suddenly there was a large beeping sound and a voice of the course AI; Luna, came over the arena speakers.
"Exercise complete. Well done Four Section, That's a five win streak. Report back to your room for debriefing." Luna said and Claire pumped her fist in the air.
"Ha, a five win streak! How's that sound Mayne?" She whooped and the pair began walking back to the arena exit. Upon approaching the exit Claire took of her helmet and let her hair flow out. Mayne stopped short of taking his own helmet off as he gazed at the girl in front of him, the way her brown hair flowed and her hazel eyes twinkled tugged at Mayne's heart and sent heat to his groin. For a few weeks now Mayne had had his eyes on Claire Novell and as much as he hated the distraction, he couldn't stop admiring her.
"Hey, you want to go for another round of this or what?" Claire was now facing him with a hand on her hip. Mayne yanked his helmet off and laughed nervously
"Of course not, I need some R'n'R."
"Yeah same, let's get back to our room and meet with thee others."
At Four Section's room, Avery had the team sit down and go over what they did right and how they could improve. Afterwards, everyone separated to do their own thing. Mayne lay on his cot in some casual clothes with his eyes closed and his hands behind his head. He and Four Section had been pushed hard for the last few days and it was time that they all had a little bit of relaxation. Mayne heard the door slid open and he prepared to stand up in case a trainer was doing room inspections. He sat back down when he saw Claire, towel over her shoulder and dressed in her PT gear.
"Hey Claire." He greeted her and she waved back.
"Hi Mayne." She placed her gear down on her bed and moved to sit down beside Mayne. They sat in silence for a few moments until Mayne suddenly got a thought and smirked.
"Hey, remember I won that bet." Claire gave Mayne a glare.
"Yeah, and what of it, huh?"
"You said I wouldn't win, but I did. So what's my prize?" What happened next what nothing that Mayne would have expected. Claire closed the distance between the two of them and placed her lips on Mayne's. It was only a brief kiss and Claire leaned, producing a confident grin but her red cheeks gave away her clear embarrassment.
"How's that for a prize?" She asked nervously and placed her hands in he lap. Mayne sat there for a moment absolutely speechless. Surely she didn't feel the same way about him, but if this was all a joke then why was she blushing.
"That was… Wow, Claire." He was completely speechless. Claire seemed to mistake Mayne's lack of wording for a bad sign a went to stand, an expression of disappointment on her face.
"I-I'm sorry Mayne, I just thought that you felt the same-" her sentence was never finished as Mayne stood up and grabbed her shoulders and planted his lips in hers. He felt heat rise to his cheeks and to his groin when she responded by deepening the kiss and wrapped her arms around his waist. After a moment they broke the kiss and Mayne looked deep in Claire's hazel eyes.
"Of course I feel the same about you Claire. I've thought about you for so long." Claire smiled sheepishly and looked off to the side in embarrassment. Something Mayne wasn't used seeing in the usually sarcastic and confident girl. They continued to hold each other in silence until the door hissed open and Sarah walked in, halting only three steps into the room, staring wide eyed at Mayne and Clair, who separated quicker than lightning shooting from a storm.
"H-Hey Sarah, what have you been up to?" Claire spoke up first, trying to regain her composure. Sarah seemed to shake her head slightly and then smirked.
"Just been hanging out with a couple of other trainees," she gestured to the door and then looked back at the couple. "But what have you two been up to? Nothing on my cot I hope."
Mayne held his hands up in defence.
"Wait, no, we weren't doing anything like-"
"Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me." Sarah interrupted, a smirk still plastered in her face.
Location: State of Jalam, 4 clicks from Covenant operating base
Date: 22nd February 2553
Time: 1040 hours
It was quiet. Well, as quiet as a Jungle could be. Mayne sat in a crouch position in complete silence as he waited for the carnage to begin.
Nothing. Nothing but the sound of the jungle. The squawking of alien birds and the swooshing of the wind in the jungle canopy far above them. That didn't mean that there was no one watching.
"Let's move. We're too exposed out here, get into the brush before anything sees us." Catherine didn't need to whisper due to their helmet COMMs but in the tense atmosphere, Mayne couldn't blame her. Mayne flashed his acknowledgement light and clasping his rifle in one hand, he dashed towards the dense wall of green ahead of him. He hit the tree line and turned to see the rest of the rescue squad running after him.
"Everyone listen up. We have a lot of ground to cover and not a lot of time to cover it. Let's move quickly and quietly, we don't want to give away our position." Catherine said when she and the rest of the team were safely concealed in the trees. With all the shrubs and trees, it was difficult to see past ten metres but Mayne was able to pick out all the marines, ODSTs and the Elites.
"Let us move silently and swiftly. We cannot allow for the Arbiter to be executed, the tide of the war depends on it." Reesha chimed in through the COMMS. Whilst on the Lich, Captain Hendricks had given the Sangheili the channels for the COMMS that Mayne and the others used and were now able to communicate to them at will.
"Corporal Rea, take point and move quickly but do not be seen." Catherine ordered and a feminine voice responded.
"Aye-aye Sarge. Private Edwards, Private Fays. You're with me." Two marines acknowledged and fell instep behind their corporal as she took point. Mayne and the ODSTs joined in with the loose formation of the marines and the trek through the jungle began.
It wasn't until the small rescue team had almost risen to the top of the first hill that they met their first encounter with the remanent Covenant. A flash of blue light came searing through the dense trees and Mayne instinctively hit the dirt, bearing his teeth in pain at the impact of his chest meeting the hard dirt.
"Contact! The bastards are above us on the-AHH!" The call from Private First Class Fays was cut short as his scream pierced the COMMs. Mayne looked up from the ground to see the Private crumple to the ground with a seeming large, blackened hole in his chest.
Oh Fuck, not even an hour in and we've got a casualty
Something seemed to urge Mayne to roll to the right and so he did, narrowly missing a burst of plasma as rupture the dirt where he once lay. He felt a large hand grab his shoulder and heft him up onto his knees and behind a large tree as another bolt of boiling plasma hit the ground where he was merely milliseconds ago. He turned to see who his saviour was and he found himself facing Diro, the fuel rod wielding Sangheili.
"Thanks" Mayne said simply and Diro nodded before leaning out from behind the tree and letting off three bursts from his cannon. The muffled sounds of the explosions rang through Mayne's helmet along with the sound of the marines returning fire at the unseen attackers. The marines and Elites had dug themselves in along the hill, desperately trying to use trees and large roots as cover. Deciding it was time to chime in, Mayne looked around the side of the tree and levelled his battle rifle before letting off three bursts into the trees. Although he couldn't see the whole enemy he was able to get small glimpses through the green haze of trees.
"Mayne! Give us a number, how many of the fuckers are there?" Catherine called over the COMM. Mayne hunkered down and looked towards the ODST Sergeant, seeming to make eye contact even though she wore a helmet.
"Unsure, can't get a bead on all of them." Mayne responded as he fired blindly around the tree in hope of snagging a kill. It was at this moment another voice joined the COMM channel.
"It must be an observation post, three Sangheili and a collection of Unggoy and Kig-Yar." Reesha's voice sounded more guttural due to the COMMS., "Be weary humans, they may also have a plasma turret within their arsenal."
True to her word tens of blue plasma rounds came hurtling through the trees, tearing up the ground and fauna and catching a marine who had been unlucky enough to poke his head out of cover at the wrong time, creating a cloud of red where the marine's head used to be.
"We need to take out that OP marines! Mayne! Flank around with Ajax and see if you can disable that turret." The orders burnt themselves in Mayne's brain and he immediately looked for the large ODST. It didn't take long to see the hulking Hell jumper crouched behind a large root gesturing for Mayne to join him.
Without a second thought, Mayne burst from cover and sprinted across the exposed ground, plasma and needler rounds narrowly missing his head, body and legs. Upon reaching his ally he dived behind the root and nearly barrelled into Reesha who was also in the company of the large ODST.
"I shall join you humans, let us move." She said over the COMMs. Mayne peeked over the natural barrier to ensure that no enemy had them in their sights. Seeing as no blobs of plasma were being fired their way Mayne pointed in the direction that they would travel and the three companions headed off.
It was only a short distance to flank their encamped enemy but Mayne wanted to stay under the Covie's radar and it was clear that Reesha and Ajax shared the same thoughts as they moved quickly but cautious enough to avoid detection. The whole sight reminded the helljumper of similar flanking manoeuvres he'd conducted with his own fireteam. Fireteam Chaos moved fluently and effectively like that of a well-oiled machine and their tactics often caught their enemy off-guard and made for a quick victory. Mayne shook his mind to clear the thoughts, he couldn't afford to drift off in his own conscious when his actions could decide the fate of his new team.
"We're almost there, I can see movement off to the right." Ajax spoke calmly and Mayne followed his gaze to where a large amount of movement was visible through the trees and undergrowth.
As second in command of Pheonix, Mayne had control over Ajax but Reesha was technically the highest rank of the three of them so Mayne looked to her for orders.
"Corporal Cutter shall remain here with me. Mayne, position yourself behind the outpost and be ready to fire if any of the Covenant Remnant try to escape." Reesha stated. Mayne's eyes narrowed in confusion as why she used such informality when addressing him in the field but chose to ignore it and nodded to Ajax to ensure he followed the command. The two species may be allied but some people on this mission will have difficulty following orders given by the Elites. Ajax Cutter acknowledged Mayne's subtle nod and remained in his current position. Mayne then turned to leave but paused for a moment.
"Stay safe, Reesha." He said over a private channel to the Sangheili.
"You too, Mayne." Even though caught off-guard by the comment Reesha's response was nonetheless genuine. Still, Mayne questioned himself on his sudden comment but found that he couldn't quite answer. He was back to reality when he almost tripped over a tree root.
Focus! He growled to himself and returned back to the task at hand.
Once behind the enemy, Mayne could now clearly see what they were up against, three Elites, four grunts and two jackals. Already there was a mess on the ground where a grunt's head had been taken apart by a human rifle and the Elites seemed to be having trouble controlling their subordinates and fighting the rescue team at the same time. The grunts were beginning to panic while the Jackals began to slowly back away from their outpost.
"It's now or never Sergeant! Hit them while they're disorganised!" Mayne called to Catherine.
"Roger! Get ready for them to run." She warned and suddenly the fire from the marines doubled and an Elite was caught in the deadly blaze, his shields failed and his armour buckled in as multiple rounds bursts through and destroyed his insides.
That was the last straw. The grunts, terrified by the ordeal, turned about and ran from the fighting. This set off a chain reaction and the Jackals followed, squawking as they bounded away from the rescue team and right into Mayne's line of sight. The Jackals didn't know what hit them as Mayne's battle rifle spat out burst after burst, hitting one in the head and practically dismembering the arm from the second. Reesha and Ajax suddenly burst from their own cover and fired upon the grunts, killing all within a few seconds leaving only the elites.
The two Elites remaining seemed to decide that death at their outpost wasn't worth the risk and retreated back towards Mayne, still unknowing of his existence behind them. Once they were close enough Mayne lobbed a frag into their midst to soften them up. One Elite saw the grenade and pushed his friend out of the way, so when the nade exploded, it most of the first one's shields but missed the second entirely.
With a growl Mayne levelled his rifle with the injured one first and fired multiple times, each round putting more holes in the Covenant warrior's chest before it finally dropped into a rapidly spreading pool of blood. Mayne then turned his emotionless gaze to the second only to find that it was charging right at him, an energy sword clutched in its hand.
Moving too quickly for Mayne to use his iron sights he let loose a barrage of fire at the oncoming Saurian. The rifle fired twice, draining the shield of the oncoming Elite but not doing enough damage to piece it's armour.
"Fuck, fuck! FUCK!" Mayne's voice escalated and he closed his eyes in anticipation for the end as the Sangheili came upon him.
But instead of having his guts pour out of his stomach or his head separate from his neck, there was a Wooshing sound followed by his gun being ripped out of his hands and a huge force crashed into him.
Once Mayne opened his eyes he found his battle rifle in two halves beside him and the Elite bounding off into the forest.
He must be out of radio contact! Mayne jumped up and without another thought, ripped his magnum from its holster and began running after the Elite.
"Mayne! Get back here, stay as a group!" He heard Catherine yell over the radio and he looked back to see his superior standing above the Elite he killed and looking in his direction.
"No can-do Catherine." He kept on running, trying to maintain his pace with the larger Elite, "I've got the stop that bastard before it gets into radio range to call his friends!"
"Stop now! That's an order Corpor-" Mayne didn't hear the rest as he cut the connection.
If they won't let him go, this Elite would call his friends and this while rescue mission would be a bust. The Arbiter will be killed and their chances of winning this war will diminish. As he ran through the brush a small beep signalled that a private channel had been established.
"Stay safe Mayne." Reesha's voice rang through his helmet, echoing the words he said to her just before. Mayne said nothing as he bounded through the trees, magnum in hand.
It didn't take long for Mayne to lose sight of his enemy, the jungle just seemed to swallow them up. Coming to a halt Mayne glanced to his radar and saw nothing. He dropped to a crouch to inspect the ground.
Now if only I could find some- Aha!
In the dirt there was a definitive hoof print, a print only a Sangheili could make. This was his path now. Mayne began to follow the footprint, slower than running for sure but at least he knew where the enemy was heading. A dull roar suddenly caught the ODST's attention and he turned up his helmet's audio receptors.
It sounded like water, and the roaring sound must be a waterfall.
Mayne looked around to try to get a bearing on where the fall was but was unable to identify the origin, so he made a note to keep an eye out for any possibly drastic drops.
It was at this moment that a red dot suddenly appeared on his radar and was rapidly approaching on his position. The Helljumper turned on the swivel and raised his magnum to face the mess of fauna that held the enemy in cover. The brush then exploded in a flurry of movement as the Elite Mayne had been pursuing burst into the small clearing and pounced upon him, knocking him squarely onto his back and causing him to lose grip on his magnum while getting all the air knocked out of him.
"You…Mother…Fucker!" Mayne gasped between huge breaths as he tried desperately to get oxygen back into his lungs. The Elite composed itself and activated its energy sword ,the glowing blue reflected off its armour as it then placed a hoof heavily on Mayne's chest, punching the oxygen out of his lungs once again.
His muscles suddenly tensed as horrible memories flooded his mind. A dark figure flashed before his eyes, partially blocking out the Sangheili standing before him. Next came the screaming, a familiar voice that he could remember so clearly.
Claire! No, no, no! Stop! Snap out of it!
Mayne thrashed around with his arms like a caught animal, hoping to hit the Elite that was holding him down. The dark figure infiltrating his vision let out a guttural laugh and then suddenly disappeared, clearing his vision to see a brand new horror. The Elite had it's sword raised and was preparing to strike, it was only Mayne's training that made him move at the last minute. He removed his combat knife from it's sheath and with both hands, stabbed the knife into his assailant's leg that was grounding him. With the force that Mayne applied, the blade passed through the Elites energy shield and spilt purple blood all down the Covie's leg and all over Mayne's torso armour.
The Saurian fell back with a low snarl and allowed Mayne to rolled to the side to avoid any attack. Fortunately, he bumped into his magnum and so picked it up and levelled it at the Sangheili. It took all shots in the first magazine to take down the beast's shield but by that time it was preparing itself to charge him again with all intent to gut him with their blade. The ODST back pedalled quickly but stopped as he looked back to find himself mer metres from the edge of a cliff. A large stream of water was cascading down the rock face just ten metres from where he stood.
Well, there's the waterfall. Mayne thought matter of factly and readied his magnum for a final stand. This wasn't the first time that Mayne had considered death but this was one of the few times he truly believed it would be the end of him. He removed one of his dwindling supply of pistol magazines, slammed it into the chamber and like a cornered animal, he snarled under his helmet at his foe.
The Elite moved fast, not as quick as before due to it's injured knee but still quick enough to avoid most of Mayne's shots. Clearly attempting to end Mayne quickly, the Elite lunged forward with his blade but at the last minute Mayne dropped to the ground and the Sangheili stumbled, fuelled by momentum, over Mayne's body and off the edge of the cliff.
Mayne's relief of seeing the Elite tumble off the edge was short lived as a large claw wrapped itself around Mayne's boot. Mayne felt solid ground slip out from underneath as he joined the Covenant warrior in the gut wrenching fall.
So this is how it ends. Mayne thought as gravity took hold and he closed his eyes as he waited for his inevitable death.