Good Morning, Afternoon, Evening everyone!
I've been getting so distracted recently with all the halo books, like i swear ive finished at least 4 at this point! Reading Halo books helps so much when it comes to writing my own story and i really encourage writers out there to read some if you havent done so already! What's everyone's favourite Halo book if you've read any? Mine's personally New Blood and Bad Blood, just cos it follows Buck!
Also, ive recreated Mayne in Halo MCC (Specifically Halo 3) for anyone who would like to know what i believe he would look like or if anyone would want to recreate him:
helmet: ODST Left shoulder: Security Right shoulder: CQB Chest: CQB Visor: Onyx Colours: Black Primary, Red Secondary
Guest Replies
Book of Eli: Thanks for that feedback on the flashback! I hope this first mission is up to standards!
That's all from me, Enjoy the chapter everyone!
Location: Kapursa, State of Moram, Sanghelios
Date: 23rd February 2558
Time: 1700 hours
"Lookin' sexy up there Mayne." Ajax crackled through the comms. Mayne cast a quick glance across the ocean of aliens to one of the few triple storey structures that were scattered throughout Kapursa's city.
"Surprised you can't see me shaking in my boots from there, Jax." Mayne replied sourly as he reverted his gaze back to the crowd ahead of him. He stood as the only human on the stage in the middle of the city's main square. His only companions on the elevated platform were Reesha and Zek, who stood on the opposite side of the stage, scanning the crowd for unfriendly faces, and the Arbiter, who was in process of delivering his propaganda to the masses. Not for the first time, Mayne questioned why life put him in this position.
"As one of the few remaining cities in the region untouched by the Covenant, it is most important to raise the morale of the people if we are to win this war." The arbiter expressed in the war room, "For without complete unity, we will be consumed by the Covenant's wrath."
"Corporal Alexander, you'll be stationed on the speaking platform with Commander Reesha and her two-IC." Captain Hendricks started his orders. "We don't want too many of our people viewed in front of the large crowd that is expected to show, we know our presence here is, at best, tolerated. We don't want to overstep our welcome."
He then gave the rest of the team their own specific orders; Ajax was to work with Diro to provide overwatch in one of the taller towers a short distance from the city square while the rest of the team and their Sangheili escorts were to wait a short distance away and act as the response team if anything came up.
"Good luck out there everyone, let's get this done." Pheonix saluted with a chorus of "Sir!" and Hendricks dismissed the meeting.
"See anything you two?" Catherine asked casually.
"Nothing from here, seems too peaceful." Ajax replied suspiciously. "What about you, Mayne?"
Mayne continued to scan the crowd, feeling more and more uncomfortable with what he saw.
Damn, I can't tell who might be with or against us, all these Elites look the same.
"I cannot observe any Sangheili showing signs of aggression." Reesha filled in for Mayne's silence. "That is not to say that some are not hiding any bad will toward the Arbiter. We must stay vigilant."
"I completely agree Commander. Keep your eyes peeled Pheonix." Catherine received two acknowledgment lights in return.
The Arbiter seemed to be doing well with his speech as the crowd seemed to be getting more and more riled up with each passing sentence. soon there were roars of approval and while Mayne could not understand the Sangheili tongue, he was beginning to feel in awe of this one Elite's ability to control the crowd. As he took a quick glance at the Arbiter, he caught sight of Reesha on the other side of the platform, showing great interest towards the Sangheili standing between them. Unbeknownst to him though was that the Arbiter only had half her focus.
Thel Vadam's words really were special, Reesha could not recall the last time she had felt so united with a cause. The Swords of Sangheilios's leader had slowly moved from a conversational tone to a rallying call. Calling for the unity of Sangheilios and to fight for the freedom they have been deprived of since the signing of the first treaty between the Sangheili and the San Shyuum; the Writ of Union.
"It is time that we shall be our own masters!" Thel's voice echoed across the square. "It is time to drive the accursed Covenant remnants off our planet!" His smooth voice was met with a chorus of approval as voices roared and fists were raised into the air in support from the hundreds of Sangheili before him. Reesha was almost caught up in what was surely going to become a historic moment in Sangheili history and had to stop herself from joining in, she was meant to be keeping a watch for unfriendly faces. Before she cast her eyes back to the rippling crowd of Sangheili she noticed Mayne standing opposite her. He stood at the ready, his weapon that he referred to as a 'battle rifle' held firmly in his hands. She could picture looking through that visor, seeing his green eyes scanning back and forth across the crowd, his sharp jaw tightened in concentration and being ready to react at any given moment. He had such a strong-willed personality, yet hid a pain that he would not, or maybe could not, share to the outside world. How could such a person be so strong yet so broken?
The human suddenly looked towards the Arbiter, but she could have sworn his helmet turned in her direction before turning back to face the front. Her thoughts were halted as the comms came to life again.
"Head's up, we've got eyes on a group of Elites entering the square from the south-side entrance wearing combat armour and carrying assault weapons. Can you confirm Commander?" It was Ajax and Reesha quickly directed her gaze towards the said entry. The human was correct, there were five armoured Sangheili skirting around the edges of the crowd. While it was not uncommon for some Sangheili to wear battle armour instead of traditional woven clothing whilst outside of battle, it was certainly uncommon for regular Sangheili to be so well armed around the city. While many Sangheili would carry a simple Type-25 plasma pistol on their body for personal protection, it was highly irregular for citizens to carry type-51 Carbines and Type-25 Plasma Rifles.
"You are correct Corporal. response teams, make ready to move to my waypoint." She pinged the Covenant Sangheili on her heads-up display and received acknowledgement lights from the rest of the team. She opened a comm to Mayne and Zek who were both looking to where she pinged.
"If they engage, protect the Arbiter at all costs. Do not let them get clear shot." She ordered and saw both allies' nod. Reesha kept a close eye on the intruders as they continued to slip through the crowd, clearly being careful not to cause a fuss or draw any attention. Suddenly the five Sangheili dipped through the curtained-off door of a two storey building on the edge of the square and Reesha reacted like a switch being flicked on.
"Response teams move in, the Covenant soldiers have entered that building." She pinged the building and dropped off the back of the stage, making her way around the outskirts of the square to the same building the Covenant Sangheili disappeared into a moment earlier. They had to deal with this situation quickly to avoid harm to the Arbiter and possibly ruining their best chance to win this war. Holstering the Type-51 Carbine to the back of her armour, she equipped her custom energy sword but kept it deactivated.
"No need to draw attention" She thought as she held the blade's hilt down by her side. When she arrived at the sandstone building, she found Catherine and Rtada awaiting her arrival.
"Gabriel and Ido are waiting for your word at the other entrance, Commander." Informed Catherine through their team comm channel.
"We'll move on my go." Reesha raised her blade's hilt into a fighting stance. "Go."
She quickly pushed through the curtained door and found herself face to face with a very stunned Sangheili warrior. Before he could move a muscle, Reesha pressed the hilt of her sword into the enemy's chest and activated the red energy weapon. Burning flesh immediately filled her nose as the blade sliced smoothly through the Sangheili's armour and flesh. A second Sangheili appeared from another room but was instantly gunned down by the combined fire of the humans and Sangheili that entered after Reesha. the team scanned the rest of the lower floor before bounding towards the stairs leading to the second floor where the remaining three Covenant loyalists waited for them.
Clearly not wanting to be surprised like their fellow warriors, two Covenant soldiers had turned the stairs into choke point, blasting away at the small entry and leaving blue scorch marks with their Type-25 Plasma Rifles. Reesha could hear a loud commotion outside their building, the sound of their small engagement had probably reached its way to the Sangheili outside.
"Commander, the people are scattering, the Arbiter has finished his speech to the people and we are preparing to escort him away." Zek's voice confirmed her thoughts. She saw out the corner of her eye the Human; Gabriel unclip a dull green spherical object from his belt and he seemed to look at her expectedly, a grenade. She knew the shrapnel based grenade would cause havoc to the Covenant soldiers above them, having experienced many close encounters with the utility herself during the Human-Covenant war. She nodded and the ODST primed the grenade and lobbed it underarm up the stairs.
The response teams certainly did not care for the amount of noise they made. Soon after Mayne had seen Reesha disappear into the two storey building the sound of alien and human gunfire split through the Arbiters speech. Almost instantly the crowd of Sangheili began to move away from the vicinity of the building. The Arbiter clearly noticed it too as he seemed to conclude his speech, knowing that he was quickly losing the attention of the crowd to the small firefight happening nearby. Mayne could sense a certain uneasiness in the aliens before him as more and more began to scatter away from the square. He looked over to Zek who nodded in the direction of the palace, the universal"Let's get the fuck out of here." gesture, although the Sangheili would probably say it with a little more grace.
"Commander, the people are scattering, the Arbiter has finished his speech to the people and we are preparing to escort him away." Zek called over the team's comms and moved to cover the Arbiter as he made ready to leave.
"You guys better get out of there quick, there's so much movement in the square that I won't be able to track any unfriendly Sangheili!" Ajax said urgently. A loud explosion came from the building Reesha had entered, a frag grenade. Mayne found himself hoping the female Sangheili was okay.
"Roger, lets move." urged Mayne and scanned the square once more for any hostile Sangheili that might be coming in their direction, he was thankful that he saw none. "Let's get the Arbiter back to-"
He was cut off as a beam of heated particles spat passed him and impacted into Zek's back. The Major had moved behind the Arbiter as they both began to descend the stairs at the back of the stage and he now fell forward to the cobblestoned ground with a loud cry.
"Sniper!" Mayne yelled into the comm as he threw himself off the stage, landing in a roll and coming out in a crouch. Both he and the Arbiter lay in this position for what seemed to be minutes until a dull CRACK! was heard in the distance.
"Sniper down." Ajax confirmed. "Get your asses into gear, we don't know if there are any more!"
Mayne looked to the Sangheili Major lying in front of himself and the Arbiter, he was still breathing, though dark, thick purple blood had started forming around where he lay. With the Arbiter's help, they managed to prop Zek up against the stage, his maw was flared in shock and pain. His shields seemed to have taken most of the bolt's force as there was no exit wound in the Major's chest, but the pain must have been excruciating. That shot would have killed any marine right where they stood.
"Major, can you stand? Can you make it to the exfiltration?" The Arbiter asked, laying a claw on Zek's shoulder. He was making reference to an open space in the city a few blocks away that they had agreed would be an emergency exit by Phantom if things got too dicey during the speech. Zek placed a claw against the stage and tried to push himself up but groaned in pain before sitting back down.
"I am sorry, Arbiter. I won't be able to move on my own." He said grievingly. The last thing a Sangheili would want is help from others, they were too proud as individuals to ask for help and most of the time, Mayne had observed Elites leaving their injured comrades to die on the battlefield instead of giving up their own potential glory to save a fellow soldier. However, the Arbiter lifted Zek's arm over his own shoulder and hefted him up with a grunt of exertion, The Arbiter was no ordinary Elite.
Suddenly the sound of rushing boots alerted Mayne and he spun around with his Battle Rifle raised and finger poised on the trigger but immediately lowered it as he recognised Reesha and the response teams.
"You alright Mayne?" Catherine asked him in a concerned voice. It was not like highly trained ODST's to almost mistake teammates for enemies.
"Yeah I'm good, I'm good." Mayne sighed. The situation was starting to put him a little on edge. Being in the middle of an alien city, surrounded by some possibly hostile Elites would do that to any man. Without a word, the Sangheili twins; Ido and Rtada, took Zek off the Arbiter's hands and Reesha gestured in the direction of their exfiltration.
"Let us not wait for anymore Covenant infiltrators to find us." Mayne nodded, along with Catherine and Gabriel.
"Ido and I will meet you at the rendezvous." Ajax panted into the comm, he was clearly already on the move.
"Stay safe out there Helljumper." Catherine ordered and a green acknowledgement light winked in return.
The team had been jogging at half speed for about five minutes before they were engaged, they probably could have avoided the conflict if they were moving at top speed but they had to compensate for their injured ally. The gunfire had come at them from both sides of the street from the small single storey sandstone stalls that lined them. Mayne quickly rolled behind a short protrusion from a building beside him and began to return fire.
How had the Covenant soldiers known they were coming through here? were they just moving faster and set up before they got there or did they know in advance that this was their exfil route? Mayne did not want to think of the consequences if the ambush had been planned and pushed the thought out of his mind as he depleted the shields of an Elite with four quick burps of his Battle Rifle and Reesha finished the Saurian off with a single bolt to the head with her Type-51 Carbine.
A Sangheili Major who had witnessed its fellow Covenant soldier fall under the hail of Mayne and Reesha's combined fire roared in defiance and lunged forward towards the team, activating an energy sword. Reesha roared back in equal ferocity and dropped her carbine whilst also activating her own red blade. Mayne could only watch in admiration as the two Sangheili blades clashed and light exploded in every direction, though something still nagged at him about Reesha's blade, there was something familiar and uncanny about it, though he could not put a finger on it. The close combat was short lived as the major realised his mistake in taking on a warrior of Reesha's calibre and was elegantly cut down, adding yet another life to the blades extensive list. With a couple of fragmentation grenades from Gabriel and Catherine, the last of the Sangheili were driven from cover and either shot down or blown to pieces by the explosives.
The rest of the way to the rendezvous point was clear sailing and they were met by a smug looking Ajax and impassive looking Diro standing under the thirty-two meter Phantom dropship that was promised.
"Took you guys long enough." He chuckled and Catherine slapped him on the shoulder.
"You didn't have any extra baggage, or an ambush." She jerked a thumb a Zek as Ido and Rtada guided the injured Major to the grav-lift, which sucked them up into its troop bay.
"That ambush was concerning." Reesha sounded unsure, "Though they would have been faster than us with our injured member, it may have been a coincidence." Mayne and Catherine nodded.
"Something to discuss when we get back to the safety of the palace. I still feel uneasy being down here." Catherine cast a look over her shoulder as the buildings that some meters away before stepping into the lift, quickly followed by Gabriel and Ajax.
Before Mayne could step into the lift, Reesha put a hand out in front of him and he glanced up at her, she had a look of concern on her face.
"While the plan of this emergency strategy was not too secret, I do not just believe that it was a coincidence that those Sangheili ambushed us."
"You believe someone planned for those soldiers to be there in case we had to use that exfil?" Reesha nodded solemnly. "Which means someone in the palace isn't all who they say they are."
"Precisely, and I intend to find out who." She said confidently.
"why trust me with this knowledge?" Mayne asked curiously.
"Well, being Human would make you least likely to be a traitor, seeing as you hate the Covenant just as much as we do, and because I trust you." She let the words hang in the air. Mayne nodded and stepped into the lift and instantly felt his insides flip as the gravity lift took hold of him. Once on board, Reesha followed up behind him.
"Let's get back to the palace, back to safety." She called to the pilots.
"What an excellent idea." Zek croaked from his grounded position.
As the dropship sped off towards the palace walls, Mayne sat by himself on the side of the phantom with its ventral doors lowered, overlooking the bright red sun as it descended over the ocean. He'd come out of this mission with more questions then he'd like. could there really be a traitor among them? A Sangheili perhaps that did not know which side it wanted to be on? And why did Reesha entrust him with her opinion? But on that trip back to their temporary 'home', Mayne decided there and then that he would answer those questions as soon as he could.