Disclaimer: Master: We are getting aggravated… Chief: Yes we are…
A/N: Updating will slow down here, our school has reopened, and we'll have a lot less free time on our hands… And to alert ShikaRoX-LOL, this story will contain PLENTY of necessary OC's, but no pairings with them. Why are the OC's necessary? Simple: There are plenty of people in the military, and only very few were made main characters by Bungie in Halo, so with so few memorable characters, we have to create some of our own, you can't possibly always stick with the same person time and time again in the military, can you? This is a war, and people will die sooner or later. Hence, the need for OC's that can be killed off but play a part in the story anyway.
A/N 2: This pretty long, action-packed chapter will focus on Fayt's group; Maria's group will come in the next chapter.
A/N 3: I'm getting Fayt to pull off a Cloud Strife here, he'll have a multi-holster on his back instead of a single holster, and he'll be wielding up to two swords at a time, with the Levantine, Divine Avenger, Veinslay, Mythril Sword and Silvance in his multi-holster, and a Laser Weapon in his pocket. Total of six swords.
A/N 4: Another change I'm making for Fayt, I'm giving him a new outfit for this fic. He'll be wearing something like Riku's KH2 outfit, but the color basis will take after that of Sora's KH2 outfit. Also, there'll be a little surprise in this chapter concerning Fayt's Destruction power, you'll see!
Chapter 3: The First Trigger
A sudden deceleration jolted Fayt awake, and his eyes shot open just as the inky blackness gave way to conventional space. The rest of the group was already on their feet, and Cliff was wide-awake in the pilot's seat, his hands gripping onto the control yoke firmly.
"Oh my god…" Sophia whispered in horror as she stared at the image the display provided.
"No… not again… this can't be happening…" Fayt's hands clutched onto the armrest of his seat in a white-knuckled grip.
"Oh, Maria was right when she said 'Dark Age', all right." Cliff muttered.
Fayt and Sophia stared ahead as a familiar-looking blue-and-white sphere was being set aflame by alien craft, with blazing plasma bolts raining down hellish fire upon sections of their home planet.
The sight reminded them all too well of the Executioners destroying Earth.
Several purple craft that looked like humongous versions of the one they had stolen were in orbit around Earth locked in combat with numerous human vessels. The human forces were obviously fighting a losing battle, though they had the advantage of superior numbers. A colossal, silver ship led the attack against Earth; it's weapons cutting a swathe of destruction through the human fleet.
The COM channel on their ship was open to all frequencies, and they were bombarded with COM messages from all over the area. A plethora of voices, both human and alien, flooded the Com channel, shouting orders here and there. One particular message caught Fayt's attention. Listening in closely and trying to discern out the meaning of the message, he was taken by surprise as a flight of human one-man fighters took a strafing run at their craft. The hull of the ship rocked as the multiple cannon rounds impacted against and dented their armor.
"Hey, what the - Cliff! Open a COM channel and tell them we're friendlies!" Fayt cried out.
"Err… How do you open a COM channel with this thing? … Ah! Got it!" Cliff keyed a likely looking button.
"This is the pilot of this stolen craft! Do not fire upon us! We are human, and we are friendlies!" Cliff spoke into the COM before keying it off.
"Identify yourself!" A harsh voice shot back, the message distorted by static.
"This is Cliff Fittir. I have a group of my companions with me. Do not fire upon this ship! It is under human control!" Cliff responded.
"Who are you? You're not from the UNSC's military… how do I know you're not Covenant?" The voice replied again.
"Covenant? So that's what they call those aliens…" Fayt muttered as Cliff explained to the person on the other end of the COM who they were.
"We're uhh… civilians! We've managed to escape from the Covenant and we were hoping you guys could help us!" Cliff made up a quick excuse to cover up.
"Civilians! How in the hell did you civvies manage to capture a Covenant ship?" The voice exclaimed.
"We'll explain later, just get us the hell out of here!" Cliff replied.
Captain Harland didn't trust the words of this 'Cliff Fittir' one bit. He claimed that they were civilians that had managed to steal a Phantom and escape from the Covenant, but here's the trick.
Just how in the hell did they manage to escape in the first place? Covenant didn't take any prisoners, save the occasional straggler to execute for sport. If they were taken prisoner by the Covenant, then how the hell could they be still alive?
Something was seriously amiss here.
"Ok, we'll take you in. Follow these coordinates." He uploaded a NAV point into the stolen Phantom's NAV computer.
"This is Bravo Flight Leader to Cairo Platform, repeat, Bravo Flight Leader to Cairo Platform. We have an incoming Covenant Phantom, claims to be containing friendly humans. Allow the Phantom to dock, but keep a reaction force ready. It could be a decoy. Covenant might be trying to Trojan Horse their way in. Our ETA is… two minutes." Harland sent the message to the Cairo Orbital MAC Gun Platform.
"Roger that. Reaction force will be ready in one minute." The platform's system AI responded curtly.
"Copy that. Over and out." Harland keyed off the COM and watched the Covenant Phantom streak towards the Cairo's docking bay.
Despite his initial suspicion, something told him that this arrival could very well turn the tide of battle in their favor. He couldn't really tell what gave him this feeling, but he knew that somehow, the human race would win this battle, and live to fight another day.
The hatch of their stolen craft sprung open, and Fayt's group leapt out, only to be confronted by an array of weapon barrels.
A full platoon of uniformed men dressed in combat armor surrounded the hatch of their stolen craft; their weapons trained on the group, ready to fire should they be deemed a threat.
"Whoa." Cliff muttered. "If I knew we were coming down here for target practice, I would've painted a bullseye on my chest."
"Uhh… Don't shoot!" Fayt tried out. "We're not one of them!"
The men lowered their weapons slightly, but they kept their guard up.
"Who are you people? You're not from the military…" One of the men spoke up. His rank indicated that he was a Staff Sergeant, probably the guy in charge.
"We're uhh… civilians! Well, kind of like civilians…" Cliff said lamely as he nervously scratched the back of his head, uncomfortable at being the target of over fifteen gun barrels at once.
"Yeah, right. And I'm supposed to believe that?" The sergeant replied abruptly, looking over the band of misfits.
This was one helluva refugee group, if they were even refugees. Two of the men in the group were rather big, lots of muscle. One of them was blonde and seemed to be in his mid-thirties, the other, larger one had graying hair, didn't wear a shirt over his bare tattooed upper body, and seemed to be in his late fifties. The last male in the group was a blue-haired teenager, a boy. If one thing was out of place with this kid, it was that he had a butt load of swords strapped to his back. Seemed to be in his late teens, looked like hitting his twenties soon. The other two were girls. Not women, but girls, as in, small little-sister kind of girl. The older-looking one of them, the brunette, was definitely a teenager as well. The last one, the short, silvery-haired one, sure as hell was a little kid all right.
"Please, you have to believe us! We aren't soldiers like you, but we're not really civilians either… And we're definitely not one of those Covenant!" Sophia came forward, boldly planting herself right in the gun sights of the platoon.
"Well, whaddya know! The girl's got guts, steppin' up in front of a gun like that." Another one of the men commented.
"Shut the hell up, Corporal." The sergeant shouted at the soldier, who promptly shut his mouth.
"Yes sir, sergeant." The corporal, whose nametag read 'N. A. Parker', muttered.
"Well… I don't think you guys are with the Covenant. We'll have to take you in for questioning, though." The sergeant stated after thinking for a few moments. The soldiers immediately holstered their weapons and dispersed.
The party immediately let out a collective sigh of relief. The sergeant came forth and introduced himself. "I'm Staff Sergeant Baxter. Come with me, the briefing room is this way."
"So you're saying that you guys escaped from a Covenant vessel and somehow managed to arrive here through Slipspace?" Baxter's eyebrows were raised so high that they almost came into contact with his crew cut.
"That's pretty much the story." Cliff replied.
The party had gathered in the briefing room, and was currently being questioned by Baxter and two other officers, who had introduced themselves as Lieutenant McCain and Major Harrison.
"That's impossible." Harrison said. "The Covenant doesn't take prisoners, except for the occasional straggler that they tear up for sport. I don't see how you guys can still be alive if you were indeed taken prisoner by the Covenant."
Fayt nervously scratched his head. How to explain to these people that they had just simply warped into the Covenant vessel?
"Sir, we weren't exactly taken prisoner. We… just happened to… be there. I know this is a very vague explanation, but this is all we can give you without having you doubting our sanity." Fayt finally said.
"Not taken prisoner? Just happened to be there? Well, from the navigation logs in your stolen Phantom, it tells us that you guys came from right in the middle of Covenant territory! How in the hell did you guys manage to get there in the first place?" McCain questioned.
"We… uhh…" Fayt didn't have an answer to that one.
"We screwed up in our Slipspace navigations for our own ship, and we ended up there." Cliff finished for him. Fayt stared at the Klausian in awe. It astonished him that Cliff could always come up with lies and excuses so quickly and easily, though his lies weren't always the most believable ones…
"Well… I find your explanation very dubious, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. You guys sure as hell aren't with the Covenant. We'll have to find a safe area to evacuate you civilians to, it isn't safe here…" Harrison started, but Cliff started to protest.
"What? Evacuate? Oh, hell no! I'm gonna fight those Covenant! I've got a score to settle with those things." Cliff fingered his bandaged side, and the plasma burn beneath it.
"You guys want to fight?" Harrison was shocked at this, but he thought over it for a moment. "Well, since you were able to escape from the Covenant, I suppose that speaks enough of your skills… All right. I'll let you fight, but the moment you guys prove to be a liability to us, I'm removing you from the field."
"All right! Time to kick some Covenant butt!" Peppita cried out, jumping up and down excitedly.
McCain and Baxter shook their heads at this, and Harrison raised an eyebrow. Suddenly, the PA system crackled to life, and the platform AI's voice come online.
"Attention. We have incoming boarders. All hands report to battle stations. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill!"
"Damn!" McCain cursed. "The Covenant must be trying to board the stations already."
Harrison looked at the party. "Well, this is your chance to show us what you're made of. Don't make me regret my choice to let you fight."
"Oh, you won't regret it, all right." Cliff grinned as he cracked his knuckles.
The group started to head out the doors, but Harrison called out "Hey, blue kid!"
Fayt turned around and cocked his head quizzically at the Major. Harrison looked over Fayt for a moment before saying, 'That armor of yours looks really beat up. You might want to get a new set."
Fayt grinned and replied, "No thanks. If I'm going to get a new set of clothes, it's going to be from the civilian section. I never liked having to wear Battle Armor anyway."
"Well, there's a civilian surplus cache nearby. Take the corridor on your left and continue on, it's at the end of the hall. Just get some decent protective wear on. I hate having to lose my men simply because they never bothered to wear armor."
Fayt nodded his thanks and exited the room, turning to his left and heading down the corridor. A few seconds later, he reached the cache. Entering the room, he started rifling through the numerous boxes that filled up the room completely.
Several crates later, Fayt still hadn't found anything to his liking. Frustrated, he kicked his foot against one of the still unopened boxes, knocking it over and spilling out its contents, and yielding an unexpected result.
A set of black garments had spilled out of the box, along with a note. Curious, Fayt peered closer at the clothes, picking up the note and reading it.
Fayt
I've been studying your powers recently, and I believe that I've created a method through which you'll be able to harness the power of your gene more efficiently. I've managed to create and imbue these garments with special abilities, all of which are focused on enhancing your power, and your ability to control it. You should already feel stronger once you put on the clothing.
Consider this a good-bye gift from me. I hope that it'll prove useful. Good luck on your journey.
Blair
Fayt smiled and stuffed the note in his pocket. Ah, good old Blair. What would we do without her? He thought to himself as he picked up the clothes and examined them for a moment before closing and locking the door, taking a few seconds to change.
To say that it was a bizarre experience would be a severe understatement.
As Fayt slipped on the shirt, an image flowed into his mind - he could clearly see himself surrounded by fire and redness, utilizing his strength to its fullest potential.
He put on the pants, and another image came to mind -surrounded by ice and blueness, his symbological potential reaching new heights.
He pulled the fingerless gloves onto his hands, and yet another image popped up - he envisioned his body enshrouded in shadows, his heart and soul overcome by the power of darkness. Fayt felt sickened by this vision and was tempted to pull the gloves off, but he pushed the sickening sensation aside and put on the vest.
The next vision he received wasn't as bad as the last one. This time, he felt an invigorating rush of warmth - surrounded by a bright, chrome yellow energy, he saw himself as a master of all skills. Fayt immediately started to like that vest.
He finally picked up the last item from the package; a small, silver pendant that had a small symbol that dangled in the front of it. Fayt recognized that symbol immediately - he saw that symbol every time he triggered Ethereal Blast.
It was the symbol of his Destruction Gene.
Fayt smiled at this, and slipped the pendant over his neck. He would never forget the incredible sensation he experienced after that.
It was like he had been blind before, and he had finally gained true sight. He gained a glimpse of ultimate power - he saw himself surrounded by whiteness; divine energy. His power had reached its true potential.
The vision abruptly ended, and Fayt almost staggered from the sudden loss of such power. He caught himself just before he lost his balance, and braced himself against the doorway, breathing quickly.
Fayt knew that he couldn't take his time dilly-dallying around, so he took a few moments to get his breath back before heading off.
And with his fresh, new, stronger look, the bluenette went to join his comrades in battle.
"How's it going, Cairo?"
"Stand by… CLANG … They're latched! Check your targets, watch your crossfire! They're in standard formation: little bastards in front, big ones in back. Good luck, Atlantis."
"Roger that. Need any assistance?"
"We have insufficient personnel to repel boarders, request reinforcements ASAP!"
"Copy that. Reinforcements ETA… 10 minutes."
"Make it six. Cairo out."
Fayt listened to all of this over the COM channel, noting it grimly. Apparently, they were up against superior numbers, and reinforcements were too damn far away to make a difference in time.
He cradled his sub-machine gun and huddled closer to the wall that provided cover for him.
Peppita and Sophia weren't trusted to handle a firearm, so they were kept towards the back, armed with med kits and ready to administer first aid to any wounded personnel.
Cliff was a few meters to Fayt's left, training both his shotguns on the blast door that the Covenant were about to cut through. Adray had somehow managed to get his hands on some rocket launchers, and he hefted two of them on both his shoulders, keeping them more or less pointed towards the blast door.
"Get a field of fire on that bulkhead!" Baxter shouted out to the rest of the Marines in the room as a bright light started to shine in the middle of the blast door, along with several sparks. The Covenant were cutting through. "As soon as that door opens, let those alien bastards have it!"
The marine next to Fayt glanced at him, and the swords strapped to his back.
"Think those pieces of metal are gonna help?" He said snidely.
Fayt gave him an affronted look. "These aren't just pieces of metal, these swords have saved my life more times than I can count! They're like a part of me!"
The marine smirked. "Yeah, right. And my combat knife has killed more Covenant than your new SMG over there has." He directed a look at the SMG that Fayt held in an awkward grip.
"Oh, you'll see how deadly this sword can be in due time. You'll see." Fayt replied as he patted the hilt of his Levantine and turned his attention back to the blast door.
A few seconds later, the door exploded outwards in a ball of fire, and plasma blasts shot out of the smokescreen. A few of the Marines took hits, and they staggered for a bit before turning back to the blast door.
They opened fire. Fayt struggled to keep his aim steady as he let off a sustained burst of fire from his SMG, cutting down on off-guard Jackal and stunning a second. Cliff unloaded blast after blast of buckshot at the Covenant warriors, racking the slides of his shotguns as fast as his arms could move. Adray let fly with the rockets, and the twin streaks of explosives detonated in the midst of the oncoming horde of alien soldiers that were streaming through the wreckage of the blast door.
Several of the bird-like aliens, the ones that the Marines called 'Jackals', came up front, holding up their energy shields and forming a phalanx, preventing any of the Marine's shots from penetrating. They advanced inexorably forward, cutting down any Marines that were foolish enough not to duck behind cover.
Adray reloaded the rocket tubes and fired again, the rockets blowing twin holes in the Jackals' formation. Cliff took this opportunity to toss in a couple of frag grenades in the holes before the Jackals reformed.
The grenades detonated right in the middle of the Jackals' formation, blowing pieces of them left and right.
The larger aliens – the Brutes – immediately rushed forward and filled took the place of the dead Jackals, their plasma rifles spewing out bolts of energy. Several of the Marines were cut down in the charge, but the humans continued to fight.
Adray had run out of rockets by now, so he picked up two heavy machine guns and let fly a hell-storm of lead at the Covenant warriors.
Cliff took a number of plasma shots, and there were holes in his Ablative armor everywhere, but he merely gritted his teeth in pain and continued firing his shotguns.
Fayt continued firing his SMG in short bursts until the bolt locked open – empty magazine. He cursed and reached to his belt for a new clip, only to realize that he didn't have a marine's ammo belt in the first place. Fayt swore and tossed the empty weapon onto the floor, drawing the Levantine out of its sheath.
Ok, Levantine. Now's your chance to show these marines what you're made of. Leaping forth right into the horde of Covenant, Fayt let loose with all of his skills.
"Air Raid!" Fayt launched himself upwards and launched several blasts of energy from the Levantine. Jackals and Brutes alike were thrown into the air as the explosions blew them left and right.
Cliff and Adray took this as their cue to start their individual assaults. Adray threw himself forward, yelling "Chaos Tide!" as he plowed through the Covenant ranks, sending their warriors tumbling.
"Aerial Assault!" Cliff leapt upwards high into the air, landing right in the middle of the alien horde, creating a shockwave that bowled over several of the Covenant warriors.
The marines stopped shooting and stared in awe at the three combatants that were single-handedly decimating the Covenant. Fayt's movements were but a blur as he dodged left and right, all of the Covenant's plasma shots missing him. Cliff and Adray were nigh unstoppable pillars of strength, their attacks crushing the alien warriors with ease.
The assault ended as abruptly as it had begun. Realizing that they were up against a superior opponent, what few remaining Brutes there were called for a hasty retreat. The Covenant warriors backed away rapidly, running further into the station.
The three of them immediately gave chase, the marines hot on their heels. The aliens that were too slow in escaping with their comrades were mercilessly cut down, and soon enough a trail of dead bodies began to form behind the fleeing Covenant troops.
By the time what was left of the Covenant assault force had reached the safety of their boarding craft, already more than three quarters of their numbers had been cut down. Cliff grabbed the last Jackal that was about to dive through the airlock, raised the screaming alien over his head, and slammed the Jackal's back down on his knee with a sickening crack. The alien's screams stopped abruptly and its body went limp in his hands.
The Covenant boarding craft immediately detached from the airlock once the last of their warriors were through, eager to escape from the wanton slaughter the three humans were unleashing upon their force.
"And stay out!" Cliff shouted at the retreating craft before he turned back to face the marines that had followed them here.
The marines stood in utter silence, staring at the three who had single-handedly taken on a full complement of Covenant boarders and won with but a few minor plasma burns.
Baxter broke the silence with a short sentence that summed up the thoughts of the marines in the room.
"Holy shit."
Suddenly, the sergeant's radio crackled to life as the AI of the Atlantis Station opened a COM channel. "Cairo, what is your status? Over."
"I don't believe it! They're retreating! We won!" Cairo Station's AI exclaimed.
One of the marines whistled. "So that means that these three here beat them back single-handedly!"
Cheers arose from the rest of the marines in the room. Baxter walked up to the trio with a wide grin on his face and slapped each of them on the shoulder.
"You guys are good! With this kind of help, along with the Spartans, I think we might actually win this war!" He said, his grin growing even wider.
"Ha! Like a walk in the park!" Adray laughed as he slapped the sergeant's shoulder in return, sending the smaller man reeling.
Baxter's radio suddenly crackled to life, and the voice of the station's commander, Fleet Admiral Hood, came online.
"Sergeant, good job defending the station, but we need you and your men on the ground, ASAP! More of the Covenant are landing on Earth, they're going for the major population centers!"
"Roger that, Admiral." Baxter replied before keying off his comm. He turned back to the trio, his grin growing impossibly wider, almost reaching from one ear to the other.
"Well, we're needed to go groundside. And if I'm not wrong, there'll be plenty of Covenant for you guys to kill over there…" Baxter snickered.
Cliff smirked and slammed his fists together. "Oh yeah, we'll kick serious Covenant ass, all right!"
"So what the hell happened to kicking serious Covenant ass?" Fayt shouted from his prone position behind cover as plasma fire pummeled their position. The party, Baxter and a platoon of his marines, had been ambushed by a large company of Covenant troops while traversing through a large, half-demolished tunnel highway in New York's underground. Those that survived the ambush that had cut down more than half the platoon had quickly taken cover behind a large pile of debris that offered excellent protection.
"I don't know, I think we've bitten off more than we can chew!" Cliff peeked over the pile of debris and fired off his last few rounds of ammo from his Battle Rifle. A Jackal easily deflected the shots with its shield, and it continued advancing along with its comrades.
"How many times have you done that and ended up dragging the rest of us down into trouble up to our necks!" Fayt yelled, rising to cover Cliff as he reloaded. He tossed a grenade into the middle of the Jackal's formation, but they angled their shields upwards, and the grenade bounced harmlessly off the silver barriers before detonating harmlessly behind them.
Fayt cursed and ducked behind cover again as the Jackals opened fire once more, the volley of plasma blasts splashing harmlessly against the debris pile.
Sophia tapped Fayt's arm to get his attention. "Fayt, I have an idea! I need you and some of the marines to cover me while I prepare an Explosion to take out those Covenant! It'll take time and it'll be tricky, but it's better than staying here and getting whittled down to pieces!" She shouted to be heard over the din of gunfire and explosions.
One look over the debris pile, and at the humongous alien horde bearing down upon them, with their plasma weapons blazing, it was enough for Fayt to come to a rapid decision.
"All right, we'll give it a try! Stay here, I need to go inform Baxter about this!" Fayt peeked over the debris pile for a split-second before ducking back in, readying himself. A second later, he burst out from behind cover, tossing several grenades right into the Covenant ranks before dashing to his right, where Baxter and his men had hunkered down.
His distraction was successful; the grenades sent the alien warriors scrambling for cover, and they never got a chance to get a shot at the running figure until he was well under cover.
Throwing himself down onto the space next to Baxter, Fayt tapped the sergeant's shoulder. Baxter stopped firing over the debris pile and turned around, giving Fayt an annoyed look. "What now, kid? We're already in the shit up to our eyeballs!"
"Sergeant, my companions and I have come up with a plan that'll get us out of this mess, but we need some of your men's help!" Fayt replied.
Baxter turned back and glanced at the Covenant warriors bearing down upon them. "All right. What's your plan?" He said grimly after a moment's consideration.
Fayt told Baxter what Sophia had planned out, and Baxter's annoyed look changed to one of perplexion. "Well... I guess only you guys could pull it off... okay, carry on." Baxter finally conceded.
He faced his platoon and called out a few names. "Blackwell, Shugi, Duke, Parker, Portman! Follow the kid here, he's got a plan that'll get us out of this mess!"
The marines' attitude instantly switched from despair to hope. The five marines that Baxter called out quickly came forth, their expressions hopeful, looking at Fayt with expectation. Fayt signaled for them to follow him and sprinted back to Sophia, with the marines right behind him.
Once they had met up with Sophia, Fayt relayed the plan to the marines, who nodded their understanding. Once sure that he had everything in the plan gelled and covered, Fayt gave his group the signal to begin.
It was utter chaos amongst the Covenant ranks the moment the marines burst out from behind cover, tossing grenades and firing their weapons like nobody's business. The aliens scrambled left, right, forward, backward, anywhere to escape from marines' fire, resulting in a severe disarray that left Sophia completely unhindered as she started murmuring the symbol invocations to trigger a fireball that would incinerate the Covenant.
Fayt reached down onto his belt for another grenade, but he discovered that he had just run out. He started to pull the SMG from its holster, but a sudden wild shot from a Jackal's plasma pistol forced him to throw himself backward and back behind the debris pile in order to avoid the shot.
What he did would render him powerless to alter the course of events that would take place within the next ten seconds.
It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Once Fayt had thrown himself backwards, the Jackals had taken advantage of his absence from combat to toss a brightly glowing sphere - a plasma grenade - right at Sophia. Portman had seen this, and he threw himself in front of Sophia, causing the plasma grenade to adhere to him instead of her. He violently pushed Sophia backwards just before the grenade detonated and sprayed the floor with what looked like red paint.
Sophia had avoided the worst of the blast, but she had still been burned severely. Fayt shouted out her name as her limp body was flung backwards by the force of the explosion, landing roughly right at the back of the debris pile. Throwing what remained of his plan to the wind, Fayt dashed across the battlefield, kneeling down next to the unconscious form of his childhood friend.
His blood roaring in his ears, Fayt could hardly hear a thing even as Baxter came up to him and started yelling incoherently in his ear. His eyes brimming with tears of grief, Fayt directed a helpless look at the sergeant before turning back to Sophia. Baxter threw his arms up into the air in frustration and signaled for a medic.
No… this… can't be happening! No! NO! WHY? Fayt couldn't tear his eyes away from the still form of his childhood friend. Sophia had been like a sister to him, and to lose her now... it was almost too much for him to bear. His heart beat like a jackhammer in his ears, and his vision started to turn red, burning with hate and rage.
They'll pay for this... Fayt started to stand up, when suddenly a wave of nausea and weakness overtook him, causing him to double over in pain as he fell to his knees. Fayt tried to push past it, but it proved too much, and he fell to the ground. His heart was pounding against his ribcage like a wild animal, its beats feeling as though it was attempting to bludgeon its way out of his chest. Blazing heat raced around his body, his nerves were on fire. His blood felt like liquid fire flowing through his veins. His legs convulsed spastically and his hands clawed at the floor.
His entire body felt as though it was on fire. His brain felt like it was boiling within his skull. Fayt rolled to his knees, screeching like a banshee, every movement sending hot bolts of pain through his body. Molten lava filled his bones as he somehow managed to haul himself to his feet and staggered forward a few feet before dropping to his knees again, alien fire searing his body from within. His pupils contracted to a pinpoint, and the vivid green of his eyes flashed away, giving way to an ominous shade of crimson. Shouting voices surrounded him, but he paid them no heed.
Fayt couldn't take it anymore. The pain was just too much...
He arched his back and screamed as no human had ever screamed before. And with that bloodcurdling scream, all the pain, all the agony, it all seemed to bleed away... all of it replaced by a wonderful rush of strength.
A red symbol flared to life on his forehead; tendrils of white energy - Destruction energy - swirled out of it, forming a protective sphere around him. The same symbol appeared on the floor below him as well as the air above him; the marines that had surrounded him quickly backed away, fearful of this unnatural power. The symbols and the sphere flashed for a split-second before the symbols faded and the sphere shattered; a changed Fayt emerged from his cocoon of transformation.
(Warning: Blatant Kingdom Hearts II rip-off)
His clothes had turned bright red, with spear point designs at the edges of his sleeves and pant legs. Red-tinged bolts of Destruction energy crackled around his fists, and in both hands, he wielded a white, ethereal-looking blade that seemed to be composed completely out of Destruction energy - a Destruction Blade. He had a wild, adrenaline-fuelled look in his crimson-hued eyes, and his movements were much more rapid than usual.
(A/N: Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the beginnings of Fayt's Destruction Trigger, I give you the Valor Trigger!)
In an instant, Fayt was on his feet, and dashing right into the middle of the Covenant horde. The marines were too shocked to do anything but watch as the now-red-clad swordsman performed a suicidal berserker charge at a horde of alien opponents.
The Covenant were also taken by surprise, standing still in shock as a single human came running towards them, screaming a war-cry as he suicidally charged forth.
Then they regained their composure and opened fire.
The first few shots were complete misses; Fayt's movements were so rapid and lightning-fast that most of the shots passed by him with several feet to spare. The next volley almost hit him, but Fayt once again dodged the shots with his insane reflexes, weaving forward with all the speed he could muster. Everything around him seemed to be moving around in semi-slow motion; he was able to continue dodging the Jackals' poorly placed shots with ease. He leapt forward bringing his Destruction Blades into play, and then... he was among them, hacking and slashing with all the strength he had.
The Jackals closest to him immediately fell to his wrath, and the Destruction Blades disintegrated them. Their cries were short and fleeting, abruptly cut off as they were erased from the universe.
Those that survived Fayt's initial assault were quick to counter-attack, but Fayt once again avoided their shots with superhuman speed, continuing to obliterate those that were foolish enough to attempt to close the distance with him.
One foolhardy Brute attempted to tackle him into the ground, but Fayt preempted its clumsy attack by backflipping over its head and kick-jumping off its neck, using the force of his jump to propel himself forward and barrel through a file of Jackals, obliterating them with his Destruction Blades. Once he hit the floor, he rolled to his feet and spun around several times with his blades outstretched, disintegrating the score of Brutes that tried to bring him down, all the while never missing a step.
It wasn't a battle; it was a slaughter. The Jackals, or even the Brutes that commanded them; none of them were able to stand up to Fayt's awesome might. A mere five minutes later, every single Covenant soldier in the tunnel had either been disintegrated or had fled from the scene. Fayt stood in the middle of the empty tunnel that had, until a moment ago, been swarming with Covenant troops.
The marines were once again struck speechless, this time along with the party. Cliff's jaw had dropped so low it almost came into contact with the ground, Adray was looking at Fayt with something that resembled reverence, and Peppita was starting at Fayt in amazement.
Fayt's outfit flashed for a moment, and then he reverted back to his normal appearance. Suddenly feeling exhausted beyond belief, he fell onto one knee, breathing harshly and using his sword as a support to hold himself up. His body was coated with perspiration, his bangs plastered to his forehead. Cliff snapped himself out of his daze and came forward to extend a hand to the panting bluenette, asking if he was all right.
"I'm fine. Just tired..." Fayt waved away Cliff's arm and tried to stand on his own, but he was struck by a sudden wave of vertigo the moment he took his first step. He wavered for a moment before teetering forward, and he would have smashed face-first into the ground if Cliff hadn't thrust out an arm to halt his fall.
"You're not fine, kid. I think you've pushed yourself a bit too far with that stunt you pulled off." Cliff said as he threw Fayt's arm around his shoulder and began pulling him back to where the marines waited. Cliff sat Fayt down onto a low outcropping of debris, allowing the exhausted swordsman to take a breather.
Baxter finally shook himself out of his shocked, comatose state and turned to Cliff, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Cliff, just what the fuck happened?"
"A miracle happened, that's what." Cliff replied, never taking his eyes off Fayt, who still sat on the outcropping of debris, his body heaving as he sucked in huge gulps of air in an attempt to get his breath back. "I think Fayt's gene has manifested itself again..."
Baxter stared at the empty tunnel, still unable to grasp the fact that an entire company of Covenant troops had been single-handedly wiped out of existence by a mere boy. Perhaps such an event really was worthy of being called a miracle...
Baxter's radio crackled to life. It was Lord Hood on the line again. "Good job on holding the ground, sergeant. Reports from your other platoons indicate that the general area has been mopped clean of the Covenant, and I see that you've managed to pull yourself out of a tight situation as well..."
"Yes sir! That Leingod kid saved the lives of me and my men, he's one helluva fighter." Baxter replied as he looked at Fayt, who had managed to catch his breath and was trying to get up from his sitting position. "Our orders now, sir?"
"Extract your men and return to Cairo station; we've just received a transmission from Commander Keyes and Sergeant Johnson. Apparently, they've run into a group of people that are rather similar to the ones you're working with now. They've requested for a small fleet of our ships to rendezvous with them and pick them up. Looks like they got stranded wherever they landed. You're going to be bringing your charges along with our fleet to meet up with them."
"Yes sir! We'll be back in Cairo station within the hour, sir!" Baxter keyed off the comm and turned to his men. "All right! We've been ordered to leave groundside; we're needed to escort our friends here to meet up with Commander Keyes and Sergeant Johnson. We need to back at Cairo station within the hour, so let's move it!"
Once he had finished, Baxter turned to the party. "Looks like that some of our forces elsewhere have run into your friends. We're bringing you along with us to go meet up with them."
Fayt's eyes lit up at the mention of 'friends'. Did that mean that she was still...
Yes! It had to be! Maria was still alive! Fayt felt like jumping up and down for joy, but he recalled Sophia's injuries as well as his own exhaustion, and he decided that jumping up and down wouldn't be the best thing to do right now. Still, even as he boarded the dropship with Cliff's assistance, Fayt could hardly contain his excitement, and he was unable to wipe the small grin off his face as they returned to Cairo station.
"Ah, there you are." Hood turned away from the video display as Baxter and the party, missing Sophia who was in the infirmary getting her wounds treated, entered the briefing room. "We've managed to maintain the connection with the commander so far, and we've also managed to reestablish contact with one of our personnel who was believed to have been killed a few hours ago. He'll be joining us shortly, once he manages to get back to the station from the ship he's hijacked."
Fayt quickly came up to Hood, looking very eager. "Admiral, sir, the people that you said the commander ran into, are they still there?"
Hood looked a bit surprised at Fayt's sudden outburst, but he nodded and turned back to the video display, hitting the button that said 'video'. A window winked to life on the screen, displaying the images of a raven-haired woman in her late twenties, a burly, dark-skinned man who was smoking a cigar, and…
"MARIA! You're all right!" Fayt practically shouted as he grinned from ear to ear, his fatigue totally forgotten. The image of the blue-haired young woman on the screen who was standing next to the raven-haired woman smiled back at him with a calm expression, though the same kind of excitement that Fayt felt was revealed by the look in her eyes.
Apparently, Maria was just as happy to see Fayt as he was to see her, though Fayt didn't really register this fact due to the overwhelming amount of endorphins that were coursing through his system.
"Hello, Fayt. It's good to see you too." Maria replied, still smiling. The raven-haired woman shot her a slightly annoyed look before turning back to the screen.
"Let's get back to business, shall we?" The woman spoke. "Admiral, these are the people that you found?" She gestured towards Fayt and the others.
"That's correct, Commander Keyes. We're sending the rescue fleet to you now, ETA is fifteen hours."
"Roger that, Admiral... Has there been any word of the Master Chief?" Commander Keyes asked with slight hesitance.
"Yes, there has been word of him. In fact, I think he'll be..." Hood's sentence got cut off as the doors to the briefing room slid open.
A massive figure stepped inside. For a moment, Fayt thought that the figure was one of the Covenant as well - it was armored and bigger than any human he had ever laid eyes on. He froze - his hand was on the hilt of his Veinslay, but he couldn't have pulled it out of its sheath even if he wanted to.
It was human, though. The figure stood over two meters tall and looked like it weighed two hundred kilograms. Its armor was a strange reflective green alloy, and underneath matte black. Its motions were so fluid and graceful - fast and precise, too. More like a robot than flesh and blood. Its helmet's faceplate was made of a reflective material, so Fayt could not make out any features of its face.
The armored giant marched forward and crisply snapped a salute to Lord Hood.
"Master Chief SPARTAN-117 reporting as ordered, sir!" It said in an iron-hard, rasping male voice.
Lord Hood returned the salute and said "At ease, Chief. It's about time you got here. Keyes was looking for you."
The Master Chief stepped up in front of the console.
"Ah, Chief! There you are. You've missed the party!" The dark-skinned man said, pulling the cigar out of his mouth.
"That's... besides the point, Sergeant Johnson." Hood sighed before he turned to the Master Chief. "Chief, you're required to go with the rescue fleet and pick up Commander Keyes, Sergeant Johnson, and the group of civilians they ran into. The group of civilians behind you, they'll be tagging along, make sure they don't get killed."
The Master Chief nodded and glanced at Fayt. The bluenette shifted uncomfortably under the faceless Spartan's gaze.
"Yes sir. Understood, sir." The Master Chief said.
"Your flight out of here is in one hour's time. Gather the necessary supplies and rendezvous with the cruiser Reynolds. The Captain of the cruiser already has orders to gather a small rescue fleet and rendezvous at the coordinates that Commander Keyes provided us with. Dismissed."
"Sir!" The Master Chief and Sergeant Baxter saluted and marched out of the room with the rest of the party.
The trip through Slipspace on the cruiser Reynolds was uneventful. Without anything much to do but get some rest, the party had turned in for the night. Grateful for the actual soft linen of a bed instead of the cold hard metal of the deck of an alien craft, the party had immediately hit the sack.
Well, almost all of them.
Fayt lay down on his bunk, tossing and turning. On the bed below him, Cliff snored noisily, occasionally muttering something that vaguely sounded like 'Mirage', followed by a moan before he resumed snoring. On the separate bunk to his right, Adray sounded like a foghorn, his deafening snores drowning out Cliff's. But these noises weren't the things that kept Fayt awake. He could sleep through Adray's foghorns or Cliff's audio-based sexual fantasies, no problem.
However, what was really keeping him awake were thoughts about her.
No, not the brunette 'her'... He wasn't worried about Sophia at all. The Navy doctor had told him that though Sophia had been severely burned by the plasma grenade, she would still be all right - they'd treated many injuries like Sophia's, and all of their patients had managed a complete, though somewhat painful recovery. He knew Sophia would be all right after some time.
Who he was thinking about was the only other bluenette he knew - Maria Traydor.
He had been unable to get her off his mind once he had seen her via the transmission. Fayt had wondered over the reason for this strange phenomenon, but every time he seemed to have come across the actual reason, his mind forcibly created a blank that sent him back to square one. Maybe he was just in denial...
Yeah, Fayt was pretty sure that he had fallen in love with Maria. WAIT A MINUTE. OH, HELL NO! Maria's like a sister to me, I couldn't possibly...
Oh, but he could. And he was. His heart's secret affection (one that came out only when he was drunk) had finally been unlocked and released. Fayt's mind reeled from this new discovery. Now he realized why his heart had skipped a beat when he saw Maria on the video screen.
Fayt cursed himself for being such a fool for so long. He was going to have to make it up to Maria somehow when he next saw her...
And now that he thought of it, what did Maria asking him about 'last night's events' back in the Manor de Blair have to do with this? Fayt was unable to comprehend the possibilities of his actions. Did he... defile her or something? The more he thought about it, the more terrified he got as he pondered over what he could have possibly done to her. Oh boy... I'm in deep shit now...
He decided not to suffer anymore, and halted his thoughts immediately. Good thing he always kept a couple of sleeping pills in his pack whenever they had to subdue Albel and keep him from going on his nightly monster killing sprees...
He dug the small bottle out of his pack, popped a couple of the pills, and within a few moments, his snoring reached levels comparable to that of Cliff's.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait, first week of school has been hell! I've hardly any time to finish writing this chapter! And also sorry for the probable lower quality - school also leaves less time for planning and refining. For those of you who are a bit confused as to the nature of the newly-featured Valor Trigger, here's a very long explanation.
Valor Trigger (Basic control of the Destruction Trigger's power)
The first DeT form that Fayt obtains, this form specializes in close-in attacking. Fayt's outfit and eyes turn fiery red in this form, and his sleeves and his pant legs are decorated at the edges with spear point designs. Fayt will wield two Destruction Blades (swords composed completely of Destruction Energy) in this form, though he has to relinquish his symbology. He also gains a significant boost to his movement speed. This form hits hard, and it hits fast. Has VERY high attack and defense stats, but poor magic stats. This form comes in useful in enclosed areas such as corridors or labyrinths. It uses up the minimal amount of power needed for transformation.
Now, as for the purpose of the Triggers: Well, we all know that unleashing all the power in one huge blast puts one helluva physical strain on Fayt; this is proven by his unconsciousness after the huge blast he used to erase that Vendeeni battleship back Elicoor II. The Triggers will allow Fayt to use his power to a greater extent without putting so much of a physical strain on him that he collapses right after using the ability. Hence, he may be very tired after using Valor, Wisdom, or even Master Form, but he won't be unconscious. Also, as the forms 'level up' along with Fayt, they'll put less of a strain on him, and allow him to use his powers more often. It's kinda like this: Fayt's power runs on an imaginary 'DeT gauge', one that fills up when he either damages an enemy or takes damage himself. The gauge is measured in 'symbols', and he needs a minimum of four symbols in order to transform into and maintain either Valor or Wisdom form. Once he has transformed, the remaining symbols in the DeT gauge will slowly dissipate as the forms drain power. Fayt can revert from each form either by will or when the DeT gauge runs out. More advanced forms will require more symbols in order to activate. Fayt starts off with four symbols, and gains two extra symbols everytime he acquires a new form. Each form has three levels; the symbol requirements for activations decreases by one for each level. Currently, both Valor and Wisdom form drains 3 symbols to activate.
A/N 2: There might be a sequel, or even two sequels in the works! It all depends on how well this fic goes, the higher the number of reviews, the higher the chances of us continuing on into an epic trilogy that spans two generations! You know what that means: We'll be featuring the descendants of the original cast in the sequels!
So if you want to see Fayt and Maria's son or Albel and Nel's daughter in action, fighting alongside their parents, then you should get your friends to read these fics and REVIEW LIKE HELL if you want the sequels!