Chapter IV

After a successful infiltration of the Blue Base, Donut went to retrieve the warthog. Master Chief and Caboose secured the flag and were about to return it to Red Base, but Tex had other plans . . .

Caboose ran. He ran faster than he ever did in his life. People were trying to kill him. People who he thought were his friends were trying to kill him. People who he thought were his enemies were trying to save him. Caboose decided that thinking was too dangerous. He ran out of the back of the base, and fell off the platform. Two ramps went up either side of the hangar and connected to the platform. Caboose forgot about it in all the excitement and fell fifteen feet to the muddy ground below. He picked up the flag and wiped the muck off of his visor. Rain washed most of it away, and Caboose began to make his way around to the front of the base. He saw the headlights of the warthog through the rain and ran to them. It was a welcome sight. Donut waved to him as he got closer, and he took a seat next to the familiar driver.

"Good job, Caboose, you got the flag!" Donut said impressed. "Where's the Chief?"

"Tex," answered Caboose. He suddenly realized that he was exhausted. "Tex attacked us. Master Chief said to run."

"Well, we can't just leave without him," Donut said. He keyed into Simmons' signal.

"Simmons? Chief is in trouble," Donut reported. "I need you to come over here and take the flag back to base."

"Roger that. I'm on my way," Simmons replied.

"What do we do now?" Caboose asked.

"We can't go in there to help because we'd just get in the way. Chief's a tough guy, he can take care of himself," said Donut.

Master Chief blocked yet another attempted melee attack thrown out by Tex with his hand. The blow sent him back a few steps.

She's strong; I'll give her that thought Chief.

He made an attempt to punch Tex in the midsection, but she deftly dodged the blow.

She's fast; I'll give her that too Chief added.

Master Chief attempted to cross chop Tex, but she grabbed his arms before they began their deadly descent. She then used them as anchorage as she back-flipped, kicking him in the jaw.

I guess I have to give her 'calculating' as well. If I have to take much more of this, I'll end up giving her my social security number too.

The Chief blocked a drop-kick by Grabbing Tex's foot. He slammed her into a wall, then another. He then slammed her weakened form into the ground with all of his might. Tex tried to move, but Master Chief was on her, pinning her battered body to the ground under his armored boot.

"Who do you work for, bounty hunter scum?" the Chief demanded.

Tex, who was apparently stronger than she appeared, rolled out from under the Chief's boot and side-swiped him, knocking him to the ground. The attack caught him off guard, and Tex took the opportunity to repay the Chief's kindness. She pinned his upper arms to the ground under her knees. They both stayed motionless for several seconds, breathing heavily. Tex reached out and gently, almost sensually, stroked the Chief along the side of his helmet; then she back-handed him across his helmet. The unexpected blow knocked the Chief's head around in his helmet and made him see stars.

"Normally, people who call me scum don't live very long thereafter." Tex said sadistically. "And you're no exception."

Tex pulled a combat knife out from her left boot and brought it to the Chief's unarmored throat. The Chief was prepared and brought his feet up to Tex's head. They clamped onto it like a vice grip and he kicked his legs back, launching her away. She flew back and crashed into a wall face first. She fell to the floor and got up just in time to evade a deadly blow from the Chief. She realized that he wasn't holding back as a fist-sized crater remained where the punch had impacted the wall. Tex wasn't strong enough to take on the Chief toe to toe, and he was proving it by slowly cornering her where he would deliver the death blow. Tex evaded one last punch as it took out a decent sized chunk of a wall. The Chief followed through with an uppercut that could flip a tank. His fist connected with Tex's stomach. Blood sprayed out of her mouth and clouded the inside of her visor. She began to cough violently, spraying more blood and mucus across the inside of her helmet. She looked into the Chief's visor, awaiting the inevitable. Master Chief delivered one last punch with such a force that Tex's breast plate split in two. Hydrostatic gel, mixed with blood, seeped through the crack in the armor. The momentum of the punch slammed Tex into the wall behind her so hard that she was able to look down and see that her nearly lifeless body was stuck in the wall right above the hole that dropped down into the hangar below. She looked back up at the Chief who stared back at her. Tears were streaming down Tex's face.

"Son of . . . a . . ." Tex uttered. She was too weak to finish the sentence.

Gravity began to take over and Tex's body was pulled away from the wall and it fell with a splash into the water-logged hangar below. Her blood began to mix with the water. The area around the lifeless bounty hunter was now a sickening dark red color. Master Chief looked down at his fallen adversary. It had seemed like years since he had a worthy opponent. He looked at the knife in his hand. It was the knife Tex had almost killed him with. The steel handle bore an inscription that read "T&C" encased in a heart. The Chief disregarded it and turned to walk away. He casually tossed the weapon over his shoulder. It bounced of the floor and fell down into the hole. The blade made contact with Tex's neck, penetrated the thin material around the vertebrae and sunk into her flesh up to the handle. The Chief walked outside into the ferocious storm. Winds had picked up to seventy five miles per hour and lightning strikes were becoming more frequent and powerful. The thunder overhead boomed through the skies and shook the ground. Donut and Caboose were waiting in the warthog outside the base.

"Master Chief! You're ok!" Donut shouted.

"Yes, I'm fine Donut. How are you Caboose?" the Chief asked.

"I am really, really scared. The sky is angry at me." Caboose answered shakily.

The Master Chief turned to Donut and opened a private channel. "He's ok with the whole 'ex-spy' business?" the Chief inquired.

"Yeah, he asked a couple of questions, but then we started talking about stuff, like his impeccable taste in bed sheets." Donut answered.

"Excellent work, Donut. You've just made our job a whole lot easier. Keep it up and you can expect a promotion in the future." The Chief said. He turned to Caboose. "Gamma twelve, ready to head home?"

"Yes sir, Mister Chafe, sir!" Caboose responded enthusiastically.

"It's Master Chief, Gamma twelve, Master Chief. Hey, where's the flag?"

"Oh, I had Simmons come and get it. We waited here for you." Donut reported. "I even convinced Grif to take over for Simmons while he brought the flag into the base."

"Well, from what I hear, motivating Grif to do anything is a near impossible task," the Chief said impressed.

"It wasn't easy, sir, but we already lost Sarge . . . we don't need to lose anyone else." The sadness in Donut's voice was apparent and the Chief decide to drop the subject.

"Well, you did exceptional. Both of you did. Now," the Chief hopped into the gunner position, "get us the hell out of here."

"Yes sir!" Donut said.

The warthog sped through the night and storm back to the Red Base. There was a lot that needed to be done, and there was precious little time to do it in.

A figure walked into the hangar of Blue base. A sniper rifle was slung around his shoulder. The man knelt next to the body lying face down in a puddle of water and blood.

"A shame, Allison. You were quite useful," said the man with a distinct British accent.

A hand reached down to the data-chip slot in Tex's helmet and removed the mission recording. A flash of lightning illuminated the hangar for a split second as the white gauntlet stuck the chip into a vacant slot into his armor. After several moments of processing the information, the man stood up.

"You disappoint me, Allison. Surely you could have done better. Ah well, you're dead now. Hopefully the . . .next one won't be as foolish."

As he was talking, the man took a test tube from a pouch on his belt. He took a sample of the bloody water and, after closely inspecting it, returned the tube to its holster. The man then stood up. He turned and left the hangar silently. The storm was subsiding now, and his stealth craft would not remain hidden for long. He powered up the engines and rose out of the canyon. He glanced down at the pointless land formation and shook his head. If his employer succeeded in his mission, the canyon would soon be a smoldering crater twice its current size. Once the super weapon was complete, this entire planet, and any others that opposed his might, would fall . . .

To Be Continued