Chapter XXVIII
The Rhinoceros had successfully defeated the Lekgolo, but was captured by O'Malley shortly after and was taken to the Lockout Fortress. Meanwhile, Red Squad had infiltrated the Colossus Fortress and was in the process of securing the facility when O'Malley's guard dragon inside a holding tank sprung to life . . .
Tex was shocked to see the black monster explode from the too-small holding cell and spit a stream of liquid fire directly at her. The shock was momentary, however, and she rolled out of the way of the superheated flame as it struck the floor where she was standing only seconds before. The flame didn't just dissipate as a flamethrower's flame would. The liquid fire spread out on the ground like a burning puddle and slowly dissolved through the multi-layered metal plating that made up the floor as if it was made of paper. The dragon turned towards Tex and launched more of the liquid flame at her. In the process of tracking Tex, the dragon lost its balance and tumbled out of the tank. Its broken legs and wings healed themselves at an incredible rate thanks to the O'Mallior in which it was held. The dragon righted itself stood at its full height, seven meters tall, and let out a roar that rattled the bones of Red Squad. The three meter long tail, which ended in a club covered in spikes, thrashed about menacingly as if daring anyone to approach it. Lock-jaw took that dare and charged at the dragon. The beast turned its head to face the attacker and roared again. Lock-jaw reciprocated by giving his own battle cry. The dragon whipped its tail towards the incoming alien, but Lock-jaw caught it just below the club. He turned on his energy sword and cut the club off of the beast. It shrieked in pain and swatted Lock-jaw away. The alien hit the floor and slid to the feet of the Master Chief and the rest of Red Squad. The Chief looked down with concern, but saw the alien make the face that could only be a smile.
"Alright everyone, let's take that son of a bitch down!"
Red Squad ran for cover, hiding behind various pieces of architecture and began to pour fire into the dragon. Each bullet only seemed to anger it more. Master Chief was thinking on his feet; something he was trained to do for most of his life. A plan came to mind, albeit a risky one, but there were no other options. The Chief turned towards Donut.
"Donut," the Chief called over the sounds of gunfire. "I need you to distract it!"
"You got it, Chief!"
Donut ran out from behind his cover, firing his SMG at the dragon. The beast turned its head to see the lone soldier charge at it. It spat fire towards the pink Private, but Donut rolled to the side just before he was hit. He primed a grenade and hurled it at the dragon's head. It bounced off the beast's forehead and exploded, sending the creature sprawling on the floor. The Chief used this opportunity to steal a cable from the destroyed holding tank. The length of the cable was longer than he was which was all he needed. As the dragon rose off of the ground, the Chief leapt at its back. He landed on the shoulders of the monster and whipped the cable around its opened mouth. He caught the other end with his free hand and held on tightly as the creature began thrashing about violently in a futile attempt to dislodge the Spartan from his back. Master Chief pulled back on the cable, causing the dragon to stumble backwards. It tripped on a ledge at the end of the platform and plummeted off the side. The rest of Red Squad quickly ran over to see if the Chief was ok. They got their answer as the dragon, proving that its wings weren't just for show, soared up in front of them and ascended up into the vast expanse of the upper facility. The Chief, still standing on the creature's shoulders, was having quite a time trying to stay on top of the beast. His task wasn't lightened by the fact that the dragon repetitively flipped and spun about in the air.
"Hey Chief," Andy said from his position locked to the Chief's waist, "this is fun and all, but I'm getting airsick. Any chance you can land this thing?"
"Not unless somebody comes up with a plan-" the Chief stopped mid-sentence and looked down at the bomb. Yet another brilliant idea sprung forth. It was a good day for the Master Chief.
The Spartan, being as careful as he could possibly be, raised his right foot up and slammed it down into the dragon's neck causing it to wail in pain. It wobbled in the air, and then plummeted down to the floor. The Chief already had his foot pressed into the soft spot on its neck. The dragon tried to snap at him, but the Chief caught its jaws before they closed and attempted to force them open. Liquid fire shot out of the beast's mouth, singing the Chief's gauntlets, but he didn't let go. The dragon grabbed the Chief around the waist with one of its clawed hands and hurled him away like a doll. The beast stood up and lunged at the soldier, only to be stopped after a few paces as something grabbed its tail. The dragon whipped its head around to see Tex holding onto the limb and pulling it back. The dragon was about to spit a stream of fire at Tex when something exploded against its skull. The monster went down, stunned from the blast. As it tried to stand, more grenades detonated against its head and torso. Then Lock-jaw, combining his blinding speed with his lethal blade, leapt at the monster and plunged the glowing sword into its eyes. The beast roared in pain and tried to swat Lock-jaw away, but found he was already gone. The dragon quickly expanded its wings and tried to fly away, but Grif wasn't about to let it get away. If it escaped, chances were that they would have to find it again, and that meant searching and possibly running. Not on Grif's watch. He brought his sniper to bear and fired two rounds, each one tore into the palms of the dragon, crippling its wings. The beast again cried out in agony and fell to the ground. Blood was pouring from its eyes. The dragon heard movement and was about to charge when the Master Chief brought his foot down on its cranium. The dragon fell to the ground and felt as its arms, legs and tail were restrained. It tossed its head in all directions, spewing fire everywhere. The fire stopped as something spherical was shoved down its throat. The dragon assumed it was the head of one of the soldiers and swallowed it. Immediately, its limbs were freed and it began spitting fire all over the facility. After several minutes, the dragon stopped. There was no movement, no noise, no guns firing, no grenades exploding, nothing. Suddenly, the spherical object inside the monster's stomach detonated, sending blood, intestines and various other body parts flying all over the facility. Red Squad cheered at the sight, but then ducked for cover as to avoid being rained on by the steaming innards.
"Nothing gets me going in the morning like a good ol' fashioned dragon slaying," the Chief said.
"I agree, sir," said Simmons. "You really beat the crap out of that thing."
"You know, I'd normally call you a kiss ass, Simmons, but I've gotta agree with you on that one."
"I'm surprised that O'Malley was able to capture it," Doc said. "They're becoming harder to find, but no less aggressive."
"I just hope that's the only one he's got," the Chief said. "I'm not sure how many of those we could take on at a time."
Lock-jaw walked up to the group holding Andy and blarged.
"You did exceptional, Lock-jaw," the Chief complimented. "You saved us no end of trouble by cutting off that club on its tail. And it didn't exactly hurt our efforts when you blinded it."
"Too bad it was trying to eat us," Donut said. He sounded disappointed. "If he was a little bit happier and maybe a nicer color, maybe we could've kept him as a pet!"
"I would have named him Hot Breath because when he breathes, everything gets really, really hot," Caboose said.
"Why would you bother keeping him as a pet," Lopez inquired in his monotonous tone. "It would be better to train him as a war beast. Then he would have found O'Malley and killed him for us."
While the soldiers were arguing about what uses the dragon would have served as a pet, the Chief saw that Tex was staring at the remaining oversized holding tank. He walked up next to her and gazed at the occupant. He had never seen anything so saddening in his life. Tex was hooked up to various machines that were apparently rammed into her spinal column in a violent way. The skin on her back was torn up by the machines' intrusion. Her hair, or what was left of it, floated about in the green fluid. The back of her skull was torn off and several wires were jammed into the brain cavity. Half of Tex's nose was missing since a large cable, too big to fit in her nostril, was jammed up into her head. Her mouth hung open since there were nearly two dozen wires and cables that were forced down her throat which pumped oxygen to her lungs and some nutritional substance into her stomach. Hundreds of scars ranging from half an inch to two feet long covered her exposed body. Her life, her freedom and her dignity had been stripped away from her. She was barely a shadow of her former self. Tex's clone and the Chief looked into her eyes. Normally, they would have been sky blue. Now they were almost entirely grey. The life had almost been completely drained from her. Tex's clone felt a tear roll down her face. More followed as the original directed her eyes at a panel that sat on a pedestal in front of the tank. There was one button on it. It was labeled 'ABORT'.
The Chief saw what Tex and her clone were looking at and understood immediately. He turned to face his companion.
"If you want me to, I will," he said softly.
"No," Tex said. "I'll do it. I wouldn't have it any other way."
The Chief caught one last glimpse at the woman floating in the tank and could have sworn that he saw the corners of her mouth curve up into a barely visible smile. He ran up to the rest of the squad.
"People, listen up. Get down to the teleporter. We're blowing this place to smithereens."
"What about the BAMFS?" Andy asked.
"We found a self destruct button, so we don't need to use them. At least not now."
Without another word, the squad complied and ran down to secure the teleporter. The Chief turned to Tex, whose hand was hovering over the button. She took one last look at the one who was responsible for her being and pushed the button. Alarms blared throughout the facility and a countdown timer appeared on the Chief's HUD; 00:20. Twenty seconds to escape before the facility was destroyed. The Chief turned to run, but saw Tex, frozen to the floor in front of her original copy. The Chief ran up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Tex began sobbing at the touch and fell into the Chief. Although Tex needed support, he wouldn't be able to give any if they were all dead. He picked her up and carried her to the teleporter, bridal style. Lopez was still waiting for them, and allowed for the two to step through the teleporter before entering it himself. The second he did, the facility's seals on the fuel tanks released, sending them plummeting into the active volcanoes below. It detonated, taking the whole facility with it along with a large number of volcanoes. After the dust settled, only a crater would remain.
Master Chief stepped out of the teleporter and into the familiar warehouse. Tex was still sobbing in his arms and he carried her off, away from prying eyes. There was still one more fortress left, but the stability of the squad came first. Soon, Red Squad would arrive at Relic. And their lives would be changed forever.
To Be Continued